International competitors taking part in Gas City Pro/Am Squash Tournament in Medicine Hat

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“This will be my second year doing it and I’m pretty excited again”

Originally from Barbados, Stewart ranked 716 in the world has done his high school here in Medicine Hat.

While not technically representing Canada in the tournament, Stewart definitely feels the love of a home court.

“I’ve been trying to abuse the home court advantage as much as to my benefit,” Stewart said.

“I heard there’s gonna be a pretty solid crowd out so I’m looking forward to that.”

Javier Romo is the top ranked player in the Gas City ProAm Tournament.

Coming from Ecuador, the journey to Medicine Hat wasn’t the easiest, but Romo is happy to have made it.

“It’s a long travel from Ecuador, it’s in South America so it’s about more than 24 hours of travel,” Romo said.

“But yeah, it’s a beautiful city, I like it really much”

The prize pool for the tournament sits at $6,000, with the competition also important for players to gather ranking points.

For Romo, there is excitement to earn money and look to climb the world rankings, as the 19-year old currently sits 128.

“It’s not a small event it’s a 6k tournament, so it’s something big for me, so I’m really excited, I want to win this tournament.”

Stewart says the support from his friends at school is always great and events like these help draw interest in the sport.

“I mean they’re really interested. I mean the whole Hat High really helps, they’re looking out for me and everything,” Stewart said.

“A lot of my friends know about this sport, so I try and get them in as much as possible”

The Gas City ProAm continues Thursday through Sunday.

The event is free to attend Wednesday through Friday, but will be a 20 dollar entrance for the semis and finals on the weekend.

The amateur part of the tournament will run Friday through Sunday with 26 competitors coming from across Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Stewart is also among the competitors in the amateur part of the tournament.

The event is also being streamed online.

by Jesse Gill, Kevin Kyle