Those of you who missed the veterans finals played yesterday afternoon (Saturday April 20th) missed out on the opportunity to see the island’s top player, Mark Sealy, reaffirm his status as the best player in the island in the over-35 final and also to see the exceptionally fit, Nigel Griffith, “a.k.a. the Dragon”, finally foil Rudy Goodridge in his attempt to reclaim the over-40 title that was so sensationally snatched from his grasp in the final last year by Adrian Deane.
This was only Rudy’s second defeat in an over-40 match anywhere in the Caribbean since 1995 but shows that the great three-time Caribbean and three-time Southern Caribbean over-40 champion’s aura of invincibility may be finally slipping at age 47.
In a day of few upsets the two next best matches both involved one of Barbados’ newest Q.C.s, Barry Gale, who was 2-0 up against Ashok Merai in the over-40 plate final but lost in five games only to step on court about 70 minutes later and come back from 1-2 down to close out the top seed, Orson Simpson, in the over-45 final to win by three games to two.
Results of matches played on Saturday afternoon, April 20th are as follows:
Men Over-35:
Final – Mark Sealy (#1) defeated Marlon White (#2) 9/0 9/6 5/9 9/1 (42 minutes)
Third Place – John Cumberbatch (#3) defeated Michael Maskell (#4) 9/7 9/2 9/2 (21 mins.)
Plate Final – Terry Millar defeated John Freer 9/6 9/4 9/6 (30 mins.)
Men Over-40:
Final – Nigel Griffith (#2) defeated Rudy Goodridge (#1) 9/3 9/4 7/9 9/6 (55 mins.)
Third Place – Craig Archer (#3) defeated Austin Fields (#4) by default
Plate Final – Ashok Merai defeated Barry Gale 4/9 4/9 9/3 9/0 9/5 (37 mins.)
Men Over-45:
Final – Barry Gale (#2) defeated Orson Simpson (#1) 9/6 6/9 3/9 9/5 9/6 (50 mins.)
Third Place – Michael Blades beat Chris Skinner by default
Men Over-50:
Final – Leon Truss (#1) beat Errol Pilgrim (#2) 9/0 9/4 9/0 (25 mins.)
Third Place – Michael Blades beat Anthony Sobers by default
Plate Final – David Spink defeated Chester Haynes 9/3 5/9 9/0 9/0 (25 mins.)
Men Over-55:
Round Robin – Ian Pickup (#2) defeated Stan Jordan 9/5 9/6 8/10 9/7 (36 mins.)
Ladies Senior Open:
Final – Elizabeth Johnson defeated Caroline Goodridge 9/4 7/9 9/7 9/4
Third Place – Ayoni Bradshaw defeated Cilla Seale 9/2 5/9 9/6 9/1 (40 mins.)
by Craig Archer.
