THE Guyana Squash Association (GSA) hosted the Guinness Senior National Championships this week, which saw Nicolette Fernandes crowned Women’s Champion on Saturday, and 18-year-old Shomari Wilshire crowned Men’s Champion on Sunday.
Only a handful of Juniors have won the Senior Nationals over the years and in Wiltshire’s last year in the Juniors he can now add that feather in his cap.
After two weeks of exciting squash at the Georgetown Club in which a men’s qualifier was held, the top Male and Female players reached their finals and performed to an excited crowd.
Cruising through the Women’s matches, Fernandes didn’t drop a single game.
Runner-up Ashley Khalil bested Larissa Wilshire and Taylor Fernandes in four-setters to reach the final but was no match for the still-outstanding Nicolette Fernandes who dominated for an 11-3/11-2/11-5 victory.
Nicolette also competed in the Men’s division (placing 5th), losing only one match in the third round to eventual winner, Wiltshire, and proving that even in retirement she is a force to be reckoned with.
In the battle for 3rd place, recently returned Taylor Fernandes met Gabby Fraser in a heated clash.
After taking the first game with a good 11-7 margin, Fernandes had to dig deep to keep Fraser at bay in the 2nd and 3rd games, both going to 10 all.
Fernandes’ calm form held to secure her a 3-0 win over Fraser.
In the final match of the men’s division, Jason-Ray Khalil took a two-game lead over Shomari Wiltshire with unparalleled retrieval and rapid pace, managing to get the ball past Wiltshire with his signature low, hard cross courts.
The men battled point for point in some grueling rallies and although the games were close, only two points separated the finalists; Wiltshire came back with steady determination and took the next two to even up and head into the decider 5th game.
Wiltshire had kept a reserve in his tank and stormed away in the final game displaying his solid tactical expertise to dominate and secure his Championship win — an impressive comeback — for an 11-3 final game finish.
Meanwhile, Guinness Brand Executive, Lee Baptiste and Communications Manager of Banks DIH Limited, Troy Peters, were on hand to assist in the distribution of prizes.
Baptiste said that Guinness was extremely pleased to sponsor the National championships and indicated that Guinness is keen on sponsoring other tournaments in the future.
President of the GSA, Owen Verwey, expressed gratitude to Guinness for sponsoring the championships.
