Team Canada Competes Well But Loses To England by Danny Da Costa
photo courtesy Steve Cubbins
June 10, 2013 OTTAWA (ON)
– The Canadian Men’s National Squash Team is 1-1 after two matches at
the World Men’s Team Championships in Mulhouse, France. The Canadian
Men face a pivotal match against Colombia on Tuesday to guarantee a
position in the Round 16. Team Canada is comprised of Shawn
Delierre of Montreal, ranked 40th in the World Squash Rankings, Dane
Sharp of Toronto (ranked 82nd), Calgary’s Andrew Schnell (ranked 97th)
and David Letourneau of Calgary (ranked 113th). The Canadian Team
is coached by Montreal’s Yvon Provencal.
On Sunday, the Canadian Team defeated Namibia 3-0. Leading the way for
Canada in its opening match was first time National Team member Dane
Sharp of Toronto. Sharp, playing in the #2 position for Canada,
defeated Namibia’s #2 player, Norbert Dorgeloh 11-4, 11-4, 11-5.
Canadian #1 Shawn Delierre of Montreal defeated Namibia’s #1 player
Marco Becker 11-5, 11-7, 11-7. Calgary’s Andrew Schnell playing
in the #3 position defeated Andrew Forrest 11-2, 11-5, 11-5.
On Monday, the Canadian Men took on the second seeded England Team
which features two top five players James Willstrop (#3) Nick Matthew
(#4). Willstrop and Matthew are joined by Darryl Selby (#14) and
Adrian Grant (#24).
Today’s opening match featured Dane Sharp versus former World #1 James
Willstrop, with Willstrop defeating Sharp 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-6).
Making his debut for Canada in the #3 position was David Letourneau, a
recent graduate of Princeton University against Darryl Selby.
Letourneau started well taking the opening game 11-6. Selby then
took control over the match, winning 3-1 (6-11, 11-2, 11-6,
11-5). The final encounter pitted Shawn Delierre against another
former World #1 Nick Matthew, with Matthew taking the match 3-1 (9-11,
11-1, 11-4, 11-6).
Canada takes on Colombia on Tuesday with the winner advancing to the Round of 16.
