The Varsity Blues women’s squash team finished third, while the men placed fourth as the University of Toronto hosted the 2012 OUA squash championships this weekend (Feb. 4-5) at the Athletic Centre Squash Courts.

Pooja Chugh earned OUA female rookie of the year honours, finishing second overall in individual standings, while Danian Shamim garnered an all-star nod.

U of T’s men went 1-1 in pool play, defeating the Waterloo Warriors 6-0 before falling to the Western Mustangs by the same score.  That set up a Queen’s/Toronto semifinal, which saw the Gaels come out on top with a 5-1 win.  The Blues went onto drop a close 4-2 decision to McMaster in the bronze medal match. Full recap to follow.

The Blues women got off to a perfect start on the Saturday beating Brock and McMaster 6-0.

In the first match against a Brock team who were only fielding three players, Pooja Chugh won a very competitive match against the No. 1 player Juana Chaves, 3-2, with the fifth game going to 13-11. Chugh really had to dig deep for the win, coming from behind in the fifth to finally close out a very entertaining match. Jen Klein and Alison Wardlaw had less problems, winning 3-0 in both their matches.

Toronto swept McMaster for the first time this season in their second match of the day to remain perfect heading into the playoff round.

The Blues met the Waterloo Warriors in the semifinals on Sunday morning.  Toronto and Waterloo had tied their previous two matches 3-3, with Waterloo winning both on the tie break. Unfortunately for the Blues, the semifinal followed the same pattern.

U of T’s Mabel Low and Daniah Shamim kept their winning streaks alive at the No. 5 and 6 positions. The No. 4 match saw Jessica Omand win a very close match, 3-1, to give the Blues a 3-0 overall lead over the Warriors. 

Toronto’s Pooja Chugh, Jen Klein and Alison Wardlaw pushed their opponents harder than before but were not able to secure a game as they all went down 3-0. The match was tied 3-3 but Waterloo proceeded to the final with a 10-9 count back on games won.

The Blues had to regroup quickly as the bronze medal match took place immediately against McMaster, who had fallen to the eventual champion Western Mustangs in the other semifinal of the morning.

Toronto showed their dominance over McMaster with a repeat 6-0 win. Jessica Omand, Mabel Low and Daniah Shamim went 4-0 in matches over the weekend.


Men’s Final Standings:
Western
Queen’s
McMaster
Toronto
Waterloo
Brock

Women’s Final Standings:
Western
Waterloo
Toronto
McMaster
Queen’s
Brock

Championship MVP
Women's - Micaala Seth - Waterloo
Men's - Ryan Herden - Western

OUA Female Rookie of the Year
Pooja Chugh - Toronto

OUA Male Rookie of the Year
Justin Vanderleest - Western

OUA Men's Coach of the Year
Jack Fairs - Western

OUA Women's Coach of the Year
Vinit Kudva – Waterloo

Individual Winners
WOMEN:
Bronze - Samantha Hennigs - Western
Silver - Pooja Chugh - Toronto
Gold -Micaala Seth - Waterloo

MEN:
Bronze - Alex Ford - Queen's
Silver - Patrick Morkus - McMaster
Gold - Ryan Herden - Western

Women's OUA All-Stars
Micaala Seth - Waterloo
Giselle Delgado - Western
Holly Delavigne - Western
Brook Burrowes - Western
Sarah Todd - Western
Daniah Shamim - Toronto

Men's OUA All-Stars
Ryan Herden - Western
Brian Hong - Western
Justin Vanersleest - Western
Adam Engel - Western
Andrew Silverstri - Western
Rafik Bhaloo - Western

To view full results, please visit the championship website at www.varsityblues.ca/2012ouasquashchamps.