Bulkan takes U-11 title, Alphonso impress on Night 3

By Sean Devers
Ethan Bulkan demonstrated tremendous natural talent for a lad who turned 10 on February 20 when he defeated Jibril Alli 11-3, 11-3, 11-3 on day three of the Woodpecker Junior National Squash tournament at the Georgetown Club on Wednesday Evening.

Bulkan, who also played in U-13 division, showed good shot selection and use of the court, attributes which belied his age, especially when competing with the U-13s.

Watched by a small gathering which included his mom and grandmother, the Marian Academy student, who also plays Hockey and Football, was clinical in his win on Wednesday with some well executed serves.

Later in the evening Bulkan, who departed for a one-week visit to Jamaica with parents and brother yesterday, whipped Rafael Braithwaite 11-0, 11-0, 11-1 in another one-sided match and his latest victory gives him the U-11 title.

On his way to the title, the pint-size pre-teen beat the confident eight-year-old Zion Hickerson and Jacob McDonald on Monday before defeating Kaiden Alli and Matthew Daby on Tuesday.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, 17-year-old Michael Alphonso, who still has another year at Junior Squash, beat Demetrius DeAbreu 11-1, 11-4, 11-4 in the U-19 division.

The scores did not reflect the quality of Squash played as both players engaged in long rallies which ended most times with Alphonso, who has gotten bigger, stronger and fitter over last year, winning the points.

With excellent use of his drives, vollies and drop shots, the skilful Alphonso looked a level above his peers but even though De Abreu lost 3-love he played some good squash, especially in the last two games.

In the other games, Justin Ten Pow, who is favoured to win the U-13s, beat Kaiden Alli 11-4, 11-2, 11-2 before winning his second game of the night by defeating Zion Hickerson, the youngest player in the tournament, 11-4, 11-4, 11-4.

Brenno Da Silva beat Blake Edwards in one of the most competitive matches of the night, 3-2 in U-15 division.

The pair of youngsters matched each other shot for shot in the opening game which ended in Da Silva’s favour, 14-12.

Edward won the second stanza 4-11 before DaSilva won the third games 11-6 but DaSilva went down 5-11 in the next game to take the match into a fifth game which Da Silva won 11-9 to take the match.

Richard Rodrigues beat Nikolas Shaw 11-2, 11-5, 11-7 while Avian Wade beat Justin Goberdhan 11-9, 11-9, 11-7 in the other two matches in the U-15 division.

In the Boys U-17 division, Louis DaSilva beat Jeremy Ten Pow 11-4, 11-2, 11-2 while Shilow Asregado defeated Demitri Lowe 11-4, 11-4, 11-4.

In the Girls U-15, Malia Maikoo beat Kaylee Lowe 11-5, 12-10, 11-5 before beating Emily Fung-a-fat 11-3, 11-5, 11-7.

The tournament was scheduled to continue yesterday and today and conclude tomorrow.

Tomorrow, the GSA will hold a Bar-B-Q and Lunch from 12hrs to 15hrs. Tickets cost $1,500.

The Senior Players’ Commission will hold a ‘drinks table’ to raise funds for the senior team to travel for the Pan Am qualifiers in Columbia, Senior CASA in the Cayman Islands and the other Regional and International tournaments Guyana has qualified for.