Squash BC juniors continued to display their high level of play at the 2023 Canada Winter Games, taking place in Charlottetown, PEI. The individual squash competition began play on Sunday, February 18, 2023, but all the BC athletes received byes in the competition which allowed them to begin play on Monday. Team BC was able to walk away from the individual competition claiming a total of 2 Gold and a Silver Medal!
Girls Individual Competition Recap
In the Girl’s competition, Team BC was represented by Vancouver Squash Academy twin sisters Ocean and Spring Ma. Both sisters had a fantastic tournament where they faced off in the Gold medal match!
Ocean came into the tournament as the top seed of the draw, where she proved her seeding. Ocean cruised through the Round of 16 and Quarter-Finals where she defeated Alexandria Crisostomo (QC) and Emily Hargraves (MB), dropping only a combined 10 points across the two matches. In the Semi-Finals Ocean faced fourth seed Maddison Laine (AB), where she defeated Madison 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-8) to earn her spot in the Gold Medal final.
Spring came into the draw as the third seed where she also displayed her strength also cruising to the Semi-Finals after drafting Remy Stein (NS) and Ella Watson (AB) and dropping only 16 points in the two matches. In the Semi-Finals Spring faced second seed Iman Shaheen (ON), which was an exciting back and fourth match that went to a fifth game. Spring dropped the first two games against Iman but showed her strength in battling back winning the match in 5 (9-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-4)! With the win Spring advanced to the Gold medal match to take on Ocean for an all BC final.
In the Gold Medal Final the twin sisters kept their close rivalry alive with all the games finishing within two points of each other. Spring took an early lead winning the first game but Ocean won the second game and cruised to victory from there to win the 2023 Canada Winter Games Gold Medal 3-1 (10-12, 11-9, 12-10, 11-9). After the Gold and Silver Medal performances by the sisters they will look to lead the top seeded Team BC in the Squash Team Competition. Maria Min and Hermione Cao will join the sisters as the take on Northwest Territories (Feb 22 @ 8:30 AM) and Quebec (Feb 23 @ 5 AM) in the Round Robin.
Boys Individual Competition Recap
Team BC was represented by Jericho Tennis Club’s Jacob Lin and Evergreen Squash Club’s Roman Bicknell in the Boy’s Individual Competition. Jacob came into the tournament as the top seed of the draw and he did not disappoint where he did not drop a single game the entire tournament in route to his Gold Medal!
Jacob dropped only 27 points in his first three matches along his way to the 2023 Canada Winter Games final, defeating Garreth Beckles (NS), Michael Knapp (AB) and Daniel Deverill (ON). In the final Jacob faced off against Quebec’s Karim Michael and continued to show his dominate play winning in three straight games (11-9, 11-9, 11-5), to capture the 2023 Canada Winter Games Individual Title!
Roman also had a strong tournament placing seventh overall! Roman defeated Saskatchewan’s Isaiah Richter 3-0 (13-11, 11-6, 11-4) in the round of 16. As the seventh seed Roman had to face off against second seed Karim Michael of Quebec where Roman had a competitive showing but fell short losing 1-3 (7-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-7). With the loss Roman moved into the 5 to 8 consolation bracket, where he faced tournament third seed Wasey Maqsood. Roman again had a strong match but ended up falling short losing 1-3 (5-11, 11-8, 6-11, 7-11). Roman took on Michael Knapp of Alberta defeating him in three straight to claim 7th overall in the 2023 Canada Winter Games Championships.
Jacob and Roman will be joined by WeiHan Wang and Harrison Yang to represent Team BC in the Team Competition which begins February 22, 2023. Team BC enters the team competition as the top seed of the tournament and will take on the Northwest Territories (Feb 22 @ 5 AM) and host province Prince Edward Island (Feb 23 @ 8:30 AM) in the Round Robin. Achieve
Individual Competition Tournament Results
Team Competition Tournament Schedule & Results