MARY Fung-A-Fat and Ashley Khalil both got off to rocky starts for Guyana’s Squash team at the Pan American Championships in Peru yesterday.

Khalil lost 3-1 (8-11, 12-14, 11-7, 2-11) to Giselle Delgado of Chile with Fung-A-Fat also going down to Chilean Ana Pinto 3-1 (11-7, 11-14, 7-11, 12-10).

Khalil spoke to the media after, saying, “The courts are a lot different from at home. These are cold courts; the ball does not bounce at all. Your drops are 10 times more effective here but you have to make sure you get your player out first, before you can take them into the drop.”

“These are world class players so am grateful for this experience. I can only learn from this and there is nothing negative that I could say but I can only go up from here,” she added.

Based on the results, should Guyana dedicate resources to going professional then medals would come easily

Khalil and Taylor Fernandes play the Chilean pair tomorrow at 09:00hrs Peru time (10:00hrs Guyana Time)

Squash Association president David Fernandes said, “Ashley and Taylor should do well again. It’s a best-of-three match and you have to come out gunning.”

Recapping yesterday, he said, “Today (Yesterday) I think the girls were nervous and it’s a big stage so there are some butterflies in the stomach but I think tomorrow we have a chance to do something special. I’m proud of both of them.