In less than two weeks, Squash Canada will officially bounce back with the first National Squash Championship in over 20 months by hosting the 2021 Oxford Properties Canadian Squash Championships Presented by Slaight Music. Yorkdale Shopping Centre and the brand-new Squash Canada all-glass court will be the spectacular backdrop for our top Senior and Junior athletes to finally return to domestic national competition.
With the support of title sponsor Oxford Properties, presenting sponsor Slaight Music, gold sponsors Altas Partners, AirSprint Private Aviation, Geotab, Bank of Montreal, Mortgage Company of Canada, YDC Pro, and a host of generous silver and bronze partners (All partners can be found Here), Squash will return in an exciting and unique way for athletes, coaches, officials, and fans across the country.
The event will be produced by PSA Squash TV and digitally streamed by CBC Sports on the Gem online Platform, featuring guest commentators including World Champion Jonathon Power, and Canadian legends Samantha Cornett, Graham Ryding and Marnie Baizley amongst others. Fans from around the world can tune in HERE to catch the live stream action.
The Women’s and Men’s Open draw will be contested as a PSA 12K Challenger Event.
For the first time in Canadian history, the Women’s Open draw will feature two women ranked in the Top 20 in the world – Hollie Naughton (#17) of Oakville, ON and Danielle Letourneau (#19) of Calgary, AB. They headline a deep and talented field including Senior National team members Nicole Bunyan (Victoria, BC), Nikole Todd (Regina, SK), former champions Samantha Cornett (Ottawa, ON), Melanie Jans (Georgetown, ON) and rising stars including Hannah Blatt (Winnipeg, MB), Catherine Giachino (Ottawa, ON), and former Pakistani National Champion now based in Canada Maria Toorpakai Wazir (Toronto, ON).
The Men’s Open draw will have intrigue galore as the Top 3 seeds David Baillargeon (Levis, QC), Shawn Delierre (Montreal, QC), and Mike McCue (Sudbury, ON) were all within 5 rankings spots of each other in September. They are joined as contenders by two-time champions Nick Sachvie (St. Catharines, ON) and Andrew Schnell (Calgary, AB) as well seeded players Cameron Seth (Fergus, ON) and Connor Turk (Winnipeg, ON). All PSA draws and event information can be found HERE.
The professional event will run alongside the 2021 Canadian Junior Championships, held principally at the nearby Urban Squash Toronto facility. The championship will also give the next generation of Canadian stars a chance to compete for eight age category titles on the Glass court at Yorkdale. Top ranked players include GU19 Molly Chadwick (Toronto, ON), BU19 Nikhil Ismail (Toronto, ON), GU17 Amal Izhar (Mississauga, ON), BU17 Jacob Lin (Richmond, BC), GU15 Ocean Ma (Richmond, BC), BU15 Youssef Sarhan (Montreal, QC), GU13 Veera Dhaliwal (Richmond, BC), and BU13 Kent Rawlins (Richmond Hill, ON). All draws can be viewed HERE when available on the Squash Canada Club Locker platform.
Squash Canada has put in place comprehensive COVID-19 protocols and are thrilled to announce that limited tickets will be available to the Yorkdale Shopping Centre for spectators to see the action in person. Ticket information can be accessed HERE and all other event information can be found on our tournament webpage HERE. Squash Canada is pleased to announce that all ticket proceeds from the Thursday evening session will go to Urban Squash Toronto and all proceeds from the Friday daytime session will go to Squash Ontario as a contribution to the vital community and grassroots work being done by both partner organizations to grow and develop our sport.
Squash Canada looks forward to bouncing back October 20th – 24th at the 2021 Oxford Properties Canadian Squash Championships Presented by Slaight Music and wishes all athletes, coaches, officials and spectators a safe and well-deserved return to national competition. See you there!
