Photo by Marcel Vander Wier
CHIP OFF THE BLOCK 鈥� Shermaine Chua, the daughter of squash pro Khoon Chua, serves against Micah Smith in the first match of the Div. 2 championship last night (right). HEAVY HITTERS 鈥� Yukon Brewing's Brian Healy, left, prepares to return the ball against Sterling Insurance player Gary Tanner in the Div. 2 squash final last night.
The squash courts at Better Bodies Fitness were the scene of a hard-fought battle between two evenly-matched squads last night.
The squash courts at Better Bodies Fitness were the scene of a hard-fought battle between two evenly-matched squads last night.
When the dust settled, Sterling Insurance emerged as Div. 2 champs, defeating Yukon Brewing by a score of 19-12. Second-ranked player Shermaine Chua got Sterling Insurance off to a good start, beating substitute player Micah Smith 3-2. Smith was filling in for Meagan Klassen.
In a battle of top-ranked players, Sterling's Gary Tanner edged Brian Healy 3-2 in the second match of the night.
Jordy Walker put things away, defeating Cathy MacDonald 3-0, before Yukon Brewing's Matt Johnson got his team its first win with a 3-0 shutout over Marie Maratos.
"It means a lot,鈥� Tanner said of the team championship. "Squash is such an individual game, but the league really makes it feel like you have teammates, and you rally around each other. You do help each other and support each other. It's rare, because unless you're on a team, it's such an individual purpose to go out and play. It's a lot more fun this way.鈥�
Tanner started playing in the league two years ago, because he was bored with the monotony of running on a treadmill.
"It was the best decision that I ever made,鈥� he said. "I really think it's one of those sports that 鈥� if you have any intention to get into shape 鈥� it is the best thing to do, because it's so much fun, you don't realize you're actually having a good exercise at the same time. Once you start playing, you can't wait until you play it again.鈥�
Meanwhile, Healy said his team left everything they had out on the court.
His team finished first in the regular season with 297 points.
"It was back and forth,鈥� Healy said. "I don't know. I guess that's just the way it goes sometimes.鈥�
Anytime a match goes the full five games, everyone's a winner, he added.
"I've always had close games with Gary, and we both pretty much knew when we started that it was going to be a long, close game. I played as hard as I could and it's always fun to go five. Whenever someone loses when it goes to five, you know it could've went either way.
"It's way better than a 3-0 loss. Even if you're winning, you'd rather go five than win 3-0, because it's not that fun to have one-sided games.鈥�
Healy said regardless of the final outcome, the season was a success as it gave him and his teammates an avenue to exercise throughout the long, cold Yukon winter.
"When the weather's bad in the winter and it's darker, it's nice to have something you can enjoy doing inside,鈥� he said.
In the third-place game, Solstice Landscaping beat The Electrical Shop 14-12.
Solstice players Paul Shrubshall and Kealan Campbell each shut out their opponents 鈥� substitute Muhammed Idrees and David Buckler, respectively 鈥� to stake Solstice Landscaping to an early lead.
The Electrical Shop battled back behind substitute Aaron Nicholson's 3-0 shutout win over Rebecca World and Jen Meurer's 3-0 shutout over Andre Benoit, but it wasn't enough.
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