By Frederick Halley

TORONTO, Canada — After winning the Ontario Masters Softball Cricket Clubs (OMSCC) Inter-county Over-40 softball tournament for an unprecedented five consecutive years, Essequibo face an uphill task to maintain supremacy when they square off with Demerara, Berbice and an All Stars combination at the Ashtonbee Reservoir ground on Caribana Sunday.

In a lopsided final, played at the same venue last year, the boys from the Cinderella County made light work of East Coast Bannas after earlier disposing of West Demerara in their semi-final encounter.

The eight-wicket victory in the Khan Memorial-sponsored tournament, played in honour of the late Samad, Cecelia and Simon Khan, saw Essequibo rush to 98 for two in a mere 8.5 overs after earlier restricting East Coast Bannas to 92 for eight in the 20-over affair.

Significantly, Berbice who failed to field a team in last year’s tournament will be vying for honours this time around while a full-fledged Demerara team are also hard at practice for what is expected to be a hotly-contested tournament.

Among the big names set to represent the defending champions are former Guyana national player Jaimini Singh, former youth player Rovendra Mandolall, Azeez Baksh, Amarnauth Sukhoo, Robert Lall and Rudy Bhopaul.

Former West Indies and Guyana Under-19 player Hemnarine Chattergoon headlines the Berbice combination which also comprises the likes of Mohan Harihar, Yadram Bogh and Muniram Karran.

Seasoned Guyana Floodlights Softball Cricket Association (GFSCA) stalwarts Yunis Usuf, Lloyd Ruplall and Ramo Malone will be donning the colours of the All Stars side, sponsored by businessman Nirad Lall. The trio have been performing outstandingly for both GTA Storm in the Ontario Softball Cricket League (OSCL) and Impact in the OMSCC tournaments.

Former Guyana player Shivnauth Seeram and outstanding all-rounder Mahendranauth ‘Bobby’ Parasnauth make up a formidable lineup.

The Demerara team is being coordinated by Mark Khan, Raymond Seecharran and Patrick Shivrattan who were still to release the nucleus of the squad.

Meanwhile, the OMSCC will also be staging its first-ever Over-60 game on the same day. According to president Azeem Khan, the match is being held in appreciation of the league’s founding members, past and present board members and sponsors.

The action gets underway at 10:00hrs and this year’s championship trophy is being sponsored by Dr Rudy Singh and his brother, Dr Raj Singh. Several other trophies and cash prizes are up for grabs.