SUDBURY, Ontario — The pre-tournament rankings at the 2021 Oxford Properties Canadian Senior Squash Championships pretty much hit the nail on the head, with top-end results staying true to the seedings.

And truth be told, this wasn’t at all out of line with the expectations of Sudbury native and No. 3 seed Michael McCue, heading into nationals over the weekend at the Yorkdale Mall in Toronto.

Between the global pandemic and life, in general, McCue has had to reset his vision for the sport at which the 28-year-old graduate of Lockerby Composite has excelled since his pre-teenage years.

“I’ve been in school basically full time since the start of COVID,” said McCue, just days before making it through three rounds of tournament play, dropping a semi-final match to veteran Shawn DeLierre by a final score of 4-11, 15-13, 7-11, 4-11.

“I’ve not been able to train as much. It kind of shifts your expectations, not having as much expectations of yourself. I just try and enjoy the competition, the ability to compete and train rather than being quite so results focused.”

Having spent the better part of the past decade or so training in the GTA, McCue made a seamless move to transitioning back to an educational setting in which he thrived prior to pursuing the opportunities that playing professional squash afforded him.

“I live just a few minutes from campus (University of Toronto – Business School), and it’s close to where I train,” said McCue. “It’s convenient. The last couple of months has been the first time that I’ve actually had to balance school and squash.”

In Canada, of course, competition within the latter was brought to a virtual standstill dating all the way back to March of 2020. Such was the confluence of events that would bring McCue to a cross-roads almost two years ago.

“Squash is not the only priority in my life at this point, but I’ve also invested ten years of my life, building up a base, both fitness-wise and skill-wise,” he said. “That should sustain you; you should have a baseline for several more years.”

“But instead of having four hours a day of base training, you might have two hours that have to be really strong and really focused,” McCue added. “You have to get the absolute most out of your time on the court and whatever else you can do in the gym.”

Earning a bye in the opening round, McCue disposed of fellow Sudburian Charles de la Riva Jr in straight sets (11-2, 11-1, 11-2), eliminating Andrew Schnell in the quarter-finals.

Trailing 5-11, 1-11, 0-2, Schnell retired due to injury in set three, propelling McCue into yet another battle with DeLierre.

Faced with a setting that did not necessarily favor his game, the young man who was ranked 78th in the world in March of 2020 succumbed in four sets.

“On a glass court, you don’t need to be necessarily aggressive in terms of hitting winning shots,” said McCue, who conceded that while the venue made for great television, it did not play into his hand much at all.

“You do need to have a high attention to details, at all times, to be ready to move into the front court. You really can’t play an attritional passive style – a glass court doesn’t really allow for that.”

All told, McCue was likely not surprised by his final placing, given the reality of just how much time he can devote to his squash..

“You have to accept that you’re not going to have the ideal preparation before every match and every tournament,” he said. “You take confidence from the years of competing and use that to see you through.”

“Some time, you’re not going to perform at your best.”

And sometimes, your seeding simply holds true to form.

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