Green and Lambert win Racquetball Canada's National Team Selection Event

Mike Green, the current Canadian racquetball champion, defeated Vincent Gagnon on Sunday to win the Racquetball Canada National Team Selection Event in Brossard, Que. at Nautilus Plus. Green dropped the first game to Gagnon, but then came back to win the match in a tie-breaker, 10-15, 15-7, 11-4.

Green, a 6 time Canadian Champion, also defeated Gagnon at last year's Canadian National Championship, so could be back at #1 in Canada, a position he held until 2009. (this pending a release of official Racquetball Canada rankings).

Tim Landeryou took 3rd place by defeating Kris Odegard, 8-15, 15-12, 13-11, although there was a scary incident in the middle of game two as Odegard accidentally hit Landeryou in the head as he was swinging for the ball. Landeryou had gone down to make a shot and was just getting up as Odegard swung. It looked like there was room to swing but Odegard caught Landeryou right in the side of the head just in front of Landeryou's left ear.

Landeryou went down immediately, and stayed down for some time. But after taking a few minutes of injury time he was able to continue the match with Odegard serving at 10-9. Landeryou then scored 6 of the next 8 points to force a tie-breaker and fought off a match point at 10-9 in that tie-breaker to win it 13-11.

On the women's side, Frédérique Lambert upset top seed and current Canadian champion Jennifer Saunders in two straight games, 17-15, 15-10. Lambert was sharp, and Saunders couldn't quite match the younger player's shooting accuracy.

Third place went to Josée Grand'Maître defeated Brandi Jacobson Prentice, 15-1, 15-4.

The 8 players who finished in the top four this weekend should comprise Team Canada for the 2011 Pan American Championships in Nicaragua in April based on the combination of these current results combined with results from the National Team Selection Event in November 2010 in Edmonton, Que. and those from last year's Canadian National Championships.

Racquetball Canada National Team Selection Event, Brossard, Quebec

Men's Results

1st place - Mike Green (Burlington, Ont.) d. Vincent Gagnon (Monteral), 10-15, 15-7, 11-4

3rd place - Tim Landeryou (Saskatoon) d. Kris Odegard (Saskatoon), 8-15, 15-12, 13-11

5th place - Pedro Castro (Montreal) d. Francis Guillemette (Mercier, Que.), 15-9, 15-13

7th place - Lee Connell (Saskatoon) d. Eric Desrochers (Burlington, Ont.), 15-2, injury default

9th place - Nathaniel Husulak (Saskatoon) d. François Viens (Delson, Que.), 15-8, 15-13

11th place - Mike Burgess (Fort MacMurray, Alta.) d. Colin Mohr (Regina), 15-5, 10-15, 11-5

Women's Results

1st place - Frédérique Lambert (Montreal) d. Jennifer Saunders (Winnipeg), 17-15, 15-10

3rd place - Josée Grand'Maître (Longueuil, Que.) d. Brandi Jacobson Prentice (Montreal), 15-1, 15-4

5th place - Christine Richardson (Regina) d. Valérie Fallu (Brossard, Que.), 15-2, 15-12

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