The Varsity Blues men’s squash team headed up to the National Squash Academy in Toronto this past weekend (Jan. 28-29) to compete for the Canadian jesters university squash league title.

Toronto was seeded fourth in the playoffs after a 2-3-2 performance in the regular season of Jesters competition, including wins against Brock and McGill, as well as nail biting ties against both Concordia and McMaster.

In the quarter-finals, the Blues faced the fifth-seeded McGill Redmen, hoping to repeat their strong win from November. The men’s performance could not have been any better as they swept the Redmen 6-0. Shahan Khatchadourian, Riyan Bhatia, Greg Raczkowski, and Jonathan Kent from the Blues all dominated their cross-province opponents with 3-0 victories.

Their next match pitted Toronto against the top seeded Western Mustangs. While putting on their best efforts in hopes of earning a spot in the Jesters finals, the Blues were denied of a single game by the Mustangs, losing by a score of 6-0. Raczkowski was the closest Toronto player to take a game, pushing his Western opponent to 13-11 in the second game.

The loss sent the Blues down to the bronze medal match against the Queen’s Gaels, who were seeded third going into the tournament. Toronto looked sharp early-on, taking the first match at position No. 6 with a 3-2 win by Curtis Woodford. However, the Blues could not keep the momentum going with a string of losses. The only other Blue to win his match was co-captain Adrian Pond, whose punishing game of patience and good length was indomitable for the top Queen’s player.

Full Results

Toronto will look re-group over the next week and fine-tune their strategies in preparation for the OUA championship (February 4-5) held on home courts at the Athletic Centre. The schedule on Saturday will see the Blues competing in a round-robin against Western at 10 a.m and the Waterloo Warriors at 2 p.m. to qualify for the semifinals on Sunday.

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