Last weekend’s conclusion of the Junior CASA Championships, held this year in Bermuda, saw the Barbados team bringing home the overall second place trophy, amassing 16 points to first place Guyana’s 18.
The team, sponsored in large part by the Barbados Olympic Association, was comprised of youngsters between the ages of 10 and 17 who spent six days battling for both individual and team honors at this annual tournament. Along with the host country, the local team came up against squads from Guyana, Bahamas and Jamaica.
In the individuals, Barbados was well represented by Gavin Cumberbatch (under-19) who placed second in that division, losing to James Bullock of Jamaica (9-2,9-2,9-2) while Shawn Simpson and Fabian Goodridge placed second and third respectively in the under-17 competition. In the under-13 competition, Bryant Cumberbatch defeated Chris Binnie of Jamaica 9-3,9-1,10-8 to take the top spot in that division.
Tracy Roett finished third in the girls under-19 division and new comer Sherice MacDonald placed a promising 5th, one place behind Tracy Goodridge in the under-17 competition. Nadia McCarthy, playing in the under-15 competition, placed an impressive 2nd, going down to Guyanese Andrea King 9-0,9-2,9-6.
Team matches were competitive but the local boys excelled to retain the title they earned in 1999 by winning all four of their matches. Guyana was second. The girls were not quite strong enough to withstand Bermuda and Guyana, and finished in third position.
Coach Richard Walcott explained that the girls team was a relatively new and still inexperienced one, but he is certain that with intense and consistent training they can again dominate as was the case from 1992 to 1998, when the local girls team won a record seven successive girls team titles. The next Junior CASA championships will be held here in Barbados from August 11 – 20, 2001.
Junior CASA Championships 2000 – file no. 1
Junior CASA Championships 2000 – file no. 2
