NATIONAL squash coach Carl Ince said he is very happy with the performances of the local squash players during the just concluded Woodpecker Products-sponsored National Junior Squash Championships and plans to implement an intense training programme leading up to the Caribbean Junior Squash Championships.

In an exclusive interview with Chronicle Sport at the conclusion of the national junior championships, Ince said he has a lot of confidence in the squad that has been selected to undergo training with the aim of defending the titles the locals won at last year’s Caribbean Championships.

“Once there is no illness or injuries, I can’t see why the overall team cannot repeat last year’s performance” Ince stated.

Last year, the locals won the boys, girls and overall team titles as well as three individual titles.

He said as the national coach it was a bit disappointing that some of the better players could not have competed in the just concluded tournament because of their CXC exams, “but we have enough time to structure that.

“When exams are over for those who were not able to compete, I’ll make more time for them to catch up and it’s fortunate that there is a programme on the highway for those who can come up there”.

Ince owns a resort which has two squash courts on the Linden Highway and he plans on taking the squad through their paces there.

He said he was more than happy with the performances of the girls and it seems likely that they can repeat last year’s achievement.

In order to select the best players to represent Guyana in Barbados in July, Ince said a play-off will be held to accommodate those players who could not compete in the just concluded tournament through no fault of their own.

He added, what was important was that those who competed got a chance to highlight their strengths and weaknesses and with this in mind the training programme for the Caribbean championships will be set up to deal with the players’ weaknesses.

He said in terms of hours of training, “it would not be as much as last year, so the intensity of the training will be greater than last year.

“A solid four months training for the Caribbean Championships would have been great, but the 40-odd days left before the championships could be alright.”

He said Jason Ray Khalil’s performance at the just concluded junior championship came as no surprise to him (Ince). He’s a naturally gifted player and it was a pleasure watching his superb performance against some of Guyana’s top players.

Khalil won the Boys’ Under-15 and Under-17 titles, but bowed out in the Under-19 age group which was won by Raphael deGroot.