Whitehorse Daily Star

Roche Firth Financial on top in squash league

It was a good outing this week for Roche Firth Financial in the Tuesday Night Squash League.

By Jon Molson on February 4, 2009

It was a good outing this week for Roche Firth Financial in the Tuesday Night Squash League.

Not only did the team's four players combine for a very impressive 15 points, but they were also able to leapfrog Pizza Hut for the top spot in the league's standings.

Roche Firth Financial took advantage of a bye week from Pizza Hut, which has had a lock on first place for the majority of the season.

Despite the bye, Pizza Hut is currently in second place with 178 points, while Roche Firth has 181.

Each team in Tuesday league has four players on it, who can each score a maximum of six points. One point is given for a match win, one for each game victory and another point for wearing the team shirt.


Roche Firth Financial 15, MEADIAsolutions 14

Patrick Gardiner and Kyle Marchuk led the way in scoring for Roche Firth Financial, combining for 12 of the team's 15 points.

Doug Thorseth and substitute player Danny Johnson chipped in the team's remaining three points.

Trevor Mead-Robins and Gord Starko each scored six points for MEADIAsolutions, while Peter Mathur and Mark Tubman contributed one a piece.

MEADIAsolutions remains in six place in the league's standings with 158 points. The team is just one point behind Ketza.


Assante 18, Ketza 13

Glen Rudman, Lori Muir and Richard Meredith combined for Assante's 18 points. Meredith and Muir went the five game distance to each finish with six points.

The 18 points moved Assante up one spot in the standings. The team is currently in third place with 176 points.

Phil Jackson was the only player on Ketza to score six points. Jackson defeated Assante's substitute player Jim Gilpin in three games to win the match.

Kevin Daffe and Sam Penner each scored three points, while Sophia Flather finished with one point.


Yukon Brewing 19, Kilrich 11

Stephen Grundmanis, William Papenfus and Chris Toleman each scored six points, while Jodi Tuton chipped in the team's remaining point.

Yukon Brewing is in seventh place with 151 points.

Lia Johnson finished with six points on Kilrich, while Chic Callas contributed three points.

Lara Lewis and substitute player Marie Desmarais scored Kilrich's remaining two points.

With the loss, Kilrich dropped down to fourth place in the standings. The team trails Assante by just three points.

In other squash news, Better Bodies hosted the second annual Fit for Heart tournament this past weekend.

All of the proceeds, which this year included a $20 donation per player, were given to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

This year's tournament had a 31 player increase in the number of entrants. With 45 players in total, the tournament raised $900.

As a result of it being a fund-raiser, the Fit for Heart tournament is the only squash contest at Better Bodies that doesn't give out any prizes. However, the players didn't mind and were more than happy to give their support.

"Lots of new people were playing," said Desmarais, the squash pro at Better Bodies. "It was so much fun and we just wanted to hold it for two days, so we only held it Friday and Saturday. Everybody was pretty well guaranteed one match on Friday and two on Saturday. It was very successful, a really good fund-raiser."

Tournament winners included Blaine Tessier, who defeated Chic Callas in the men's A final. The match ended up going the distance with a close score of 9-1, 2-9, 6-9, 9-4 and 9-7.

Phil Jackson placed third and Chris Toleman won his consolation match against Sam Penner.

Lia Johnson was the big winner in the open B division. Johnson defeated Michel Gelinas in three straight games 9-7, 9-5 and 9-5.

Lori Muir came in third and Gord Strako won the division's consolation game.

Michael Tilbrook defeated Kai Knorr in the open C, winning the match 9-1, 9-3 and 9-3.

David Buckler placed third and Spruce Gerberding finished on top in the consolation game.

Tara Marchuk was first in the open D category after she defeated Andrew Zinck 9-4, 9-0 and 9-1, while Paula Pawlovich came in third.

Pawlovich defeated Lisa Gudbranson 9-0, 9-2 and 9-1, while Daniel Buckler won his lengthy consolation contest against Will Parker. The score was 9-4, 2-9, 9-5, 6-9 and 9-6.

Amy Leach won the open novice division.

Leach played a tough five-game match against Kelly Panchyshyn, winning 9-7, 9-5, 8-10, 7-9 and 9-5.

Other novice division results included Randi Cave placing third after defeating Alexis Hougen in a close four-game match. The final score was 2-9, 9-7, 9-7 and 9-7.

Alicina Banks won the consolation novice game over Adrienne Marsh.

Logan Harris finished as the top junior, while Jack Woodwalker placed second.

Desmarais said, because of the success at this year's tournament, she could see this becoming an annual tradition.

"I think everybody feels good when they are doing something as fund-raiser," she said. "Everybody was very pleased to donate and tournaments are fun to begin with, so this was double the fun because they knew it was going to a good cause."

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