THE second edition of the Canada Cup softball three-day tournament, organised by the Ontario Twilight Softball Cricket League (OTSCL), is set to bowl off today at various venues around Scarborough, Toronto.
The tournament, which has been rebranded, following three years of Toronto Cup in 2015, 2017 and 2019 under the aegis of the Ontario Softball Cricket Clubs (OMSCC), has attracted teams from New York mainly Canada. However, several individual players from Guyana and Florida are also participating.
The tournament is being played in the usual three categories – Open All Stars, Masters Over-40 and Legends Over-50. The organisers were also aiming to have a round-arm category but the plans fell through.
Among the Guyanese players who will be turning out for defending Over-40 Masters champions are “powerhouses” Richard Latiff, Patrick Rooplall and Chien Gittens.

Despite the absence of Regal Legends who are still to make their Canadian debut and who recently failed to defend their crown in the New York Softball League (NYSCL) annual tournament, lots of attention is centred in the Over-50 category where defending champions Toronto Blizzards are aiming to make it two in a row.

Since winning the tournament in 2022, Toronto Blizzards have been dethroned by nemesis GTA Storm following a five-year consecutive reign as champions of the Ontario Masters Softball Cricket Clubs (OMSCC) Over-50 division. Both teams will have a point to prove as they vie for supremacy and bragging rights.

Led by seasoned campaigners in skipper Troy Gobin and vice-captain Uniss Yusuf, GTA Storm are supremely confident they can stop the winning ways of Toronto Blizzards, who also won the last Toronto Cup in 2019. The team also has the likes of Richard Driffield, Ramo Malone and Zaheer Haniff.
Not to be outdone, Toronto Blizzards will be captained by capable all-rounder Mahendra “Bobby” Parasnauth and includes Shiv Seeram, Sunil Dhaniram, Mohan Harihar and Jaimini Singh.
Other top contenders are the NYSCL Legends and Ramblers Rampage who are not to be taken lightly.

The OTSCL is in its third year and is led by a management committee comprising individuals with a proven track record in the area of managing softball cricket in Ontario – Azeem Khan, Feizal Bacchus and Dickey Singh.