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Local club is headquarters for top squash players
Local club is headquarters for top squash players
Guardian Photo/IAN KELSO
Squash players from Etobicoke Raquet Fitness Club won gold at the recent Masters Provincial Championships. Here left to right are the gold winners, Mike Bertin, Walter Bentley, Paul Sinclair, absent is team member Bob Hall. SEE STORY..........
May 01, 2008 11:48 AM
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Five squash players from the Etobicoke Racquet Fitness Academy returned from the Ontario masters meet with four golds and one silver.

The club is at 401 The West Mall at Burnhamthorpe Road.

The Ontario championship was held at the Cricket Club at Avenue Road and Wilson Avenue March 28 to 30.

Dave Sly, in the over 40 category, Walter Bentley, in the over 45 category, Mike Bertin, in the over 50 category, Bob Hall in the over 50 category and Paul Sinclair in the 60 plus category all competed at the event.

All received gold except Bentley, who won silver.

As a team Bentley, Hall, Sinclair and Bertin competed on the masters team in the Toronto and District Squash league championship at Mayfair Lakeshore and won a gold medal again.

Sly and Bertin also won the premiere division at the competition, which was the highest level at the event.

Bertin joked that he picked the winning teams, but admitted he might have had something to do with the win.

"It was the joke at the competition that players from the same club made it in different age categories," he said.

Bertin, the captain of the team, has been playing squash for 32 years.

"You need quickness in speed, fitness and to develop racquet skill to be a good squash player," he said. "It's a sport you have to develop over time."

Besides the skill, all of his team also have passion for the sport.

"I think we all have to," he said, adding they often coach each other.

"We try to give each other pointers," he said. "We work on different shots that we try to incorporate into our game. There is always room for learning and growth in this game."

The added bonus is that the members not only share the same passion for squash, but they've become good friends.

"We socialize together," he said. "We get together and go for a bike ride. It extends beyond the squash court."

     


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