The Whitehorse/Yellowknife Challenge Cup will once again be making a long-term stay at the Yukon's Better Bodies Cross Training Centre and it's all thanks to the great play of six local juniors.

It was a highlight filled three days for the six Yukoners who took part in this year's Yellowknife Open Squash Tournament.

The group not only managed to reclaim the Challenge Cup from Yellowknife, who won it by around five points in 2007, but they also managed to achieve numerous individual accomplishments at the event.

"We were certainly competitive in the divisions that they put us in, so it was great," said Better Bodies Cross Training Centre squash pro Marie Desmarais. "It's a great tournament."

This was the eighth straight year that squash players from Better Bodies have competed at the Yellowknife Open, which officially concludes the season for the club.

The 2008 tournament had around 120 competitors, who competed in both junior and adult divisions. There is also a separate category for male and female squash players at the event.

In addition to divisional play, this year's Yellowknife Open also included exhibition games, which were played by five professional Canadian athletes in the sport.

Among the five players included Melanie Jans, who is currently Canada's second best female squash athlete.

Whitehorse and Yellowknife have been in friendly competition for the Challenge Cup since 2000 when it was first introduced.

It has been awarded on 11 occasions between competitions in both cities.

It's not one individual match that determines the cup winner, but the final ratio of wins and losses between Yellowknife and Whitehorse.

At the squash open, every time a player from Whitehorse faced off against a competitor from Yellowknife those matches counted towards awarding the Challenge Cup.

At the conclusion of the tournament the overall total was tallied up and Whitehorse was determined the winner.

This year featured a particularly close rivalry between both cities, which resulted in the winner of the cup coming down to the junior B division final.

The match was played between Whitehorse's Nicholas Terry and Yellowknife's Dylan Allen.

Whitehorse had a slim one point lead going into the B final, but it was still a must win because a tie would have resulted in Yellowknife retaining the cup.

Terry wasn't fazed at all by the pressure of playing for both the B championship title and the Challenge Cup, winning the match in three straight games.

This was a particularly impressive tournament for Terry, who went 4-0 in match play without dropping a single game over his three days of competition.

The Yellowknife Open is a sponsored tournament, which awards prizes instead of medals. Terry was given a digital camera for his first place finish.

This was Terry's third Outside tournament in what was his first full season in the sport.

The first two Outside competitions included the Jesters, which were held in Edmonton and the PNW, which was held in Victoria.

Terry, 15, said he has continued to improve throughout the course of the season.

"I didn't do very well at the Jesters," he said.

"Then at the PNW's I improved a little bit and I won a couple of matches. Then in Yellowknife I got first place, so that's how much I have been able to see myself improve. From winning zero matches, to a couple of matches, to the entire tournament, so that's always nice."

He said if felt really great to win the tournament.

"It was a ton of fun," Terry said.

"I won a prize, which is always nice, but that's not what I was there for. The game is always fun to play, which is what helps me improve because I enjoy doing it."

Terry said the highlight on the season has just been all of the matches he has played.

"It's always fun to train and watch yourself improve," he said.

"I have only played squash for a year now, and so I like being able to see myself improve throughout the year. Being trained by a nice coach in Marie is always nice because she is really good at what she does."

Terry, who was on the winning team in the Sunday Junior League, came in with a strategy of playing a more intelligent style in his matches rather than just attempt to overpower his opponents.

This was his first tournament where he employed this strategy and Terry said it was a big help in enabling him to win the B division.

He said helping to bring back the Challenge Cup to Whitehorse meant a lot to him.

"It's always nice to show that the Yukon has some talent," he said. "The cup was pretty special."

Whitehorse currently has an impressive 8-3 overall record over the course of the eight-year competition for the Challenge Cup.

Terry said he plans to continue playing squash next season and might even join the Thursday Night League.

Other Whitehorse competitors at the Yellowknife Open included Zoe Walker.

Walker finished with a record of 1-4, losing two matches in five games. Although Walker is a junior player, she competed in the Women's B division, which makes her one match victory even more impressive.

Players Alexis Hougen and Kelly Panchyshyn each competed in the junior girls division. Panchyshyn had a great tournament showing and just missed out from qualifying for the finals, losing her final game by a close 10-9 score in the fifth game. She finished with a record of 2-2.

Hougen also did very well, winning two matches in three straight games to conclude the tournament at 2-3.

Competing in a very tough women's A division, Sophia Flather dropped all three matches that she was in.

It was a very special competition for 12-year-old Kai Knorr, who competed in his first Outside tournament. Knorr played in the junior A division and won his first two matches before losing his third in three games.

Heading into Sunday, he had a chance to qualify for the junior A finals with victory. Knorr ended up losing the match in five games to finish with a stellar record of 2-2.

Desmarais said she was really pleased with how all six of her players performed at the tournament.

"They all did well," she said.

"I think it helped that we had the junior squash league as well on Sundays. Juniors, once you give them a racket and put them on the squash court, they just have fun. So if we can provide some instruction and some people for them to play and some goals going to Outside tournaments that always motivates them. I think it's fun and the more kids play the more other kids want to play, so it sort of grows that way."

She said the Yellowknife Open is the perfect way to end the season.

"Yellowknife is always a good end because it's just fun," Desmarais said. "Of all the tournaments that I go to throughout the year this, I would say, is the best tournament because of the level of play and also the northern hospitality."