With the advent of new squash courts on the Coast, the Sunshine Coast Squash Association recently held its inaugural squash tournament at the Gibsons and Area Community Centre.
In total, 20 players participated in the tournament, designed to have people play in teams as opposed to individuals. A total of four teams were created, composed of ability levels from advanced to novice levels.
During the two-day tournament, a round-robin event occurred with the two top teams entering a playoff for the eventual winner and the bottom two teams fighting it out for third place. The team comprised of Joel Bateson, Graham Wallis, Peter Telfer, Bill Slius and Susan Gordon prevailed as the round-robin and playoff champions.
A few of the highlight matches from the weekend involved Bateson beating Murray Smith 2-1 in an 'A' event round-robin match that required extra points to complete. Also, Telfer bested Dean Miller 3-1 in the 'C' event playoff after losing in the round-robin to Miller. Another effort of note, was Al Garrels 3-1 playoff victory over Wallis after falling to Wallis in the round-robin. Finally, provincially-ranked junior player Kendyl Smith, found a way to beat Caitlin Hicks 3-1.
A great time was had by all and with this tournament, the squash season will wrap up until next September. Planned activities for next season include the return of the junior squash program, box league squash, coaching and more tournaments. Also, the association will be working toward establishing high school squash teams to complete locally as well as provincially.
-Submitted
