THE Guyana female squash team on Saturday qualified for the 2019 Pan-Am Games in Peru. Their day did not start with promise, as they took on the powerhouse Colombia in the quarter finals of the women’s team event.

Even with a win from Nicolette Fernandes, the ladies couldn’t take one more match to advance to the semi-finals and automatically qualify. However, they were placed in the 5/8 draw for another chance to qualify, with a matchup in the evening session against Brazil.

First up was Nicolette Fernandes, who was just too much for Thaisia Serfini, ending in a 3-0 win for Guyana.

The next player on was Mary Fung-A-Fat, current national champion who played one of her best matches of the tournament, and won 3-0 against Brazil’s Juliana Periera.

Taylor Fernandes then followed up by defeating Giovana Viega in straight games to come out 2-0.

Team Guyana will now try for its best finish at a Pan-Am Championship as it plays fellow qualifier, Chile, for 5th.

The Guyanese men had a different experience. Playing in a must win match against El Salvador, they lost their first two matches to lose out on qualifying for Peru as well. Sunil Seth and Richard Chin lost their matches 3-0  and 3-1 respectively.