The Varsity Blues men's squash team competed in the Jesters university league championships this past Saturday at the National Squash Academy in Toronto, which featured the top four qualifying teams in the 10-team league.
 
In the semifinal round, the Blues were dispatched by the McMaster Marauders 6-1. Blues No. 1 seed Riyan Bhatia captured the sole win for Toronto, defeating his opponent 3-2. Bhatia fought back from a 2-1 deficit, tiring out his opponent with extended rallies and relentless deep shots.
 
Toronto's Alexandre Garceau suffered a close loss, pushing his opponent to a fifth before eventually falling. Wilfred Ip, Akshit Sahani, and Hamza Rauf lost their matches 3-1 to the Marauders while Yusuf Shalaby and Richard Mills were defeated 3-0.
 
The loss to McMaster pushed the Blues to fight for third place against Queen's, who were defeated by the Western Mustangs in the other semifinal match.
 
With wins from Shalaby, Garceau, Ip, and Kevin Hu, the Blues defeated the Queen's Gaels 5-2 to take the bronze. Shalaby took the first two sets very comfortably before his opponent from Queen's came back to even the score. Shalaby eventually came out on top as he defeated his opponent 3-2 by a narrow margin in the final set.
 
Garceau and Hu won their matches by scores of 3-0 and 3-1, respectively. Ip, in what may have been his last match in his six-year career as a Varsity Blue, made a comeback from being down 2-1 against the Gaels, playing consistent drives and deceptive drops to win the match 3-2 for Toronto.
 
In a marathon of a match, Mills fought long and hard, exchanging points back and forth with his opponent from Queen's, before eventually falling 13-11 in the fifth set. Bhatia was defeated 3-0.
 
The Blues conclude the 2013-14 season with this third place finish, giving Toronto its first men's squash top three finish in the Jesters university league since its inception in 2010.
 
Full results