Schnell Brothers Advance in Canadian Senior Championships

Round one of the Oxford Properties Canadian Senior Championships 2021 took place yesterday at the Yorkdale Mall in Toronto. This event is unique as it is both the Canadian National Championships and a Challenger 10 event featuring both male and female draws.

You can watch the action from Toronto live on SQUASHTV (worldwide).

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In the men’s event, the Schnell brothers, Graeme and Andrew, were both victorious in round one. Graeme advanced to round two as he beat James Flynn 3-1 and sets up a clash with No.2 seed Shawn DeLierre. Younger brother Andrew is one of three wildcards for the event. He reached a highest world ranking of No.60 in October 2016 and got off to a winning start against Rafi Khan 3-0, 11-5 11-6 11-2. Andrew will now play No.7 seed Cory McCartney in round two.

Another wildcard winner was 20-year-old George Crowne. He defeated Noel Heaton in a straight forward three games, 11-3 11-5 11-2. Crowne will now face No.8 seed Darosham Khan for a place in the quarter finals.

The event’s top seed David Baillargeon will face Elliot Hunt in his first match of the tournament. Hunt got past 22-year-old Dominic Wren 3-0, 11-5 11-8 11-1 to progress to the second round and will be hoping to give a good account of himself against the world No.74.

On the women’s side, Samantha Cornett got off to a winning start as she defeated wildcard Shirin Batra 11-2 11-5 11-4 to set up a round two match with No.8 seed Hannah Guthrie. Cornett reached a highest PSA ranking of No.23 in February 2018 so will be looking to recapture the squash that took her there for this week’s event.

“Squash is hard but it’s the best game out there,” said Cornett. “I’m so happy to see everyone, be competing, and I really enjoyed playing Shirin today. I was certainly edgy playing an event after so many months, but settled in.”

Three out of four wildcards were unsuccessful in round one. Leah McGillicuddy fell to the Canadian under 17s No.1 Iman Shaheen 3-0, 11-9 11-7 11-4. Shaheen’s reward for her victory is a second round match up with the event’s No.1 seed and World No.17 Hollie Naughton. Giselle Delgado caused an upset as she beat Niki Shemirani 3-1, 11-7 11-9 8-11 11-2 to set up a second round encounter with No.5 seed Catherine Giachino.

“My last tournament was the Panam games back in 2019, so I am just so excited to be competing again at all,” said Delgado.
“Having won my first match and getting to compete on the glass court at a mall is something I never thought I would get to do in my life, it’s so cool!”

Another wildcard casualty was Stephanie Hewitt. She lost out to Maria Toorpakai Wazir 11-6 11-7 11-7. Wazir will now face No.2 seed Danielle Letourneau in round two. Letourneau will be looking for a better performance from the one that saw her lose in the first round of the recent US Open and put up a strong challenge for this week’s coveted title.

Results: Oxford Properties Canadian Senior Championships 2021 – Men’s RD1
Elliot Hunt (CAN) bt Dominic Wren (CAN) 3-0: 5-11, 8-11, 1-11
[WC] George Crowne (CAN) v Noel Heaton (CAN) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-2
Charles De La Riva (CAN) bt Mahmoud Abo lail (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-1, 11-3
Salah Eltorgman (CAN) bt Jayden Shortt (CAN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-6
Maximilien Godbout (CAN) bt Blake Reinson (CAN) 3-2: 7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8
Liam Marrison (CAN) bt Jason Sano Herring (JPN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-5
[WC] Andrew Schnell (CAN) bt Rafi Khan (PAK) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-2
Graeme Schnell (CAN) bt [WC] James Flynn (CAN) 3-1: 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-3

Draw: Oxford Properties Canadian Senior Championships 2021 – Men’s RD2
[1] David Baillargeon (CAN) v Elliot Hunt (CAN)
Maximilien Godbout (CAN) v [5] Cameron Seth (CAN)
[8] Darosham Khan (CAN) v [WC] George Crowne (CAN)
Liam Marrison (CAN) v [4] Nick Sachvie (CAN)
[3] Michael McCue (CAN) v Charles De La Riva (CAN)
[WC] Andrew Schnell (CAN) v [7] Cory McCartney (CAN)
[6] Connor Turk (CAN) v Salah Eltorgman (CAN)
Graeme Schnell (CAN) v [2] Shawn DeLierre (CAN)

Results: Oxford Properties Canadian Senior Championships 2021 – Women’s RD1
Maria Toorpakai Wazir (PAK) bt [WC] Stephanie Hewitt (CAN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-7
Sydney Maxwell (CAN) bt [WC] Holly Delavigne (CAN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-1, 11-7
[WC] Giselle Delgado (CHI) bt Niki Shemirani (CAN) 3-1: 11-7, 11-9, 8-11, 11-2
Erisa Sano Herring (JPN) bt [WC] Seanna Keating (CAN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-3, 11-5
Sara Khan (CAN) bt [WC] Melanie Jans (CAN) 3-2: 10-12, 6-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-2
Samantha Cornett (CAN) bt [WC] Shirin Batra (CAN) 3-0: 11-2, 11-5, 11-4
Iman Shaheen (CAN) bt [WC] Leah McGillicuddy (CAN) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-4
Molly Chadwick (CAN) bt [WC] Laura Savage (CAN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-3, 11-3

Draw: Oxford Properties Canadian Senior Championships 2021 – Women’s RD2
[1] Hollie Naughton (CAN) v Iman Shaheen (CAN)
[WC] Giselle Delgado (CHI) v [5] Catherine Giachino (CAN)
[7] Amal Izhar (CAN) v Molly Chadwick (CAN)
Erisa Sano Herring (JPN) v [4] Nikki Todd (CAN)
[3] Nicole Bunyan (CAN) v Sara Khan (CAN)
Samantha Cornett (CAN) v [8] Hannah Guthrie (CAN)
[6] Hannah Blatt (CAN) v Sydney Maxwell (CAN)
Maria Toorpakai Wazir (PAK) v [2] Danielle Letourneau (CAN)