THE girls enjoyed their first matches of the Woodpecker Products Junior National Tournament on Tuesday evening in the Under-11 category.  

The youngest player in the competition, Tiana Gomes, aged 8. showed great spirit in her games against category favourite Christiana Fernandes.

Gomes earned some good points with solid drive retrievals against the talented and athletic Fernandes.  In the 3-0 match, Fernandes displayed developing shot execution for the 11-2, 11-5. 21-4 win.

Mohryan Baksh maintained his winning streak against Dhirren Persaud and Joshua Verwey in the Boys Under-13 category, while Louis DaSilva picked up his second win and Chad DeAbreu his first.

Ever-improving Nicholas Verwey moved easily around the court against Demetrius DeAbreu to secure a clean sweep 11-5, 11-3, 11-4.

DeAbreu was first off the mark in all three games and went hit-for-hit with Verwey in the first game up until 5-5. Verwey then moved up a gear and took six straight points for the first win.

Despite long rallies and some superb shots from DeAbreu, Verwey dominated throughout.

In the Under-17 & U-19 Boys, a category which crosses over two age groups, Shomari Wiltshire displayed the usual brilliance on court against Gianni Carpenter.

Conceding very few points, Wiltshire’s calm, precision play left Carpenter unable to return many of his shots.

Some great rallies ensued, however, and Carpenter showed evidence of improvement, but was no match for the No.1 seed who finished an 11-1, 11-3, 11-1 victory with finesse.

The much-anticipated match against training partners Samuel Ince-Carvalhal and Michael Alphonso showed the dynamics of these youngsters who are best buddies off court but know how to battle inside the squash court walls.

Alphonso’s use of deception and speed edged him ahead in the first game for an 11-8 victory, but Ince-Carvalhal’s improved retrieval and racquet head speed put him clearly ahead in the second for an 11-4 answer.

The third game came to a nail-biting finish when Alphonso battled from a 10-6 deficit to level at 10-all.

However Ince-Carvalhal held on to close off the 3rd at 12-10. In his stride, Ince-Carvalhal flowed through the fourth with excellent court movement and well-timed winners to a triumphant 3-1 victory over Alphonso.

The level of squash displayed was testament to the dedicated hours of training many of the junior players are putting into their development, and the remaining days of the Junior Nationals promise to showcase more of the young talent.

Play continues at the Georgetown Club, Camp Street for the remainder of the week, finishing on Saturday with two sessions from 11:00hrs and 18:00hrs.

RESULTS

GIRLS Under-11

Christiana Fernandes whipped Tianna Gomes 11-2, 11-5, 11-4

Shriyah Persaud beat Maya Dean 11-5, 11-6, 11-3.

BOYS Under-13

Mohryan  Baksh routed Dhirren Persaud 11-1, 11-0, 11-0.

Louis DaSilva trounced Shiloh Asregado 11-4, 11-3, 11-2

Chad DeAbreu thrashed Matthew Spooner 11-2, 11-2, 11-4.

Mohryan Baksh crushed Joshua Verwey 11-0, 11-0, 11-3.

BOYS Under-15

Nicholas Verwey overpowered Dimetrius  DeAbreu 11-5, 11-3, 11-4.

BOYS Under-17 & U-19

Shomari Wiltshire thrashed Gianni Carpenter 11-1, 11-3, 11-1.

Samuel Ince-Carvalhal overcame Michael Alphonso 8-11, 11-4, 12-10, 11-3.

Gianni Carpenter beat Demetrius DeAbreu 11-6, 12-10, 11-1.