Lucas Punkari
Three members of the Sunset Country Squash Club were in Edmonton over the weekend for the 29th-annual Alberta Jesters Junior Open, and all three came home with strong showings.
In the boys’ under-15 novice division, Shawn Brady was the class of the field as he won all five of his matches, sweeping Daniel Blade of Edmonton in straight sets to capture the championship.
“Shawn was really happy with how he played out there, and I think that going to Edmonton was good for his growth and in helping him gain more experience,” noted coach Bob Tkachuk.
“He had two really hard games against a couple of players from the Northwest Territories, but he was able to win those games and I think that this will be a big stepping stone for him,” Tkachuk added.
Angel McCormack, meanwhile, finished with a 3-1 record in the girls’ under-15 main division, and also captured the consolation final by beating Megan Picken of Vancouver in four sets.
“Angel played to the best of her abilities during the entire tournament,” Tkachuk lauded.
“One of things that we talked about with her and our entire team was the fact that at these tournaments, if you leave the balls loose or hanging, your opponent will come in, put the pressure on, and damage you, which is what happened to her in the game she lost [to Tara Shannon of Calgary in four sets].
“So that will be something that we will work on with her going forward,” he added.
And in the boys’ under-19 main division, Anniss Seid was in tough against some of the top youth squash players in the country but still came away with a 3-2 record.
“That is a mandatory event for the members of Canada’s world junior team so Anniss was thrown right into the mix with four of the best guys in the country, but he did very well,” Tkachuk said.
“In his fifth game [a five-set loss to Adrian DeVries of Edmonton in the silver semi-finals], because of all the hard play during the weekend, he was starting to cramp up in both legs, even though Anniss is very fit.
“He was a little bit disappointed in how that game ended, but overall he was quite pleased with how the weekend went,” Tkachuk added.
Also joining the three Fort Frances players at the tournament was John Zajac of Thunder Bay, who compiled a 2-2 record in the boys’ under-13 main division.
“John is trying to make it on the Northwest team for the Winter Games in Barrie this March, and he’ll be playing off with a couple of kids from Fort Frances for that spot,” Tkachuk explained.
“That was his first major tournament this weekend and while he had some mixed results, it really opened his eyes to the calibre and the level of play that the top players in that group can play at,” he remarked.
The next event for local squashers will be the Northwest Open in Thunder Bay on Dec. 2-3.
