Jennifer Saunders claims racquetball title

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This article was published 03/02/2008 (6488 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was the ultimate display of successful multi-tasking as Winnipeg’s Jennifer Saunders organized the 2008 Keystone Classic racquetball tournament, won the women’s singles title, earned a berth in the 2008 Pan American Racquetball Championships and moved one step closer to qualifying for the World Championship.

For Saunders, it was also a smooth demonstration of focus as the 31-year-old former Thompson resident was the No. 1 seed playing on her home court at the University of Manitoba before a home crowd with high expectations and had to beat her national doubles partner Josée Grand’Maître in the final (15-10, 8-15, 11-5).

“There was a few people here, my racquetball cronies, who have watched me grow up in the sport and get better so that was great to see,” Saunders, also Racquetball Manitoba’s program co-ordinator, said of the appreciative crowd. She will now represent Canada in the 2008 Pan American Championships March 14-23 in Costa Rica.

“The goal I have for myself now is I’d like to win a world championship. I’ve won a silver and a bronze at worlds. This is the first step to qualifying for Worlds so it was really important for me to win today.”

Saunders has now qualified for the Pan American Racquetball Championships in both doubles and singles but is expected to choose the singles event. She will then compete in the Canadian Racquetball Championships May 19-22 in Burlington, Ont. which is the final qualification leg for the 2008 World Championship set for Kingscourt, Ireland in August.

“She is one of the best at dealing with distractions, that’s what you face at a world championship, and that’s exactly what she did here with this important event being at home with her organization running it,” said Ron Brown, national racquetball team coach who is based in Winnipeg. He has been selected as the national team coach for the 2008 Pan American Racquetball Championships.

“We’ve always had the model of Sherman Greenfeld (two-time men’s world champion from Winnipeg) so we know what that looks like,” he said. “For Jennifer, it’s attainable and, once you’ve won it, you’re always going to be a world champion.”

Though Saunders said she was “annoyed” with her play in the first game as she was up 8-0 in the first game, she was satisfied with the way the match ended.

“I let it get back to 15-10 and if I’d won that first game 15-5 like I think I could have, I think the second game would have been a lot more straight forward,” said Saunders, noting her friend Stephanie Oteyza ran the Keystone Classic for her on Sunday so she could concentrate on the final. “But I am happy with how I played in the ‘breaker (third game). There was never any question as to who was going to win.”

Michael Burgess of Brandon, ranked 11th in Canada, lost in the quarterfinals but went on to win the ninth-place final.

Over 90 athletes from Manitoba and across Canada competed in the tournament making it one of the largest racquetball events in Manitoba in recent years.