With the absence of Julien Revel, who has won the championships the last three years, the territory got a new champion at the 2011 Squash Yukon Open wrapping up Saturday at Better Bodies Cross-Training Centre.
Whitehorse’s Jason Jobin went undefeated for his first A division title, defeating Abel Chua 15-12, 14-16, 15-7, 15-5 in the final.
“The second game I definitely had a meltdown, hit a lot of tins – it was getting a little tinny in there,” said Jobin. “In the third game, I came back. I was upset that I had so much more work ahead of me. I was up 14-10 (in the second game) and lost six points in a row, so that was a little demoralizing.
“In the third game, I came out strong and, in the fourth game, I had the momentum and he was getting frustrated.”
Jobin, who just returned from the University of Victoria where he was a president of the UVic Squash Club, got back into the match after some coaching from friend Tyler Nesgaard during a break, told to lay off the drop-shots.
“That worked for me,” said Jobin.
Having taken a four-game loss to Revel two weeks ago in the Division 1 league finals, Jobin is aware of how much more difficult the draw would have been had Revel entered.
“I won the Rendezvous tournament and Julien wasn’t in it, I won this tournament and Julien wasn’t in it,” said Jobin.
When most people say they don’t have a backhand, they mean it’s either inconsistent and/or ineffective. When Doug Thorseth says it, he is being literal.
The ambidextrous player captured the mixed B title, switching hands for continuous forehands, defeating junior Kai Knorr 15-7, 15-11, 15-9 in the final.
“I don’t know if it’s with equal dexterity, but I usually go forehands on either sides – I switch hands,” said Thorseth. “I bat right, throw right, write left, eat left. It’s at the point I don’t know what hand is natural. I play so often with both hands. I use a backhand if I’m caught up against the wall and I can’t switch.
“Kai usually beats me – I think we split our matches this year during the league.”
His fourth appearance in the open, it was Thorseth’s first division title, “And possibly the last – you never know,” he added.
Playing in her first Yukon Open, junior Shermaine Chua, who represented the Yukon at the Canada Winter Games in February, defeated Shari Knorr 15-11, 15-7, 11-15, 15-8 in the ladies’ C final.
“I guess I kept missing some shots – my game has been off,” said Shermaine of the game she dropped. “I had a five-game (match) yesterday and I didn’t rest up enough.”
Reaching the final was extra sweet for Shermaine, having defeated her mother Shirley Chua for the first time in the semifinal.
“It’s good because if I lost that, I would have had to wash dishes for a month,” the 14-year-old joked.
In the men’s C division, the only other gender-specific draw, Erik Jacobsen defeated junior Ehsan Idrees 15-11, 15-10, 15-9 for the title.
“I was gone to university, so I haven’t played in like a year,” said Jacobsen. “But I used to play a lot, training for the (2007) Canada Winter Games.
“It was a good match, he is a strong player.”
The mixed D final turned into a household affair as Joanne Heyes defeated her partner Jeremy Locke 14-16, 15-10, 17-15, 15-7 for the title.
“I have been beating him most times, but the last time we played he beat me,” said Heyes. “We are getting quite close, so this was a big deal.
“He started squash later than me and we’ve been taking lessons together.
“I have better cardio than him, so my strategy was to make him run as much as I possibly could,” she added. “It worked.”
Like the five finals, no matches for third and fourth went to five games.
In the battle for third in the A division, Lorne Harris defeated Tyler Nesgaard in four games while Shahid Syed grabbed third by default in the mixed B.
In the C divisions, Tyler Kwok defeated Sandeep Sharma in four games for third in the mens’ and Chirley Chua took third by default in the women’s draw.
In the bottom D division, Jada Kwok went over Linda Aranda in four games for third.
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com