Fernandes advances to Round-of-16

IT WAS a bittersweet first day for the Guyanese contingent at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland where they took part in the disciplines of squash and table tennis. World number 19-ranked Nicolette Fernandes advanced to the round of 16 in Squash while Alexander Arjoon and Sunil Seth suffered defeats in the Round of 64 and 32 respectively.
Playing against Namweene Muchaile of Zambia, Fernandes easily won in straight sets 11-4, 11-3, 11-3 and would now play England’s Laura Massaro in the Round of 16.
Fernandes will certainly be put to the test against Massaro who is ranked number two in the world by Women’s Squash Association (WSA) and was the 2013 World Player-of-the-Year.
Seth had defeated Daiel Zammit-Lewis of Malta 11-2, 12-10, 11-0 in the Round of 64 but would draw against Australian Cameron Pilley in the Round of 16.
The Australian won gold in the event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India and showed his superiority against the Guyanese whom he defeated 11-7, 11-3, 11-9. Arjoon was not so lucky in his clash with Wales’ Joel Makin, losing 11-9, 11-8, 11-5.
There was little to cheer about in Table Tennis when the men and women team event took place.
The team of Idi Lewis, Paul David, Christopher Franklin found some amount of success against Vanuatu but Team Guyana failed to get past Northern Ireland in their other match.
The results were the same for the women’s team of Trenace Lowe, Chelsea Edghill and Natalie Cummings who also lost their Team play to Australia in straight games.
When the games continue today, Guyana’s Imran Khan will step into the ring against Benson Njangiru of Kenya in the bantamweight division.