– Arjoon retains men’s title; Khalil goes under to Nicolette Fernandes

IN a closely fought encounter, featuring  long rallies and frustrating missed points,

defending champion Aex Arjoon retained his men’s open national title after an overwrought battle against Richard Chin in the Digicel Senior National Squash Championships, at the end of which Nicolette Fernandes picked up another women’s open title.

Fernandes dethroned Ashley Khalil in straight sets for her win; but Chin stretched Arjoon out to four games, after he was down two games and fought back to win the third set in the final match of the night to go down at the courts of the Georgetown Club. The 12 – 10 margin of the first two games exposed just how close Arjoon came to losing out on another title, as he traded points with Chin, before an anticipating and excited crowd.  It was Chin who drew first blood as the action served off, but Arjoon would be the first to 10 points as he sent Chin darting all over the court for several shots he would never reply to.

Both Arjoon and Chin had their fair share of supporters in the crowd rooting for them with

every point, but Chin’s fans celebrated the most when he took the third set 11 – 6, breathing new life into Chin’s chances of an upset, and frustration for Arjoon. As the players stepped out for the fourth set, the pressure was beginning to get to Arjoon who was even more aggressive and quickly romped to the first four points of the game. But his frustration would start handing points to Chin. After coming from 3 – 7 down, Chin climbed his way to 7 – 8, with quick comeback moves to strong putaways.But it was not just Arjoon who was feeling the pressure to seal a win, however, and Chin would never get the edge over Arjoon. He would manage to equalize at 10 – 10 however, after a stroke followed by a missed drop by Arjoon.However, another two shots to the tin ended it all and handed the match to Arjoon.

The Arjoon/Chin matchup, however, did not reach the intensity of the third place play-off between Nyron Joseph and Kristian Jeffrey. In a tough five-setter, Joseph would prevail 13 – 11, 5 – 11, 10 – 12, 11 – 1, 11 – 4. Earlier yesterday afternoon, Fernandes defeated Khalil 11 – 9, 11 – 8, 11 – 1. But that was not

the only match of the day for Fernandes, who was competing in both the women’s and men’s category of the competition.

Ashley’s lost would be avenged by her sibling Jason Ray-Khalil, when Fernandes next played him in a men’s plate match. Jason Ray won the match in four sets with margins of 11 – 4, 10 – 12, 11 – 7, 11 – 6. Winners in the various categories received their prizes at a presentation ceremony shortly after the matches last night.