Nasty bronze medal match overshadows Ontario’s men’s squash win

Sarah Kraus, Staff Contributor

Today’s bronze medal squash match between Alberta and Quebec broke with the spirit of the Canada Games, as tensions boiled over and friendly competition was replaced with outright frustration.

While Quebec eventually won the bronze medal, Team Alberta was unsportsmanlike right from the outset of the encounter.

Alberta’s Jason Field started things off by continually contesting the officials’ decisions in his match against Calvin Wren.

Field seemed physically exhausted during every rally, though he did hit a few beautiful winning backhands to the front corner of the court.

After a few calls didn’t go his way, Field wailed on the ball after the rally was over, nearly hitting Wren, who surprisingly remained calm and focused despite the commotion. Wren would go on to win three games in a row.

The referee’s calls were once again disputed in the second match.

Alberta’s Adrian de Vries really challenged his opponent to cover all four corners of the court, but Quebec’s Mat Diab was up to the task, winning the match 3-0.

With Quebec ahead by two matches, the pressure was on Tyler Lee from Alberta, who entered the Games ranked 16th nationally, the highest of any player in this bronze medal encounter. Alberta needed to win the remaining matches with six straight wins in order to force a tiebreaker.

Quebec’s Chris Defour ruined Alberta’s medal hopes in the very first game, pulling off an upset 11 – 7 victory. In response, Lee threw a fit. He whipped his racket at one wall, flung his glasses into another, shot his headband into the floor and pushed a chair across the gym as he stormed off the court.

Meanwhile, Team Quebec jumped up off the bleachers cheering, before embracing Defour in a congratulatory hug.

Even though the final match did not affect the outcome of the encounter, Alberta’s Cale Williams fought hard to squeak out a win over Quebec’s Geordie Henderson in a five game match.

In the gold medal game, Ontario defeated British Columbia by a score of 4 – 0 to claim first place.

Editor’s Note: Sarah Kraus is a King’s journalism student and multi-sport athlete. She is volunteering as a media representative at Saint Mary’s University during the Canada Games.