Danny Schwab surpassed his own expectations when he and his partner took top honours at the Alberta Open 4Wall Handball tournament.
"I didn't know how it was going to be because I hadn't played in a competition in 10 years or so," said the 52-year-old, who won the doubles event with former Prince George resident Phil Cutts at the Edmonton tournament, March 23-25.
The event at the Mayfield Athletic Club was the first time Schwab played in the masters open (45-plus) category.
"The best thing was we beat the reigning champions," smiled Schwab about besting Sherwood Park natives Russ Glasgow and Howard Strettle in the semifinal 16-21, 21-15 and 11-10.
Schwab and Cutts plan to take their show on the road to Montreal from May 30 to June 2 at the 2012 Canadian National 4Wall Handball championship to compete in the masters 50 to 55 age category.
There were a dozen former members of the Prince George Triad handball club that took part in the Alberta Open, including David Jenkins Sr., David Jenkins Jr., Angus Jenkins, the Hanki boys - Paul, Mark and Johnny - Mac Cardinal and Frank Rossi. Cardinal also returned home a winner, having captured the consolation open title in singles, beating Jenkins Jr., and the doubles with Paul Hanki.
"It's good to always use your veteran tricks on the young guys," said Cardinal, 36, about beating the twenty-something Jenkins.
Despite not having played together with Cutts, who lives in Sherwood Park, for many years, Schwab said it didn't take long for them to find their groove.
"In handball anybody can really play with anybody," said Schwab. "It's nice if you know each other but you can really fit in pretty quickly with somebody else. We've all played handball since we were kids and we get together every [year] at Christmastime and play handball.
"It's a physically demanding sport that's great exercise, plus it's something you can do on your own time," he added.
Since the Triad club burnt down in the early 1990s, handball enthusiasts in town have played at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club, but the lack of facilities has inhibited the once thriving handball community from putting on world-class tournaments.
Cardinal said preparations are already started for the Prince George Open handball tournament from Sept. 14 to 16 at the P.G. Golf and Curling Club. Anyone interested in signing up can email Cardinal at [email protected].
