Varsity Blues fall to Alberta in CUTC final

MONTREAL (CIS) – The Alberta Golden Bears claimed their second Canadian university tennis championship in three years on Sunday, completing a perfect 12-0 season with a 4-3 win over the Toronto Varsity Blues at Uniprix Stadium.

Mark Hamill, Daniel Henschel, Vuk Radovic and Sidney Yap each notched singles victories for Alberta, while Zain Manji and Sasha Obucina responded for Toronto. Hamill, who sealed the match with a hard-fought 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles, was named tournament MVP.

Much like the women's final Saturday, the silver medallist Varsity Blues were ahead 2-0 early following the doubles competition and No.1 singles, before conceding four of the final five matches. 

In a close battle between the two co-hosting schools, McGill took the bronze medal, edging crosstown rival Montreal 4-3. Redmen pairs Haythem Laaribi/Benjamin Dubuc and Mihail Donski/Philippe Rivard captured the important doubles point that proved to be the difference. The two sides split the singles event, with three of the matches requiring a third-set tiebreak. 

Men's Gold Medal Match: Alberta vs. Toronto

Doubles

Ivan Markovic/Zain Chiang (Toronto) def. Ryan Townsend/Jeff James (Alberta) 8-2

Mark Hamill/Daniel Henschel (Alberta) def. Manji/Obucina (Toronto) 8-4

Nick Somody/Andrew Bourne-K (Toronto) def. Vuk Radovic/Sidney Yap (Alberta) 8-7 (5)

Singles

Zain Manji (Toronto) def. Ryan Townsend (Alberta) 7-5, 6-2

Mark Hamill (Alberta) def. Ivan Markovic (Toronto) 5-7, 6-2, 6-2

Daniel Henschel (Alberta) def. Cameron Chiang (Toronto) 6-2, 6-3

Sasha Obucina (Toronto) def. Jeff James (Alberta) 6-2, 6-2           

Vuk Radovic (Alberta) def. Nick Somody (Toronto) 6-1, 6-4

Sidney Yap (Alberta) def. Andrew Bourne-K (Toronto) 6-2, 6-3

Source: CIS