Get to Know….The 2017 Canadian Women
A tournament record $15,000 USD purse has attracted Canada’s top 6 professional women back to London Squash this fall. In 2016 Danielle Letourneau shocked the field by claiming her second PSA title in a dramatic 18-16 game 5 finish. She was the first Canadian women to win the NASH Cup….we’ll see if another maple leaf can be added to the trophy in 2017.
Nicole Bunyan – rank 66
Nicole is from Victoria, and played her first NASH Cup in 2016. Since last fall she has competed in 11 PSA tournaments across North America, and her world ranking has jumped from 129th to 66th. She finished as the runner up at events in McLean and Richmond Virginia and is still looking for her first title.
Nicole will face top seed Millie Tomlinson in the opening round. The two faced off this past February in Chicago with Millie coming out on top.
Following the NASH Cup Nicole is 3rd on the reserve list for the $165K USD U.S. Open in Philadelphia.
Website – http://squashonsquash.com
Twitter – @squashnic
Samantha Cornett – rank 32
Three-time Canadian Nationals title winner Samantha Cornett has historically been the leading Canadian woman on the PSA World Tour. Cornett claimed an impressive medal haul at the 2011 Pan American Games with gold and silver medals in the team event and singles event, respectively. In 2015 she picked up another silver (doubles) and 2 bronze (team & singles) She retained the Montreal Open title in 2012 & 2013 and claimed her first Canadian Nationals Title in May 2013. She reached her career best ranking of 28th in May 2014. This will be Sam’s second NASH Cup. She reached the semi-finals last year losing to Danielle Letourneau 3-1. The two faced off again in Calgary this past March with Sam the victor. She didn’t lose a single game during the tournament and claimed her third PSA title in the last year.
Sam’s focus is on moving back into the world’s top 30. Her calendar is very crowded through the rest of the year with 6 more tournaments scheduled. From the NASH Cup she will be flying to San Francisco for the $50K USD Oracle Net Suites Open.
Website – http://samanthacornett.ca
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/samanthacornettsquash
Twitter – @cornettsamantha
Danielle Letourneau– rank 45
Danielle is from Calgary and has been in the PSA since the summer of 2014. She entered the 2016 NASH Cup as the tournament’s 7th seed, but fought hard against every opponent claiming the title and becoming the first Canadian winner of the NASH Cup women’s draw.
From the NASH Cup Danielle will continue onto the Oracle Netsuite Open in San Francisco; the US Open in Philly; the Carol Weymullar in New York; and the Slaight Music Granite Open in Toronto – all before the end of October.
Twitter – @dzlet
Hollie Naughton – rank 38
Hollie is an up-and-coming Canadian who has found success on the Tour since joining in 2012. Her first title came at the ORC Open in December 2014 where she saw off Maria Toorpakai Wazir in the final. A strong semi-final finish at the Montreal Open in March 2015 pushed into the top 60 in the world for the first time in her career. She reached 38th in February and has held onto this level 6 of the past 7 month. Hollie has competed in all 5 NASH Cup’s. She has at least made the quarter finals each time, and finished as the runner up in 2014.
From London Hollie will continue onto the Oracle Netsuite Open & U.S. Open, both as a seeded qualifier.
Website – http://www.hollienaughton.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/hollie-naughton-173717542814724/
Twitter – @hollienaughton
Micaala Seth – rank 156
After graduating from the University of Waterloo in 2013 Micaala started working at Suncor at the Sarnia Refinery in Engineering and joined the squash community in South Western Ontario. Currently she is in pursuit of professional squash while balancing engineering.
Micaala has competed in every NASH Cup making at least the main draw. She is next scheduled to compete at the Simon Warder Memorial in Sarnia this November.
Twitter – @micaalaseth
Nikki Todd – rank 64
Nikki has participated in all 5 NASH Cup women’s draws making the semi-finals twice and the quarter finals twice. She joined the tour in 2012 and the semi-final finish in 2013 helped propel her into the world’s top 100 for the first time where she has remained since. She reached a ranking high of 52 in July 2016. To date Nikki has made 11 semi-final appearances but has never been able to advance beyond…perhaps this event will be the first. She comes in as our #11 seed and will face Nada Abbas (EGY) in the opening round.
Nikki is from Regina and trains in Toronto with coach Jamie Nichols. After London she moves onto the Oracle Netsuite Open and is then second reserve for the U.S. Open in Philadelphia.