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National Championship : Championnat National
2003 News : Informations |
| News : Informations | Results : Résultats | Nationals Index : Index Championnat |
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Green wins second straight national singles title Vancouver...Mike Green, Burlington, Ont., won his second straight men's singles title with a 15-3 (11-15) 11-5 win Saturday over Penatanguishene, Ont.'s Corey Osborne at Racquetball Canada's National Championships at Studeo 55 in Vancouver. Green, 29, started the match strong, winning a pivotal rally at 4-3 in the first game to start a string of 11 points, to take the first game. "I had him running a bit during that rally and I think I tired him out a bit," said Green after his win. "I just got a little ahead of myself in the second game and he played real strong." Osborne, playing in his first singles championship match, won the men's doubles title on Tuesday night while paired with Francois Viens of Rock Forest, Que. The burly Osborne, who possesses probably the softest hands of any Canadian men's player, managed to win the second game, but ultimately Green's pace and veteran poise won out during the tiebreaker. "I got on top of him early and was able to take control," said Green of the tiebreaker. Green now puts his name on the National Championship trophy for the second straight year. While there have been more celebrated players in Canada during his tenure - namely Sherman Greenfeld and Kane Waselenchuk - Green has now earned the right to have his name mentioned in the same breath as those players. "It does feel good to win two in a row," said Green, who triumphed last year in Montreal with a win over Calgarian Brian Istace. Green says that not having the opportunity to play Waslenchuk at these Nationals, as well as last year, is unfortunate, but still feels as though he has done all that is asked of him in singles. "I can't help if Kane isn't here," he said. Waselenchuk withdrew last year because of injury and was a late withdrawal this year as well. Calgary's Brian Istace took third place after Chris Brumwell of Vancouver withdrew from the third-place match earlier in the day. Green and Osborne now have the inside track to earn spots on the Pan Am Games team that will be announced shortly. The Games are slated to take place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in August. The rest of the National Championships wrapped up Saturday with champions crowned in 19 singles divisions. The winners of 13 doubles divisions were crowned Tuesday. Calgary's Lori-Jane Powell won the women's singles crown with a tie-breaker win over Winnipeg's Jennifer Saunders on Saturday. For more information, please contact Peter Robinson 647.227.5540 or visit www.Racquetball.ca. Powell takes thrilling women`s final. Vancouver - Lori-Jane Powell defeated Winnipeg`s Jennifer Saunders in a thrilling tiebreaker to win the women`s singles title at Racquetball Canada`s National Championships Saturday afternoon at Studeo 55 in Vancouver. The Calgary resident, who is originally from Prince Albert, Sask., dropped the first game 8-15, but stormed back to win the match with a 15-4, 13--11 victory. "I was just able to get a few more shots in in the tiebreaker," said Powell. "I knew that I had to start matching her shot for shot after the first game and I was able to do that." Powell returns to the singles winner`s circle for the first time in eight seasons, a drought she was more than happy to put behind her. "I was long overdue," said Powell. "I remember when I first won in `95, I looked at the trophy and saw a lot of people who had their names on it a lot (for winning more than once). Then I saw the names of other people who had only won it once. "I was like, `wow, I don`t want that`, and now I`ve got my second singles win...it feels good." It didn`t come easy though, as Powell had to battle back from Saunders`onslaught in the first game. "When I got down, I had started real defensive and I had to change things up...I just started playing more aggressive and managed to get as many points off her as I could to try and build momentum for the second game." Powell`s win, which goes along with her second-place showing in the doubles while paired with partner Julie Neubauer on Tuesday night, comes a year when she had some considerable difficulty. Recovering from a car accident last year that forced her to play in a knee brace, Powell slipped to third in singles, which made Saturday`s win all the more sweet. Powell said that her fight-back has come with the help of her coach, Roger Harripersad, who she expressed thanks for after Saturday`s match. She also said she owed a debt of gratitude to her sponsors, and all the "Calgary guys" who have supported women`s racquetball in the city. "They`ve been great," she said, in reference to people like Mike McPhee and Bill Shepley. "Every time I`ve asked for them to come out, or to play with me (in doubles) they`ve done it. "They are a big reason why I`ve improved." Powell has now given herself an inside shot at a Pan Am Games spot, which is slated to take place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in August. Four years ago she won silver in doubles in Winnipeg. The Canadian team is expected to be announced shortly. For more information, please contact Peter Robinson 647.227.5540 or visit www.Racquetball.ca. Green, Saunders to attempt two national singles titles in a row at Racquetball National Championships. Mike Green and Jennifer Saunders will both attempt to win their second singles title in a row Saturday after winning their semi-final matches at the Canadian Racquetball National Championships Friday night at Studeo 55 in Vancouver. Saunders, a Winnipeg native who won last year in Montreal, dispatched Josee Grand'Maitre of Longueuil, Que., 15-7, 15-8 to advance to the final against Calgarys Lori-Jane Powell. "This is going to be like taking a skin in golf, when you need to win the next hole to get the skin," said Saunders, who won the womens doubles title while paired with Grand'Maitre on Tuesday night. "Two in a row will really solidify me." Saunders won her first national singles title last year by defeating Grand'Maitre in the final. Powell earned her spot in the final with a 15-7,15-9 win over Prince Albert, Sask., native Amanda McDonald in the other women's semi. Green, a native of Burlington, Ont., defeated Brian Istace of Calgary 15-0, 15-7 to clinch his spot in the final, where he will play Corey Osborne after Osborne advanced with a 15-1, 15-9 win over Chris Brumwell of Vancouver. "To win two national titles at anytime would be good, but to win two in a row would be especially nice," said Green, who defeated Istace in last years mens final. "Im just going to go out tomorrow and be real aggressive with my drive serve and play my game." The womens final will take place Saturday afternoon at 2:00, with the mens final to follow at 3:00. The rest of the National Championships will also wrap up Saturday, with 190 players taking part in 19 singles divisions. For more information, please contact Peter Robinson 647.227.5540 or visit www.Racquetball.ca. Brumwell riding unexpected wave For a guy who didn't want to be here, Chris Brumwell is doing quite well at the National Racquetball Championships. The 29-year-old Vancouver resident, who is originally from Victoria, won his quarterfinal match Friday morning, to get himself through to the semi-finals in a tournament that he was hoping he wouldn't have to play in. You see, Brumwell works in the media relations department for the Vancouver Canucks. With the team up 3-1 in its best-of-seven conference semi-final two weeks ago, it looked every bit as though the Canucks were going to be cruising through to the conference final. That would have rendered Brumwell, because of work commitments, unable to play in the tournament at Vancouver's Studeo 55, which, like every hockey fan in the city and country, wouldn't have bothered him in the slightest. It didn't work out that way, of course, as the Canucks fell to the Minnesota Wild in seven games, so Brumwell was able to enter the singles and doubles draw last week. "Fortunately - or unfortunately - I was able to play here," he said. With a decent performance with his partner Jason Ully in men's doubles (they lost to the eventual champions Corey Osborne and Francois Viens in the quarter-finals), Brumwell started singles play Wednesday. He won his round-of-16 match against Development Team member Kris Odegard, 13-11 in the tiebreaker, and then watched as the men's No. 1 seed, Kane Waselenchuk, defaulted. That set-up a quarterfinal clash with Canadian U-18 champion Eric Desrochers, who was supposed to play Waselenchuk in the quarters). Brumwell, despite only limited competitive play in the past year, stormed out to the lead with a 15-8 win in the first game. Down 4-14 in the second, Brumwell battled back and took the game and the match 16-4. "I was kind of lucky not to have to play Kane, really," said Brumwell. "Eric is a real solid player…but this (a berth in the semi-finals) is starting to get silly." Silly in a good sense, of course, but there is nothing silly about Brumwell's game. A former member of the National Team, Brumwell has two silver medals to show from his international experience. The first came at the 1994 World Championships, the second a year later at the Pan Am Games in Argentina. Brumwell, who is slated to play the winner of the Osborne-Vincent Gagnon quarterfinal at 7:00 pm Friday evening, doesn't really have an answer for his recent run of success. He does feel that his "work environment" with the Canucks has helped to a degree. "I am surrounded all the time with people who work out a lot," he says. "It helps me stay sharp and in shape." For more information, please contact Peter Robinson 647.227.5540 or visit www.Racquetball.ca. Women's semis, men's quarter-finals set at Racquetball National Championships. Men's No. 1 seed withdralws, remaining top seeds advance as men's quarters, women'semis set at Racquet National Championships. The women's semi-finals and men's quarter-finals are set to go Friday at Racquetball Canada's National Championships continued Thursday at Studeo 55 in Vancouver. On the women's side, top seed Lori-Jane Powell of Calgary defeated her doubles partner Julie Neubauer, also of Calgary, 15-13,15-3, to advance to the semi-finals where she will face Amanda McDonald of Prince Albert, Sask, the No. 5 seed. McDonald advanced with a 15-13, 15-6 win over fourth seeded Chantal Turgeon of Rock Forest, Que. Winnipeg's Jennifer Saunders, the No. 3 seed and Josee Grand'Maitre of Longueuil, Que also advanced and will meet in the other semi-final. The men's top seed, Kane Wasenlenchuk of Edmonton withdrew with an unspecified injury. Eric Desrochers, the Canadian U-18 champion, advanced in a walkover and will play Vancouver's Chris Brumwell in the quarter-finals. No. 2 seed Mike Green of Burlington, Ont., defeated Quebec's Patrick Jauvin 15-3, 15-3 to also advance to the quarter-finals. Third seed Brian Istace of Calgary, and fourth seed Corey Osborne of Penetanguishene, Ont., also advanced. The event is the primary selection event for the Pan Am Games, slated to take place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in August. The Canadian team is expected to be announced shortly after the completion of singles action Saturday. Semi-finals are slated to take place Friday evening and the final and third-place matches will go ahead Saturday afternoon. More than 190 athletes are taking part at the National Championships. For more information, please contact Peter Robinson 647.227.5540 or visit www.Racquetball.ca. Singles action kicks off at Racquetball National Championships; Albertans top seeds. Singles competition has started at the Racquetball National Championships at Studeo 55 in Vancouver. A total of 19 different categories and almost 190 total players will be in singles action through Saturday. Calgary's Lori-Jane Powell and Edmonton's Kane Waselenchuk are the top seeds in the women and men's divisions respectively. Powell will play her doubles partner, fellow Calgarian Julie Neubauer in quarter-final action Thursday at 3 pm. Waselenchuk is slated to play Canadian U-18 champion Eric Desrochers of Ancaster, Ont., two hours later in a round-of-16 match. Other matches of note include No. 4 men's seed Corey Osborne, who won the doubles title with his partner Francois Viens Tuesday night, against U-18 runner up Tim Landeryou of Saskatoon in another round-of 16 encounter. Also in the 16s, local player Ken St.Laurent of Surrey, will play the men's No. 3 seed Brian Istace of Calgary at 3 pm. Amanda McDonald will play Chantal Turgeon in a battle of Canadian national team players at 6 pm, while two other Team Canada members, Josee Grand'Maitre and Karina Odegard will also face-off an hour later. The event is the primary selection event for the Pan Am Games team that will be selected shortly after the tournament wraps up. For more information, please contact Peter Robinson 647.227.5540 or visit www.Racquetball.ca. Veterans showed their poise in women's doubles. Josee Grand'Maitre and Jennifer Saunders won the women's doubles title Tuesday with a poised 15-6, 8-15, 11-8 win over Lori-Jane Powell and Julie Neubauer at Studeo 55 in Vancouver. "The doubles win is good, I told Ron Brown it was kind of like the icing," said Saunders, a Winnipeg native who won her first doubles title with the victory. "Now I want the cake - and that is singles." The match was a see-saw affair, with Grand'Maitre and Saunders looking like they were in firm control after the first game. But Neubauer and Powell, who were the tournament's No. 1 seeds based on their Selection event win in Saskatoon, stormed back to win the second game in relatively easy fashion. A turning point came in the tiebreaker when Neubauer was struck on the face with a ball. The Calgary native was forced to take almost 15 minutes to recover, but it gave Grand'Maitre and Saunders, who were down 0-3 at the time, pause to recover. "My legs were getting sore and a little tired, I had to keep moving to make sure I didn't get really heavy legs," said Grand'Maitre, a native of Longueuil, Que. With the restart it was clear that Saunders and Grand'Maitre had renewed their focus. "I think the (timeout) helped Josee and I," said Saunders. "It gave me a chance to focus on my serve and my shots…that's what I did just practiced my shots on the court (during the timeout)." The loss dampened an excellent effort by both Neubauer and Powell, but it should be said that both women played very well, with Powell buzzing all over the court and Neubauer showing remarkable courage to come back while the left side of her face swelled up from the injury. "I thought they played a very good match," said Grand'Maitre. "Lori-Jane was making shots from all over the place." The match virtually assures a spot on the Pan Am Games team for both Grand'Maitre and Saunders, both of whom expressed some relief, but said it only renewed their focus on singles. "It certainly relieves the pressure of having to clinch a spot on the Pan Ams team," said Grand'Maitre. Says Saunders: "I just have to make sure I am ready for every match. The people I am going to be playing are great players and it's going to take a lot to beat them". Winnipeg Connection: All Pan Am Games roads lead to Winnipeg, right? That statement could be true in a few contexts. Obviously the fact the city has hosted two Pan Am Games previously is one angle, but another has everything to do with the results of Tuesday night's doubles wins. Saunders and Francois Viens, a member of the winning men's team, once roomed together in the Manitoba capital. Viens, a native of Rock Forest, Que., moved to Winnipeg back in the 90s to hone his game, playing with the likes of former world champion Sherman Greenfeld, a Winnipeg native. It was at that time that Saunders and Viens roomed together. "Now were both going for Pan Am gold," quipped Saunders after their respective victories. For more information, please contact Peter Robinson 647.227.5540 or visit www.Racquetball.ca. Osborne and Viens all business in taking doubles title. Corey is not clowning around this time. Corey Osborne, who often dresses up as a clown to entertain children, teamed with his partner Francois Viens to defeat Mike Ceresia and Brian Istace, 15-4, 14-16, 11-7 and win the men's doubles title at the Racquetball National Championships Tuesday night at Studeo 55 in Vancouver. "I'm a little numb right now, it hasn't sunk in," said Osborne, a 33-year-old from Penetanguishene, Ont. It is the first national championship for both Osborne and Viens, who entered the tournament the No. 2 seeds, with Ceresia and Istace seeded first. The match was a riveting affair, with Osborne and Viens, a native of Rock Forest, Que, in control from the start. But with the match seemingly in Viens and Osborne's control at 13-7, Ceresia and Istace drew upon their veteran experience and stormed back to win the second game. With the crowd clearly favouring the underdogs, Osborne and Viens seemed to wilt under the pressure of playing in the tiebreaker of a national championship. Down 7-3, they called on their coach, and Team Canada's head coach, Michel Gagnon. "We just had a change in strategy, Michel told us to start hitting the ball down the wall to Brian," said Osborne. "It seemed to work." What definitely worked were the kill shots of Osborne when it matter most. With their opponents just four points from victory, Osborne unleashed a handful of winners that turned the tide of the match and gave him a ticket to the Pan Am Games later this summer. Osborne said the win was a product of a tough tournament that saw them battle in the last three matches, needing tiebreakers in all, to finally clinch their own national title. "That is just the type of tournament we've had," said Osborne, acknowledging the tough road to the final ended up helping him and his partner for the match they had in the final. Osborne said the crowd was also a huge plus. "They always love the underdog," he said. Francis Guillemette and Vincent Gagnon won the third-place match when Mike Green and O'Brien could not start due to an injury to Green. Singles play begins on Wednesday and runs through Saturday. For more information, please contact Peter Robinson 647.227.5540 or visit www.Racquetball.ca. Doubles semi-finals matches set at Racquetball National Championships. Both the men's and women's top seeds advanced in their quarter-final matches on Monday at Racquetball Canada's National Championships at Studeo 55 in Vancouver. On the men's side, No. 1 seeds Brian Istace of Calgary and Burlington, Ont.'s Mike Ceresia advanced, winning 15-5, 15-13 over the B.C. pairing of Ken St. Laurent and Darren Moran. "It was a good, tough match, exactly the type of one you want to start, just as long as you can win it," said Ceresia. The Calgary pairing of Julie Neubauer and Lori-Jane Powell, the women's No. 1 seeds, advanced with a 15-12, 15-8 win over the Ontario team Kelli Green-Evans and Kristene Scott. Neubauer and Powell will play the fifth seeded team of Vicki Shanks of Vancouver and Linda Ellerington of Shields, Sask. Shanks and Ellerington advanced with an impressive 4-15, 15-4, 11-2 win over the fourth seeded pair of Veronique Guillemette and Chantal Turgeon of Quebec. Shanks and Ellerington both recently returned to competitive racquetball after playing on the national team in the late 80s and early-to-mid 90s. They managed to draw upon some of that experience in defeating Turgeon and Guillemette, national and development team members, respectively. "We decided we needed to iso (isolate) Veronique and not let Chantal get those returns in," said Shanks, in reference to their second-game turnaround. "It was no offence to Veronique, but Chantal was killing us in the first game with those returns." Winnipeg's Jennifer Saunders and Josee Grand'Maitre of Longueuil, Que., will play the Saskatoon pairing of Karina Odegard and Amanda McDonald in the other women's semi-final. Saunders and Grand'Maitre moved on with a 15-3, 15-10 win over the B.C. team of Joanne Ditommasso and Diana Hambly. Odegard and McDonald defeated Genevieve Brodeur of Quebec and Susan Dale of Ontario, 15-6, 15-7. Other quarter-finals of note included the thrilling tie-breaker win of Mike Green and Tom O'Brien over Bill Shepley and Kam Barteski. Down 1-7 in the tiebreaker, Green and O'Brien, who both hail from Burlington, stormed back to win 11-7. Earlier, Barteski and Shepley came back from a 10-14 deficit to win 18-16 in the second game and force the 'breaker. Green and O'Brien will face the Ontario/Quebec pairing of Corey Osborne and Francois Viens in one semi-final on Tuesday, while Ceresia and Istace will go up against the Quebec pairing of Vincent Gagnon and Francis Guillemette in the other. Osborne, of Penetanguishene, Ont., and Viens of Rock-Forest, Que., earned their spot in the semi-finals by defeating Chris Brumwell of Vancouver and Jason Ully of Lethbridge, Alta., 15-6, 7-15, 11-5. Gagnon and Guillemette dispatched Kris Odegard and Greg Starodub of Saskatoon, 15-8, 15-11 in the quarters. Doubles competition wraps up Tuesday and singles matches start Wednesday and run through Saturday at the newly refurbished Studeo 55, located at Alberni and Thurlow Sts. in downtown Vancouver. Overall, more than 190 competitors, spread across 19 singles 13 doubles divisions are taking part in the National Championships. For more information, please contact Peter Robinson 647.227.5540 or visit www.Racquetball.ca. Shanks and Ellerington make triumphant debut. It's hard to keep a good woman down, when it comes to former national team players Vicki Shanks and Linda Ellerington, that saying should be changed to plural. The two "veterans" who both recently returned to racquetball, defeated the Quebec duo of Veronique Guillemette and Chantal Turgeon 4-15, 15-4, 11-2 to advance to the women's doubles semi-finals set for noon Tuesday at Studeo 55 in Vancouver. "I'm back," beamed the 42-year-old Ellerington, in reference to a 10-year layoff before she took up the game again last year. Ellerington, who hails from what she referred to as the "resort village of Shields" in Saskatchewan, returned to racquetball a year and a half ago, having recently left her job at Xerox, where she was working as a technician. She credits the job change with turning her racquetball around. How you ask? Well, a car accident in 1992 caused problems in her neck, and her job would aggravate the condition. Needing to make a living, she couldn't physically take the problems that both racquetball and her job caused. She had to drop one, so racquetball fell by the wayside. A full 10 years later, and with the encouragement Loren Prentice and Carol Jacobson-Prentice, who own RiverRacquet Club in Saskatoon, she was back, no longer saddled with the strain of servicing Xerox machines all day. Now she continues to fine-tune her racquetball game, while working as the greenskeeper at Shields' nine-hole golf course. Plans are in the mix to start her own lawn care business as well. The story is a little different for Shanks, a 38-year-old high school teacher from North Vancouver. She played for eight years on the national team, and then gave up the game to start a family. Having remained active (she completed the Vancouver Marathon two weeks ago), she decided to dust off the racquet knowing the National Championships were coming to her hometown. A call from Ellerington soon followed, and the pair was teamed up in doubles (both women will play singles when that competition starts Wednesday). While they were never paired together during their days together on the national team, Ellerington is a conventional right-hander and Shanks left-handed, so they make a natural pairing. With Ellerington having fine-tuned her game for the past year, which included a fifth-place showing in doubles and seventh in singles at last year's nationals, all that was needed was for Shanks to get a few practice sessions in at her local community centre (this writer was sworn not to reveal the secret how she gained access to the practice time). The veteran poise was soon apparent Monday afternoon when Ellerington and Shanks had to deal with the precision service returns of Turgeon. "We decided we needed to iso (isolate) Veronique and not let Chantal get those returns in," said Shanks. "It was no offence to Veronique, but Chantal was killing us in the first game with those returns." With the adjustments made, the match swung in their favour, ending with an impressive 11-2 win in the tiebreaker. They now are slated to play the top seeds, Julie Neubauer and Lori-Jane Powell Tuesday at noon. "That's good, I think I would rather play the top seeds in the semis anyway," said Shanks. For more information, please contact Peter Robinson 647.227.5540 or visit www.Racquetball.ca. 2003 Nationals - UPDATE - May 18, 2003 Racquetball National Championships set to begin Monday in Vancouver; singles slated for Wednesday. Racquetball Canada’s national championships begin Monday with doubles competition at the newly refurbished Studeo 55 in Vancouver. Burlington, Ont.’s Mike Ceresia and his partner Brian Istace of Calgary are the No. 1 seed on the men’s side, while Calgarians Julie Neubauer and Lori-Jane Powell form the top seed in the women’s draw. Ceresia/Istace and Neubauer/Powell both won the doubles selection event in Saskatoon in January to earn the No. 1 seeding. Both doubles competitions are expected to be wide open, with as many as four teams in both women’s and men’s considered to have good shot at taking the title. Corey Osborne of Penetanguishene, Ont., teams with Francois Viens, of Rock Forest, Que., as the No. 2 seeds. Mike Green and Tom O’Brien, both of Burlington, Ont., are the No. 3 seeds. On the women’s side, Winnipeg’s Jennifer Saunders and Josee Grand’Maitre of Longueuil, Que., are the No. 2 seeds. Defending national champions Amanda McDonald and Karina Odegard, both of Saskatoon, are No. 3. Doubles will wrap up Tuesday night and singles competition begins Wednesday and continues through Saturday. More than 190 participants will take part at the newly re-furbished club located in downtown Vancouver. The tournament is the primary selection event for the Pan Am Games that will be held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in August. Results from this competition will be combined with the past two selection events (singles and doubles) on a two-thirds/one-third basis to select the Canadian team for the Pan Ams. That squad is expected to be announced shortly after the national championships. For more information, please contact Peter Robinson 647.227.5540 or visit www.Racquetball.ca. 2003 Nationals - FINAL UPDATE - May 15, 2003 With play scheduled to start Monday at noon, this will be the last update from the 2003 Planning Committee. Don't forget to attend the registration meet-and-greet on Sunday between 4 and 7 at the club - meet and greet the Polar Ice Vodka Martini Genie and start your week with a complimentary Polar Ice crantini. Milestones will be providing tasty appetizers. The "Technical A" referee clinic will start at 7 pm in Court 8 at Studeo55. Find out whether that basketball hoop is a hinder! For those out-of-town players who will be flying into Vancouver International Airport on Sunday May 18, please look for the Studeo55 greeters near the baggage-claim area. The greeters will be wearing bright orange T-shirts and holding signs that read: '2003 Canadian Racquetball Championship shuttle service'. We will also have a greeting booth/station in this area - the greeters will be impossible to miss and they will direct you to where the shuttle will be loading and leaving from. If you are flying into Vancouver on some day other than Sunday, you can catch the green Ariporter bus directly to the host Empire Landmark Hotel on Robson Street. The Airporter costs about $12 one-way or $18 round trip, and leaves the airport approximately every 20 minutes. The Racquetball Canada Annual General Meeting will take place at the host hotel, The Empire Landmark, on Monday morning. The meeting will start promptly at 9 a.m. All Racquetball Canada members are encouraged to attend to find out about racquetball in Canada. All eight courts (four at the Studeo and 4 at the YMCA) have matches scheduled at noon Monday, so 8 referees and 32 players will be on the courts and ready to start the 2003 National Racquetball Championships at noon. Everyone else can stop by the Studeo for lunch from the Bread Garden, between 12 and 2. We're looking forward to seeing everyone, and we are committed to doing everything we can to ensure you have a fabulous time. If you have any questions at any time during the week, please do not hesitate to ask us. John Dykstra, Event Coordinator Email: john@studeo55.ca Tel: 604-684-0544 Fax: 604-684-0543 Lori Kirk, Planning Committee Email: lori.kirk@patand.com Tel: 604-323-8100 Cheryl McKeeman, Planning Committee Email: cmckeemn@langara.bc.ca Tel: 604-323-5429 Nationals less than a week away The folks in Vancouver tell us the paint is drying, the lights are shining, the balls are bouncing and the beer is chilling. No sign of the draw sheets yet, but they'll be posted here Sunday for sure. Watch the Racquetball Canada Web site to see how everyone is doing throughout the tournament. Final count: 194 people entered the tournament. First entry was our very own Lori Kirk. Last entry bragging rights go to Chris Brumwell, who called in the day after our Canucks were eliminated (boo hoo), although Brian Valin is still something of a phantom - as is the mysterious Art McAvoy. Canada's junior national male singles finalists Landeryou and Desrochers have entered - maybe we'll see a rematch of Saskatoon. (Editor's note: vicious rumours were circulating that a few injuries were threatening certain competitors, but good karma will surely win out and cure those during the flight west). Theme Nights are planned for throughout the week. Monday is Western night; Tuesday is Birthday Party night; Wednesday is Mexican Salsa night; Thursday is Granville Island Maple Cream Ale night; Friday is Pyjama Party night; and it all winds up on Saturday with a massive after-dinner party back at Studeo55. So be prepared for lots of good times, and bring your cowboy hats, party hats, dancing shoes and pyjamas. We have arranged a great car rental deal with Thrifty Car Rental. To reserve, and to get full details on the arrangement, contact Thrifty's Vancouver reservation center at (604) 606-1666, or email the reservations manager Angela Stein at astein@dtag.comastein@dtag.com, and mention the Racquetball Championships. Parking in downtown Vancouver is never easy or cheap at the best of times. But parking arrangements have been made. Exit passes will be sold at the club for $5. As well, multi-day passes with in-out privileges will be sold at the club. Other than that, leave the car at home and enjoy walking around the beautiful downtown Robson Street area. And don't worry about spending money on Robson Street for souvenirs for your loved ones back home. There will be some top notch merchandise available for sale at the Studeo - you may find the perfect souvenir right there at Studeo55. SunScape Tanning Studios (looks weird spelt that way, doesn't it!) owner Kelly Kerr is offering a 50% discount to any Nationals participant who wants to try his Instant Tan Sunless Spray booth - or any other tanning bed, for that matter - during the week of the Nationals. Contact Kelly at kkerr@sunscapetanning.com for details or check the Web site at www.sunscapetanning.com. Brush up on your BC Racquetball trivia because there's a prize on the line! In your tournament program, you will find a page of questions. Write in your answers and bring the page to the banquet for a chance at a fabulous prize. This will be your chance to talk to some of the locals about our history and habits! Play starts Monday - are you ready???!!!! John Dykstra, Event Coordinator Email: john@studeo55.ca Tel: 604-684-0544 Fax: 604-684-0543 Lori Kirk, Planning Committee Email: lori.kirk@patand.com Tel: 604-323-8100 Cheryl McKeeman, Planning Committee Email: cmckeemn@langara.bc.ca Tel: 604-323-5429 |
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