NICOLETTE Fernandes and Nyron Joseph were crowned champions of this year’s Digicel Senior National Squash Tournament when the curtain came down last evening at the Georgetown Club Squash courts.Joseph recovered from a remarkable two games down to win three games on the trot and as a result, became the 2015 Digicel Senior National Squash Champion.
In the marathon five-game outing the reigning Junior National Champion started slowly, managing to win only six points in the first two games, and threatened to be beaten in the third game when only 9-10 down.
What followed was a determined comeback in which the younger Joseph took the third game 12-10, amid several calls as tensions rose.
The fourth and fifth games were almost too close to call as the players battled point for points with impressive rallies, interrupted by close calls on ‘lets’ and ‘strokes’, which clearly unsettled the players.
In the end Joseph showed tremendous commitment in a final point that featured everything from powerful cross-country drops, dives, and eventually an impressively paced drop that proved the deciding stroke in the match to earn Joseph the game 11-8.
In the female final Nicolette Fernandes was superb in a 3-0 victory over Ashley Khalil, who showed she was no pushover. She battled through the second game, threatening to even take a game off the world number 29.
In the end Fernandes held her nerve to win that game 15-13, with all the poise and composure expected of a senior professional.
Her pedigree was evident in the final game as she almost perfectly executed each stroke to take that game 11-5.
The female third-place playoff between Akeila Wiltshire and Ashley DeGroot was tense as the players, off to an uncharacteristically lethargic start, kept getting in the way of each other’s strokes, resulting in a plethora of ‘lets’, clearly unsettling both players.
The usually halcyon style of the current left-handed Junior National Champion Wiltshire progressed to a barrage of discontent as both players briefly lost their composure. In the end Akeila showed better execution amidst the pressure as she recovered from being one game down to take the match 3-1.
At the presentation ceremony Guyana Squash Association representative, Tiffany Solomon, extended gratitude on behalf of the association to their premier corporate sponsor Digicel, and to the Georgetown club for playing host to yet another national squash tournament.
Complete Results
Regan Pollard beat Peter Michael DeGroot 3-0 (11/6, 11/8, 11/8).
Akeila Wiltshire beat Ashley DeGroot 3-1 (4/11, 11/5, 11/8, 12/10).
Rebecca Low beat Makeda Harding 3-2 (11/3, 5/11, 10/12, 11/8, 11/9).
Nicolette Fernandes beat Ashley Khalil 3-0 (11/7, 15/13, 11/5).
Adam Alves beat Anthony Islam 3-0 (11/7, 11/1, 11/9).
Joshua Abdool beat Jonathan Hohenkirk 3-1 (15/13, 8/11, 12/10, 11/2).
Deje Dias beat Alec Melville 3-0 (11/7, 11/6, 11/7).
Larissa Wiltshire beat Taylor Fernandes 3-1 (11/8, 8/11, 11/5, 11/3).
Nyron Joseph beat Jason Ray Khalil 3-2 (1/11, 5/11, 12/10, 14/12, 11/8).
Senior Open Males
1st: Nyron Joseph
2nd: Jason Ray Khalil
3rd: Regan Pollard
4th: Peter Michael DeGroot
Senior Open Females
1st: Nicolette Fernandes
2nd: Ashley Khalil
3rd: Akeila Wiltshire
4th: Ashley DeGroot