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The men’s team yesterday polished things off with a 4 – 1 win against Jamaica, following the women’s win over Barbados with the same score.
In the men’s match which closed off Guyana’s battle in the competition, men’s singles champion Chris Binnie once again proved too much for Guyana’s Sunil Seth, who lost the match 11-9,6-11,1-11,6-11.
Seth suffered Guyana’s only lost as Richard Chin, Jamal Callender, Jason Khalil and Alex Arjoon all went on to secure wins.
In the women’s battle, Ashley De Groot was the only player on the Guyana team who could manage a win, but put up a sturdy fight as she went down 2 – 3 against Nadia McCarthy.
DeGroot had a big start after she won the first two games 11 – 4, 11 – 9, but it was downhill from there as McCarthy took the next three sets 11 – 9, 11 – 3, 11 – 7.
Women’s singles champion, Nicolette Fernandes kept up her straight sets winning streak when she once again came up against Karen Meakins for another win, this time the score went 11 – 5, 11 – 2, 11 – 7. It was a win against Meakins earlier last week that handed Fernandes her title in the women’s singles.
Women’s singles third place finisher, Ashley Khalil won 11 – 8, 11 – 3, 11 – 6 against Alex Jordan, while Keisha Jeffrey beat Amanda Haywood 11 – 5, 11 – 6, 11 – 8.
Mary Fung-a-Fat’s 11 – 7, 11 – 6, 11 – 7 win against Gylla MacKenzie rounded out the team’s wins, as they knocked out the women’s team defending champion.
However Barbados managed to hold on to a win over in the veterans category, where Guyana finished second.
In the overall country positions Barbados finished behind Guyana, while third went to the Jamaica team, it was Trinidad and Tobago in the fourth position, respectively followed by OECS , and the Cayman Islands.
The win brings Guyana up two places after they finished third last year when the competition was played in Trinidad and Tobago.
Meanwhile, President of the Guyana Squash Association (GSA) , David Fernandes is thrilled with Guyana’s overall hosting and performance at the Championships this year.
”It was very good, we put in a lot of work and it paid off.
All of the players played to the best of their abilities and so it was a proud moment for us.
It is always good to have home court advantage, where the spectators and supporters come out to see the games and support the team, so [hosting the game in Guyana] was a big factor.
But each one of the players put in their special effort, even during the build up to the tournament and they really worked hard, and without their effort we couldn’t have been victorious.
I think this is the first time that Guyana has ever won the overall women’s title, so that’s very good for them.” A cheerful Fernandes said yesterday.
