Photo : Peter Figura
The final Fischer Junior Nationals event of 2024 kicked off over the weekend as Canada’s best under-14 players arrived in Laval, Quebec for the U14 Fischer Outdoor National Championships.
Play began on Saturday at Carrefour Multisports with the group stage matches in the singles.
The singles competitions at the U14s start out with a group stage, from which the top players go into a qualifying knockout round. The winners in the qualifying advance to the championship flight, which serves as the knockout stage to determine a champion. There are also consolation rounds for players who do not progress through the group stage, qualifying, and championship flights.
There are eight groups in the initial round robin. Each group has five players.
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The doubles draws are a standard knockout event. There are 20 teams competing in both the boys and girls doubles events.
Callum Mackinnon of Toronto is looking for the 2024 sweep at the U14s, having won the U14 Fischer Indoors singles title back in April. He is already off to a strong start, losing just six games in his first three matches of the group stage.
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Marc-Edouard L’Allier and Joachim Marx won the indoor doubles title in April and while both are competing this week in the outdoor championships, they are playing with different partners. L’Allier is the top seed in the doubles with Mackinnon, while Marx is seeded second with fellow Quebecer Alexandre Collin.
There will be a new singles champion in 2024 on the girls side with indoor winner Amy Shen competing last week in the U16s. The indoor doubles champions, Ève Thibault of Quebec and Isabella Ruyu Yan of Saskatchewan, will look to complete the indoor-outdoor double. They are the top seeds in the doubles draw.
Thibault is looking to go back-to-back at the outdoor nationals, having won the U14 doubles last summer with Émy Gauvin.
