The women’s squash team was celebrating its third Ontario University Athletics (OUA) title in as many years Saturday night, as the team cruised to victory against Queen’s University at the finals at the Athletic Centre. The Varsity men’s team also replicated their form of last year, picking up silver after a difficult loss to an impressive University of Western Ontario outfit.
Western’s gold finish means they have claimed the title an incredible 22 years in succession, failing to scoop the top prize on only three occasions over the last 31 years. The Mustangs won five out of six of their final matches, with U of T’s Sean Hanna being the only player to register a win.
Toronto’s men fared well in the semi-finals, beating Queen’s University in five out of six matches. Highlights included captain David Ponak’s thrilling comeback after being two games down. Ponak battled back against the towering Sean Horton to take the pivotal fourth game 9-8 after a disputed line out call went in his favour. The Blue did not look back, winning the decisive game 9-4.
Queen’s rallied back from this hard loss soon after to win the bronze medal, beating McGill 4-2.
The gold was always going to be Western’s, though, who won their semi-final against McGill University in a 6-0 whitewashing. The London-based school’s strength and power was put on display by their number one-and this season’s most valuable player-Rob Nigro. The all-star was unstoppable on the day, with his power and accuracy proving unbeatable.
Toronto’s Sean Hanna and David Yik were named as first- and second-team men’s all-stars for the season for the Blues.
The women’s team, in contrast, dropped only one game all day, despite losing three members of last year’s gold-medal-winning team, storming through their semi-final in a 6-0 shutout of Western.
Julie Hamilton led the way for the Blues. The Toronto all-star continued her streak of dropping only one match in three years by destroying all challengers Saturday.
Toronto did not look back after the semi-final and played out a 5-1 victory in the final against Queen’s.
It was Samantha Gowland who secured the title. The rookie took the second game of her final match 9-6 to ensure that Toronto would reclaim the championship for the third year in succession. Gowland and Binafer Kapadia were later named as second team all-stars, and coach David Cooper’s influence over the team and season was rewarded with the Coach of the Year accolade.
The awards only helped to validate what was another memorable and successful season for the Varsity Blues squash teams, with the spotlight now on whether the good times can continue next season or not.
