Dillon Casey will have a master’s in economics by the end of this school term. Peter Lipscombe is completing an undergraduate degree in environmental science. David Yik is in his second year of medical school. For a sport that was allegedly invented by inmates at Fleet Prison in London, the face of squash has changed considerably.

Originally played by felons at the erstwhile debtors’ prison, squash is now considered an elite sport and is played the world over. The top male players from universities across Ontario and Quebec congregated at the Athletic Centre this past weekend to show their skill in this frantic game.

All were playing in the second and final Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championship qualifying match. Western took top spot and Toronto came in a close second.

The top six players from each school were pitted against players from competing schools that were seeded the same (i.e., the number one seed from U of T played the number one from Western, Brock, etc.). U of T’s team consisted of Jeffrey Best, Dillon Casey, Robin Goodfellow, Hassan Muhammad, Christopher Spavin, and David Yik.

Coach Paul Lee noted that the men played very well en route to a second-place finish behind Western: “I am extremely proud of the way the team played. They [combined] to win three of their four matches. We were playing with a slightly weaker team today, but I think they did very well.”

The Mustangs have a long history of excellence in the sport and have won the championship title for some 20-odd years now. The U of T men have finished second for the past two years and will be making a run for first when the finals take place at McGill University in Montreal two weeks from now.

Casey was a junior-ranked tennis player before he took up squash. The accomplished student believes Western is overrated and he is confident that his team can rise above them.

“Western’s had their time in the sun. U of T is on its way up. We have a great team and Western has got something to lose,” Casey says.

Paul Lee also believes that the Blues have a chance to finish first. But it will be difficult with the absence of a few key players, most notably U of T’s top seed, David Yik. A former NCAA champion, Yik stands out among the Canadian university elite.

Yik won both his matches this past weekend, including an exciting finale against Western’s top seed, Andrew Jones. For someone who doesn’t fit the typical squash player bill, Yik packs a powerful punch. He is equally adept at smashing the ball at top speed and deftly placing it in a corner.

Yik constantly keeps his opponents on their toes and is ridiculously deceptive when it comes to placing the ball.

“I wasn’t nervous playing him. Andrew and I go way back,” says the affable young man about his relationship with Jones. The two have been playing each other since they were ten.

“It felt better than the game yesterday and the more I played, the easier it got. I think it was a solid match,” adds Yik.

School commitments will keep Yik from travelling to McGill, where the Blues will have to contend with number-one seed Peter Lipscombe and the hometown Redmen. The McGill team is a squad with a lot of depth, though they have no stand-out players, Lipscombe noted after a thrilling win over McMaster.

McGill is the only school from Quebec playing in these tournaments. This seems a bit strange, as professional squash star Jonathon Power calls Montreal home. Money may have a hand in this matter.

“The fact that we don’t get a lot of funding bugs us sometimes. Squash is a sport just like any other, so it’s not really fair,” Lipscombe points out. Though he does admit that in Canada, it doesn’t draw large crowds on a consistent basis.

“It’s not really popular to play competitively after university because there’s no money (to be made),” he says.

Paul Lee agrees, drawing attention to the cuts that the governing body of these tournaments has made: “Before there were four qualifying tournaments and now there are only two and a final. We don’t get a lot of funding from the school and it’s difficult to get motivated when you’re only playing two tournaments-with the possibility of a final-each season.”

Still, Lee sees potential in his team for years to come. “They are all keen. They balance school and squash well, they like the sport, and work very hard. I don’t think they’ll have any problems in the future.”

Students. Keeners. Hard workers. Squash has come a long way. Those qualities are about as far removed from a jailbird as you can get.