In an exciting best of five final, Carolyn Russell almost became the first woman to win the Coventry Cup. Russell, a second-year U of T MBA student, is ranked the fourth best squash player in the country. This weekend, at Hart House’s annual Coventry Cup squash tournament, Russell fell just short of walking away with the title, losing the fifth and deciding game of the final match to first-year student Sean Hanna.
Russell, 29 years old and originally from Winnipeg, has been playing squash for 19 years. She says she only started playing because she had so much energy as a kid that soccer just wasn’t enough. Russell trains six times a week, and has put that energy to good work.
In addition to being part of the U of T women’s team that took home the OUA gold last year, Russell competed in the 1998 and 2002 World University Games, won a silver medal at the 2003 Pan-Am Games, and took home the gold in front of her hometown at the 1999 Pan-Am Games.
As part of the Coventry Cup festivities, Russell also took part in an exhibition match against Olga Puigdemont Sola, Spain’s top-ranked female player. Russell easily defeated Sola three games to none, and in doing so proved that the Canadian women, ranked eighth internationally, are making strides to catch the top-ranked Australians.
Sean Hanna, this year’s Coventry Cup winner, had his work cut out for him facing Russell. But he came back from being down two games, to win the next three in convincing fashion. Hanna, who first started playing at the age of 9 and is ranked in Ontario, is a welcome addition to U of T’s men’s team. Another newcomer, first-year Arts and Science student Jeff Best, won the consolation final over second-year math student Wyn Ron Choong in three straight games. Rookies Hanna and Best will try and carry their winning ways into the regular season, which kicks off next month.
Although many of the 45 participants over the two-day tournament are varsity players, the Coventry Cup is an open tournament that allows squash players of all ages and skill-levels to compete. Alan Coventry, whom the cup is named after, was an avid squash player. He created the event to promote the game. Coventry, a physics professor, lived in Hart House and held the first Coventry Cup in 1926. Initially the Cup only accepted male players, and not until 1976 did the format change to include women in the draw. This year, in addition to 10 women playing in the open bracket, there were two women’s divisions.
Now, with Russell only one game away from winning the championship match, it may not be long until a woman hoists the Coventry Cup trophy.
