With Terri Cairns and Lia Johnson each pulling off impossible shots, two points eventually decided a gritty finale in the first-ever Squash Yukon Women's Tournament.

Cairns won the A Division final 3-2 (9-15, 16-14, 15-11, 10-15, 15-13) over Johnson at Better Bodies Gym on Saturday, which was also World Squash Day with the theme, Women In Squash.

Elmy Harris placed third in the A Division. Genevieve Gay edged Charley Gabbott in the B Division final while Share Knorr took third. In the C Division, Marcie Stenzig won top spot over second-place finisher Stephanie Grant and third-place Cathy MacDonald.

The tournament drew more than 20 competitors over the three divisions.

In the A Division final, Cairns said dropping the first game to Johnson 9-15 made bouncing back a daunting prospect.

"I thought after the first game I might be in trouble here, because she won that very decisively – I was just scrambling that whole game,” said Cairns, who started playing squash competitively in 2007.

"I think Lia's a mentally stronger player than me, and when she comes out like that,

it's really hard to shake her, you don't see very many mistakes, and so it can really mess with your head, because you get into a place where you just don't know what to do, because you're making good shots, you're making tight shots, and she's just out-thinking you and anticipating a little bit better.”

Cairns was able to overcome that over the next two games, winning the second 16-14 and the third 15-11.

"The second game was a scramble, but then the third game I felt really good, I was putting the ball away,” Cairns said. "I think in the third game I was playing against her the way she played against me in the first game. The fourth game she got me.

But the fifth game was amazing; it was point within point within point within point.”

Johnson pointed out that games two and five in particular were painfully close.

"That was an extremely difficult match for me, point-for-point, very intense,” Johnson said. "I think what stood out was that Terri and I were both playing our best, so it's kind of neat when your opponent is on their A game and you're on your A game – it's really fun to play.

"The fifth game was pretty unique in that it was point-for-point; you never really felt like you were ahead at all. Sometimes you get ahead and you get a little bit of momentum from that, but that one was really just fighting for each rally.”

Both Johnson and Cairns, who were undefeated en route to the final, are familiar with each other on the squash courts, getting together roughly once each week once the season is underway and both are playing regularly.

Both agreed, however, that familiarity is in a much less competitive atmosphere.

"I would say it's a friendly rivalry,” Johnson said. "It's always fun to play Terri; we always meet and play recreationally and also meet each other in tournaments. It's in tournaments you get that extra competitive edge where everybody just goes all out.”

Cairns said that was the most exciting, intense match the two have played against each other.

"We have different squash games, so sometimes it can be an awkward match,” Cairns said.

"In the past, I've come out with too much power and she's been able to slow the game down and lob, play a really precise game, and it would mess with me; but she is so much stronger now. That game she was hitting the ball so powerfully and that works a little bit better for me, because I don't have as much time to think.”

Chris Cullingham, who organized the tournament, said the final contained all the firepower a competitive match should.

"Any time you go to a game five and you have a close game like 15-13 between your top two seeds, you can't ask for more. It was a great final, and I think it was anybody's game. In the end, Terri just squeaked it out,” Cullingham said.

Johnson has been playing squash competitively in the Yukon for the past 10 years.

She learned the game under the guidance of Squash Yukon's retired professional Marie Desmarais – who was one of four level four female squash professionals in Canada – while representing the territory at the Canada Winter Games as a player and assistant coach.

Using Desmarais as a role model, Johnson noted that 37 per cent of Squash Yukon's base are women – the highest percentage in the country.

"But it's great to have more new faces,” Johnson said. "In this tournament we had a lot of people who had never entered tournaments before, so that was really exciting, that was kind of one of our goals.

And also, it's just a good tournament to get people who haven't been playing in a while excited.

"It's good to have that atmosphere in the Yukon. Nowadays all the tournaments are mixed, so it's nice to play a women's one. Women play inherently a different style of game: you're less likely to get hard hitters, there's a lot of strategy involved in our game.”

Cairns, who has three daughters, agreed attracting new faces will help bolster the sport in the territory.

"It's a really good organization up here with squash, but it's just so nice (to see a women's tournament),” Cairns said. "I have three daughters; it's nice to see all the women out.

"We've had the numbers. When I first started playing competitively a few years ago, there was a lot of women players, and then some just left the territory, some stopped, and now to see these new faces – it's awesome.”

And important, Cullingham added.

"The Yukon always has a lot of commitment from women. It's just important to get them out, get them playing each other, developing rivalries, get them to know each other and keep the female part of the squash community strong and keep it going.”