Later this week, junior squash athletes from across the country will descend on the capital of Canada’s smallest province, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, to begin competition at the 2023 Canada Winter Games. Squash is one of 20 sports participating at the Games, which will run from February 18th to March 5th, with over 3,600 participants including athletes, managers, coaches, and officials.
Squash will be played on four brand-new courts at the Eastlink Centre, which is the home of the PEI Islanders QMJHL hockey team; however, Squash will share this venue with Trampoline (Gymnastics) and Men’s Hockey during Week One of competition, as well as the Opening Ceremonies.
Once again, squash will feature both team and individual competitions. The individual competition will consist of one event held for women and one for men with each Province/Territory permitted to enter two players. The format will feature a 24-player draw with the top eight players being seeded and receiving a Bye to the Round of 16. Players that advance to the Quarterfinals will then playdown for positions one to eight.
The team competition will consist of one event held for women and one for men where each Province/Territory will enter a 4-person team (each comprised of two players aged under 17 and two players aged under 19). During the first stage of the team competition (Preliminary Round), the teams will be seeded and placed in four pools of three teams; upon completion of the Preliminary Round the teams will then be placed in three pools of four teams to determine the final standings (Championship Round for 1st to 4th, Consolation Round for 5th to 8th and Consolation Round for 9th to 12th).
Team BC is seeded first overall for both men’s and women’s team events and is expected to face strong competition from the rest of the country as they attempt to become Canada Winter Games champions.
Individually, the men’s and women’s categories will be quite competitive. A tight race within the top eight for the men’s side is forming – only 0.6 in rating separate first-seed Jacob Lin (BC) from eighth-seed Michael Knapp (AB). On the women’s side, the field is led by top contenders Ocean Ma (BC), Iman Shaheen (ON) and Spring Ma (BC).
The Games field is stacked with Squash Canada Junior National Squad athletes, there are also interestingly quite a few pairs of siblings that will be competing with and against one another. For British Columbia, twin sisters Ocean and Spring Ma; for Alberta, Antonella and Romina Rodriguez; for Saskatchewan, Will and Mae Shevkenek; for Manitoba, twin sisters Emily and Anne Hargraves and siblings William and Taryn Znidarec; for Quebec, Karim and Yassmine Michael; for New Brunswick, April and Maxwell Williams; for Newfoundland and Labrador, Joel and Laura Stroud; for Nova Scotia, siblings Emmett and Adele Workman; for Prince Edward Island, Brielle and Will MacLean; and lastly, siblings Ava Bicknell (QC) and Roman Bicknell (BC).
MEN’S TEAM |
WOMEN’S TEAM
|
MEN’S INDIVIDUAL
|
WOMEN’S INDIVIDUAL |
1. BC | 1. BC | Jacob Lin (BC) | Ocean Ma (BC) |
2. AB | 2. ON | Karim Michael (QC) | Iman Shaheen (ON) |
3. ON | 3. AB | Wasey Maqsood (ON) | Spring Ma (BC) |
4. QC | 4. MB | Sam Boulanger (AB) | Maddison Laine (AB) |
5. MB | 5. SK | Daniel Deverill (ON) | Ashley Hall (ON) |
6. SK | 6. NS | Youssef Sarhan (QC) | Ella Watson (AB) |
7. NS | 7. PE | Roman Bicknell (BC) | Khushi Goyal (SK) |
8. NT | 8. NT | Michael Knapp (AB) | Emily Hargraves (MB) |
9. PE | 9. QC | William Znidarec (MB) | Ava Bicknell (QC) |
10. NL | 10. NL | Isaiah Richter (SK) | Anne Hargraves (MB) |
11. NB | 11. NB | Owen Borland (MB) | Ellie Gelowitz (SK) |
12. YK | 12. YK | Will Shevkenek (SK) | Sophie Tulk (NL) |
Emmett Workman (NS) | Adele Workman (NS) | ||
Yehia Zabara (NB) | Remy Stein (NS) | ||
Loic Hipfner (NT) | Sofia Ardiles (NT) | ||
Garreth Beckles (NS) | Evelyn Peacock (PE) | ||
Joel Stroud (NL) | Anabel Stokes (NB) | ||
Tobias Cheeseman (PE) | Alexa Fleming (NL | ||
Joseph Depew (NT) | Emily Gallant (PE | ||
Rannon Johnson (YT) | Alexandria Katynski Crisostomo (QC) | ||
Ajit Balasundaram (PE) | Mairin Campbell (NT) | ||
Ben Smith (NL) | April Williams (NB) | ||
Jacob Brown (NB) | Kyla Kurzynski (YT) | ||
Charles Gagne (YT) | Keely Kovac (YT) |
“Squash Canada is excited to be nearing the opening of the 2023 Canada Winter Games hosted by Prince Edward Island. We are enormously honored to be included once again, in the Games. Our athletes have been working towards this event for at least four years and the athletes selected by their provincial and territorial organizations are excited that the Games have finally arrived! In addition to our athletes, we have coaches, officials, and technical staff who have all been long in preparing for this valuable opportunity to participate at a multi-sport Games. For our top athletes, coaches, and officials this is an important step in reaching world competition, so the Canada Winter Games leave a long-lasting legacy of building our sport at all levels.” – Sandra Thompson, President of Squash Canada
Want to stream the event? No problem! As a benefit of the Games, the sport of squash will be showcased daily via the Canada Games live streaming portal. This amazing opportunity will demonstrate the amazing skills of our young athletes to interested viewers across Canada, as well as allow family and friends to cheer on their junior stars from afar. For a complete streaming schedule and to watch live, please visit https://www.canadagames.ca/watch
Information about the squash draw, schedule, and results can be found as follows:
Squash Canada Live Scoring**: Individual | Team
Draws/Schedules
**To access live scoring a Club Locker account is required.
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