Pan American Senior Squash Championships …

NICOLETTE Fernandes won gold for Guyana yesterday when she triumphed over the Women’s number 1 seed at the the Pan Am Senior Squash Championships being held in Guatemala.

Fernandes, aged 38 retired from the sport professionally in 2017 but continued to play recreationally, also representing Guyana with the senior team a few times in the Caribbean and Pan-America.

Her solid performance in the Championships saw her drop only one game early on.

She came out strong in the final, thumping the number-one seeded Laura Tovar.

The Columbian could not take the pace off Fernandes cross courts or cover the court fast enough for the Guyanese precise placement.

And with a few full-length dives Fernandes kept the ball in play on many occasions despite it looking out of reach, forcing her opponent through many long and gruelling rallies en route to her 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 victory.

Fernandes’ long-time coach and mentor Carl Ince was emotional.

In an invited comment after the match, he said, “Nicolette is outstanding! She knew what she had to do and went out there and did it! I knew from her performance leading up to the finals that this was within her grasp, and I was confident she would give her all and bring home the trophy.

“I have always admired her discipline, her determination and her spirit and am so pleased to see her on top in her performance. She is an inspiration to athletes in Guyana and around the world.”

Fernandes and the rest of the Guyana Squad, Mary Fung-A-Fat, Ashley Khalil, Gabby Fraser, Alex Arjoon, Jason Ray Khalil, Kristian Jeffrey and Samuel Ince-Carvalhal will now prepare for the team segment of the Championships, commencing today and concluding tomorrow.

The team returns home on Sunday.