Khalil/Arjoon (Men) and DeGroot/Khalil (Women) take Doubles titles

Watched by a gathering of mainly parents and families of the players, Jason-Raj and Alex Arjoon won the Men’s Doubles title at the inaugural One Guyana President’s Cup Squash tournament which climaxed yesterday with the Finals of the Doubles category at the National Raquette Centre.

Three-time defending Caribbean Doubles champions Ashley Khalil and Ashley DeGroot took the Women’s title.
After a break today and tomorrow, the tournament resumes on Wednesday evening with the Singles in which Caribbean Squash Queen and Guyana’s only two-time World Masters Champion, the evergreen Nicolette Fernandes will be playing in the singles.

The Final and presentation ceremony will be held on Sunday at NRC from noon while Bar-B-Q will be on sale from 12:30 pm to 2 PM.
In the feature match yesterday, the Men’s final was a battle of skill, attrition, stamina and emotions in an epic contest.

Tempers flared from both pairs (Alex Arjoon and Jason-Ray Khalil who opposed Nicholas Verwey and Michael Alphonso) in their riveting battle which went to three games.
Alphonso and Verwey demonstrated excellent squash employing long rallies and good use of the larger court, specifically built for doubles by the Government and in a very close game as they upstaged their higher-ranked opponents to win 11-10.

The left-handed Arjoon and his partner Khalil increased the intensity in game 2 and won the fast-paced game, 11-7 to level the score at 1-all.
The deciding game was nerve-wracking and energy-sapping as the points fluctuated in short spaces of time,
There were verbal protests by players from both as some of the calls by Referee Deje Dais were questioned.

When the dust had settled, the pair of Arjoon and Khalil emerged victorious, winning the final game 11-10 as the raucous gathering rose to their feet to applaud lustily both pairs.
In the Women’s final Ashley Khalil and Ashley DeGroot continued their dominance in the Doubles with a clinical come-from-behind win to take the title 6-11, 11-5, 11-4.

Kirsten Gomes and Mary Fung-a-Fat won one the opening stanza but Khalil and DeGroot who had won the doubles Caribbean title from 2022-2024, raced to wins in the next two games to take the doubles crown.

Sisters, Larissa and Akeila Wiltshire beat Victoria Arjoon and Taylor Fernandes-Henry, 11-5,11-5 in their third place Women’s doubles match.
In the Junior mixed doubles final Kaylee Lowe and Nicholas Verwey beat Michael Alphonso and Paige Mendonca 6-11, 11-8, 11-3
In the Junior Mixed doubles third-place match, Demitri Lowe and Safirah Summer defeated Blake Edwards and Rylee Rodrigues 8-11, 11-8, 11-7,