A rematch of last year’s final had reversed results in the Division 1 final of the Squash Yukon League.
After losing to Underhill in last year’s final, Pizza Hut captured the Division 1 title winning three of four matches against Underhill on Tuesday at Better Bodies Whitehorse.
Teamwork and dedication made the difference this season, said Pizza Hut captain Shahid Syed.
“It was great. It was great teamwork and fun for everybody,” he said. “We all worked together, we all showed up for our matches - we didn’t miss any of those. We were all dedicated and hard-working.”
Pizza Hut also finished the regular season in first place, a position the team held all season long.
It also helping that the Hut had two nationally ranked juniors on board.
Mustafa Syed, ranked 19th in Canada for boys under 15, and Matt Henderson, ranked 16th in Canada in the same age group, both won their matches Tuesday.
“They are very promising players,” said Shahid.
Henderson defeated former Yukon women’s champion Lori Muir in straight games.
Mustafa defeated Underhill captain Grayson Peters in a tight five-game match, winning the last two games 16-14 to take the victory. He has only suffered two losses since the beginning of the season in November.
“It’s been fun,” said Mustafa. “I used to be (our team’s) No. 2, but my captain left, so I got switched up to No. 1. So I got better competition with other players that I hadn’t played.
“I played well this season. I feel like I’ve improved much since the start.”
In the other matches, Shahid lost 3-1 to Underhill’s Glenn Rudman and Hut’s Michael Tilbrook defeated Underhill’s Doug Thorseth in another five-game battle to seal the win for his team.
On a neighbouring court, Outside the Cube defeated Media Solutions to take third place in Division 1.
In the matches Outside’s Zain Syed, another nationally ranked junior, defeated Chris Toleman; Tyler Nesgaard lost to Media Solution’s Peter Mather in five games; Outside’s Gabriel Stetkiewicz beat Trevor Mead-Robins in five; Media sub Eshan Idrees lost 3-1 to Outside’s Michel Gelinas.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com