The Warriors squash teams competed at the 2023 OUA Championship this past weekend in Kingston.
The women started the weekend with a 6-1 win against Brock and a 2-5 loss to McMaster (who ended up getting silver). On Saturday we lost 2-5 to Western which completed the pool play, leaving us in 3rd in our pool and sending us to the Consolation draw. Throughout those matches, we had our #1 spot, rookie
Niki Shemirani (Toronto/), and #2 spot, captain
Khaaliqa Nimji (Nairobi, Kenya/) claiming the wins. In the Consolation draw, we played Ottawa and won 6-1, where rookie
Talia Fiaani (London/) earned an incredible win in 5 games after being down 2 games. On Sunday morning we played off for 5th place against Guelph.
Jillian VanderVelde (Hamilton/) earned a clutch win in that match up, helping us win 4-3 and claim 5th place overall. Overall,
Niki Shemirani (Toronto/) and
Khaaliqa Nimji (Nairobi, Kenya/) both went undefeated.
Niki Shemirani (Toronto/) was named an OUA All-Star and won Rookie of the Year.
The men started the weekend with two 7-0 wins against McMaster and Brock. On Saturday in the final pool play match, we lost to Toronto 7-0, with an honourable mention for Connor Jink's 5-game match. This put the men at 2nd in their pool, sending them to play Western in the semi-finals where they lost 7-0. In the 3/4 match against Queen's, they won 6-1 with two hard-fought matches for rookie
Rayan Hashmi (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia/) and veteran
Connor Jinks (Stratford/).
Rayan Hashmi (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia/) was named an OUA All-Star and won Rookie of the Year. Overall, coach
Cameron Seth (Fergus/) and the team earned bronze.
As Waterloo walked away with both Rookie of the Year awards, we also walked away with another Jack Fairs Award, given to
Ahmed Fouad (Waterloo/). The Jack Fairs Award is presented to one male and one female from the Jesters University League. The recipients of this award are extremely hard-working players who contribute the most to their team. Jack Fairs always stressed the importance of every match in the line up and believed the #7 match mattered just as much as the #1.
Ahmed Fouad (Waterloo/) is our graduating captain but he leaves an impression on our team that will last for years to come. Coach
Tori Grootjen (Woodstock/) has nothing but respect and appreciation for the student-athletes that made squash a priority this season and showed up for their team and teammates this championship weekend.
