The Fall Provincial Championships season swings into high gear as 16 new Ontario Champions will be crowned on what is a busy weekend on the courts. The BMO Nesbitt Burns Ontario Junior Closed kicks off this afternoon in Vaughan at Executive Squash and Fitness with 150 of our finest looking to peak at this critical time of the season. Top seeds James Flynn, Brianna Jefferson, George Crowne, Ella Baldwin, Alexander Yuzpe, Salma Mounir, Daniel Deverill, Maya Askari and Carl-Edmund Roux will have plenty of fierce competition as for the first time ever athletes were required to qualify for this prestigious event. Special thanks to BMO Nesbitt Burns and the Sekhar family, Black Knight and Squash Ontario's new high performance nutrition partners Sprott Inc., Beretta Farms and Biosteel for supporting this flagship event. Follow the results of Ontario's future champions all weekend long at this link.
Only a few kilometers away, 150 of the top doubles players in the province will also be doing battle at the 2017 Slaight Music/Ridley Windows and Doors Ontario Doubles Championships at the Toronto Cricket Club. With $2,500 in prize money on the line, top world ranked players including Stephanie Hewitt, Seanna Keating, Marci Sier, Nikki Todd, Robin Clarke, Tyler Hamilton and Rob Nigro will hit the Cricket stadium court alongside amateurs in seven divisions. Are Paul Zander and Pete McCarthy just the right combination of ying and yang in the Men's A? Have Dileas MacGowan and Erica Jewett ever seen Lolly's Gillen forehand side-front in the Women's B? Is Mike Blythe really just a singles player or a future Men's B doubles Champion? Is Lynsey Yates simply the Communications Coordinator at Squash Ontario or a Women's C doubles Champion? Are Luke McGoey and Steve Parks the Buffalo Bills of Men's C Ontario squash or is this finally their year? All of these questions and more can be answered by heading to the Toronto Cricket Club this weekend or by following online here.
In addition to these premier events, the Jesters University League will play their first ever set of matches at Carleton University in Ottawa on Saturday and Glendon College in Toronto on Sunday. In addition, Ray Kerslake and his team will continue the fine tradition of the PSB Wilson Squash Classic in Peterborough with over 50 athletes enjoying fun, fitness and friendship at the Peterborough Squash Club. It is a wonderful weekend of Squash on the Ontario courts - good luck to all competitors!