Top three seeds through to the semi-finals at Canadian Racquetball Championships

The top three seeds are through to the singles semi-finals at the 2014 Canadian National Racquetball Championships in Brossard, Que., but both men's and women's fourth seeds were upset in the quarterfinals Thursday.

In a battle of current versus former Canadian junior champions, 5th seed Coby Iwaasa, the current Canadian Boy's U18 Champion, defeated 4th seed Pedro Castro, a former Canadian Boy's U18 Champion, 13-15, 16-14, 11-1. Castro had a chance to win it in two straight but wasn't able to get that fifteenth point, which allowed Iwaasa to force a tie-breaking third game, which he won.

The top three men's seeds all progressed in two straight games. The #1 seed Vincent Gagnon defeated Nathaniel Husulak, 15-3, 15-1, and will play Iwaasa in one semi-final.

Second seed Tim Landeryou will play 3rd seed Samuel Murray in the other semi, as Landeryou defeated Tanner Mattson, 15-7, 15-4, and Murray beat Francis Guillemette, 15-8, 15-10.

The story was similar on the women's side, as the top three seeds all won in two straight games, but 4th seed Michèle Morissette lost to 5th seed Christine Richardson, 15-8, 15-7.

In the other quarterfinals, top seed Frédérique Lambert had no trouble with Katheryn Iwaasa, winning 15-0, 15-0. Also, 2nd seed Jennifer Saunders defeated Brigitte Richard, 15-7, 15-11, and 3rd seed Josée Grand'Maître beat Valerie Fallu, 15-4, 15-10.

The singles semi-finals go Friday with the finals on Saturday. This is the last opportunity for players to earn points that will qualify them to be on the Canadian National Team that will compete at the IRF World Championships next month in Burlington, Ont.

Racquetball Canada National Championships
Nautilus Plus, Brossard, Québec

Men's Open Singles

Quarterfinals - Thursday

Vincent Gagnon d. Nathaniel Husulak 15-3, 15-1
Coby Iwaasa d. Pedro Castro, 13-15, 16-14, 11-1
Samuel Murray d. Francis Guillemette, 15-8, 15-10
Tim Landeryou d. Tanner Mattson, 15-7, 15-4

Semi-finals - Friday

Vincent Gagnon v. Coby Iwaasa, - 5 PM
Tim Landeryou v. Samuel Murray - 6 PM

Round of 16 - Wednesday

Vincent Gagnon d. Alain Lavigne, 15-1, 15-3
Nathaniel Husulak d. Kurtis Cullen, 15-7, 15-4
Coby Iwaasa, d. Troy Brooks, 15-1, 15-7
Pedro Castro d. Tommy Murray, 15-7, 15-0
Samuel Murray d. Nicolas Bousquet, 15-3, 15-0
Francis Guillemette d. Lee Connell, 16-14, 15-13
Tanner Mattson d. Chandon Yu, 15-8, 15-4
Tim Landeryou d. Sebastian Juteau, 15-6, 15-8

Round of 32 - Wednesday

Alain Lavigne d. Patrick Jauvin, 15-12, 15-11
Kurtis Cullen d. Anthony Schonberger, 15-8, 15-3
Nathaniel Husulak d. Trevor Webb, 15-7, 12-15, 11-6
Coby Iwaasa d. Dylan Scattolon, 15-2, 15-0
Troy Brooks d. Michael Leduc, 15-5, 15-9
Tommy Murray d. Matthew Swaine, 15-2, 15-8
Nicolas Bousquet d. Tanner Prentice, 15-5, 15-9
Francis Guillemette d. Martin Bisaillon, 15-7, 15-11
Lee Connell d. Jerome Normand, 15-6, 15-4
Chandon Yu d. Chris Exner, 5-15, 15-13, 12-10
Tanner Mattson d. Mitch Brayley, 15-10, 16-14
Sebastian Juteau d. Hugo Laprise, 15-13, 15-10

Women's Open Singles

Quarterfinals - Thursday

Frédérique Lambert d. Katheryn Iwaasa, 15-0, 15-0
Christine Richardson d. Michele Morissette, 15-8, 15-7
Josée Grand'Maître d. Valerie Fallu, 15-4, 15-10
Jennifer Saunders d. Brigitte Richard, 15-7, 15-11

Semi-finals - Friday

Frédérique Lambert v. Christine Richardson - 3 PM
Jennifer Saunders v. Josée Grand'Maître - 4 PM

First Round - Wednesday

Katheryn Iwaasa d. Leanne Neubauer, forfeit
Christine Richardson d. Danielle Drury, 15-9, 15-5
Valerie Fallu d. Cher Woodward, 15-4, 15-2
Brigitte Richard d. Alexis Iwaasa, 15-12, 15-4

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