Mighty Niagara falls to Team Toronto.
Four years of home team Niagara dominance came thundering down at the 2020 Ontario Masters Regional Team championships this past weekend at The Club at White Oaks. This annual event brings together masters teams from different regions of Ontario to show off local activity and spirit on and off the court. The event has always featured a main draw with 9-person teams of 5 men and 4 women, and more recently adopted a B/C fixture with smaller mixed-region teams joining in the fun.
In the A draw, Team Toronto (Sean Oh, Don Lee, Mark Ducharme, Bill Lam, Chris Robitaille, Cari Fraser, Rita Bloem, Dolly Koa and Carolyn Feather) dethroned Team Niagara (Chris Draayer, Tom Powers, Grant Foy, Rachael Forgeron, Jakub Lipinski, David Forgeron, Kathy Carter, Shirley Ancker, Kristeen Espinoza, and Mariette Lincoln) by the narrowest of margins, sealing the deal with Don Lee’s 3-0 victory over Tom Powers in the final match of the weekend. An epic battle between Toronto’s Mark Ducharme, playing in the 3rd position, set the stage for Lee’s decisive match. Ducharme squeezed out a 3-2 victory over Niagara’s Grant Foy – with 4 of the games going into extra points -- winning 12-10 in game 5. Niagara, Toronto and Southwest all finished the 6 team round robin tied for first, with 4 wins and 1 loss. Team Southwest had to settle for 3rd based on its earlier loss to Niagara.
The B division was a resounding success and was also a hotly contested affair with 8 teams of 5 vying for bragging rights. In the end, Team Western (Manny Mounir, Jeff Court, Samantha Epstein, Sarah Casey, and Derek Vandenbrink) carved out a 3-2 victory over Toronto (Rudy Goodridge, Michel Robitaille, Robert De Valk, Caroline Goodridge, and Hania El Ayoubi) to win gold. Team Niagara grabbed 3rd spot followed by the United Team 1 in 4th place.
Nearly 100 masters players from around the province aged 30 to 75 descended on the fabulous White Oaks Resort for a weekend of fun and socializing, with a little squash thrown in for good measure. If you missed this year’s fabulous event, sponsored by Canadian Door Doctor and Commercial Cleaning Services, be sure to mark it on your calendar for next season!
