The first tournament of the season and the first stop in the Ontario Racquetball Circuit was completed this weekend. The Burlington Fall Classic held at the Ron Edwards YMCA in Burlington featured just under 50 competitors across various divisions.
In the Co-Ed Open Singles final it was top seed and Canada’s 3rd ranked player Trevor Webb who took down Canada’s number 7th ranked player and second seed Christian Pocsai. Trevor had defeated 14th ranked Kyle Wiseman to reach the finals while Christian defeated number 9th ranked (and brother Asher Pocsai) en route to his second place finish. Matt Forstner overtook Luke Coughey for the consolation win.
In the Women’s Open championship, second seed Tammy Gray took home top honors, defeating top seed Eva Pocsai in the finals. Tammy got past Mercy Coughey to reach the finals while Eva had won over Talia King. Nadja Coughey took home the consolation crown, over Julia Verrall.
In Open Doubles, the championship match between Asher/Christian Pocsai and Kyle Wiseman/Matt Forstner was postponed due to a scheduling conflict and will be played at a later date. Asher/Christian survived a challenge from Reese Young/Chris Jette en route to the finals while Kyle and Matt dispatched of Luke Coughey/Bryon Haacke to reach the finale. It was Luke and Bryon who took home the consolation over Aaron Agnew and Rick V.
In A level action, Eduardo De La Rosa took down Aaron Agnew in the Men’s A division championship match. De La Rosa (a familiar surname for racquetball enthusiasts) defeated Chris Jette en route to the finale while Agnew edged Landon Verrall in a match that went to a 5th game tiebreaker to reach the championship match. Scott Haacke took home the consolation title over taking Brandon Schaefer.
In A Doubles, Scott Haacke and Jesus Ostos went undefeated in round robin play to take home the A doubles crown. Steve Ballantine and Hagen Krueger took second place in the four team format.
In B Singles, it was top seed Jesus Ostos who emerged victorious, defeating second seed Steve Turner. Ostos had a difficult run to the title match, surviving a grueling 5th game tiebreaker over Felipe Villegas in a match that lasted well over an hour saving just enough gas to take out Turner. Turner dispatched Peter White in the semis to reach the finale. Burlington YMCA member Jordan Gee took home the consolation title with a win over Todd Lamarsh.
In B doubles, it was the duo of Rajnish Behal and Gagandeep Singh who took home the title, defeating the Burlington YMCA duo of Joe King and Felipe Villegas in a closely fought battle. Behal and Singh knocked off Junior competitors Felix Pothen-Bonnet and Ben Wallis while King and Villegas took out the Burlington YMCA team of Jordan Gee and Doug Baird to reach the finals. Gee and Baird won the consolation over the Junior duo of Lucas Villegas and Asher Wiseman.
In the C division, it was Junior player Felix Pothen-Bonnet who outlasted Junior player Lucas Villegas to win the C championship. Pothen-Bonnet survived a tough 5th set tiebreaker over fellow Crescent Town Club Junior player Ben Wallis to reach the finals while Villegas defeated Junior player Asher Wiseman to advance to the finale. Imtiaz Mustapha took home the consolation title over Junior player Carter Kolbec.
In the Junior Under 14 Division, top seeded Thomas Coughey defeated Asher Wiseman for the title. Thomas defeated sister Hosanna Coughey in the semi finals while Asher defeated Ven Raad to reach the finale. Carter Kolbec won the consolation title over Halen Pocsai.
A huge thank you to the volunteers who made the tournament possible, including Dave Lampron and Tammy Gray, as well as the local Burlington YMCA team who assisted throughout the weekend.
A thank you to Adrian Webb and Trevor Webb from Pro Kennex who were on site all weekend to help players with new gear, racquet stringing and tune ups.
A major shoutout to our sponsors for their funding and support including:
Fore Quarter Butcher Shop
Pro Kennex
A&W (at the Petro Canada in Waterdown)
Subway (at Burloak and Mapleview)
Owl Ops
Pro Motion Sports
Burlington Toyota
Capital Traffic Systems
Capital Southern Transportation Inc
Systems Plus
Burlington Nissan