Staff
The Sunset Country Squash Club’s 22nd-annual tournament this past weekend was a smashing success.
With new main sponsor Wesley Derksen LL.B., the tournament did not disappoint with the very best squash Northwestern Ontario has to offer.
The men’s ‘A’ event arguably produced the finest squash of the weekend.
Ben Andrusco defeated three-peat champion Darrell Cole of Thunder Bay by a score of 15-13 in the fifth-and-deciding game. The ex-Fort player (who now resides in Winnipeg) and Cole took 75 minutes to complete the match.
Andrusco was down 8-5 in the final game and said “at 8-8 I felt I could win it.”
The play was punctuated by “painfully” long rallies that could finish the average player with fatigue, with one lasting more than two minutes long.
Cole defeated Jason Kabel and past 10-time champion Bob Shine (Thunder Bay) by scores of 3-1 to reach the ‘A’ final while Andrusco knocked off Shine and local Colin Drombolis by similar 3-1 margins.
Andrusco is the only Fort Frances product to win the local title since Al Holt way back in 1988.
The consolation champion was Shine, who beat Drombolis 3-1 in the double-knockout ‘A’ division.
In men’s ‘B’ division action, Toby “the Rock” Munro defeated a very game and tenacious Jill Skogberg of Thunder Bay 3-1 to capture the top prize.
Munro earlier downed giant-killer Anniss Seid, the local 15-year-old junior who upset both Bryn Canfield (Kenora) and local Mark Faragher 3-2 to reach the semi-finals before losing 3-1 to Munro.
Skogberg, meanwhile, defeated Steve Boileau and Bob Tkachuk by identical scores of 3-1 to reach the final.
Canfield defeated Faragher 3-1 to snag the consolation title of the ‘B’-side.
The men’s ‘C’ division ended with Thunder Bay junior Brad Davis defeating local Salem Seid 3-0 for the title. Seid defeated both Donny Brown and Chris Faragher 3-0 to reach the ‘C’ final.
For his part, Davis swept local veteran Dave Zatulsky and Ken Allan (formerly of Fort Frances) by 3-1 scores to advance to the final.
Zatulsky claimed consolation honors with a convincing 3-1 victory over Matt Sweigard.
Ladies’ ‘B’ round-robin action saw young “roadrunner” Sarah Noonan clean up the field with her quickness, defeating Nikki Bagacki and Donna Main 3-0 and then her ex-junior coach, Mary-Beth Tkachuk, 3-1 to complete the changing of the guard.
In junior ‘A’ play, little dynamo Anika Alexander once again crushed all comers by scores of 3-0, including Kyle Davis (Thunder Bay), Ryan Brady, and Bryson Skirten in the championship final.
Skirten had no easy games, upsetting both Kaitlyn DeGagne and Anika’s older sister, Kimika, to move on to the final.
Robert Stevens, the junior ‘A’ consolation winner, lost his first match to Brady by a narrow 3-2 margin, then went on to defeat Kyle Davis, Angel McCormack, and Kaitlyn DeGagne 3-2 in the consolation final.
The Junior ‘B’ division was split in two groups of round-robin games. In Group 1, Katie Beninger captured first place, defeating Brayden Spence 3-2 and Maryam Seid 3-1.
In Group 2, Shawn Brady was crowned the winner by victories of 3-1 over Sarah Coish and 3-0 over Megan Cross.
The groups then crossed over Sunday, with Brady claiming first place (moving him into junior ‘A’ action next year) while Beninger took second and Seid third.
The Saturday night social at the Little Beaver Snow Park lodge included a great meal and a Wii tennis contest. Anika Alexander and Shawn Brady, both 11, ran away with the title, defeating Drombolis and Munro.
Next up for the Sunset Country Squash Club is the Manitoba junior tournament this coming weekend at the Winnipeg Winter Club.
