The two-time defending national squash champion, Shawn Simpson, pulled off the first major upset in the 2005 Caribbee / Playfair Barbados Squash Open when he outlasted the #2 seed Gavin Cumberbatch in a five game marathon at the Barbados Squash Club (BSC) last night (Thursday). In a pulsating Men’s ?A? quarterfinal the tall, rangy 21 year old Simpson, who is seeded in this tournament at #5, took the fight to Cumberbatch , Barbados ? top ranked player, who Simpson had never defeated in a tournament previously.
Both players dazzled the audience with amazing recoveries from every part of the court and both started off striking the ball with tremendous pace, and in fact broke two balls during the course of the match. The first two games were shared for the loss of three points each and after a long punishing third game the 21 year old Cumberbatch, who recently graduated from Yale University with a degree in Architecture, was leading by two games to one. But the mileage began to take its toll on the Cumberbatch legs and a few errors began to creep into his game. National volleyball representative Simpson, who recently completed his undergraduate studies at Cave Hill, sensed that his superior fitness would be decisive and, after winning a quick fourth game for the loss of one point, played steady patience squash, combining occasional aggressive bursts with long, tiring rallies to rush to a 7-2 lead. Cumberbatch then capitalized on a few unforced errors by his left handed opponent to recover to 5-7 but got no further. Simpson closed out the match on his second match ball with a shot that showed how many weapons he now has in his arsenal. A high backhand crosscourt lob by Simpson floated deep into the left back corner and caught the back wall nick and proved to be unreachable. Simpson punched the air in triumph and the two good friends embraced as the large crowd rose to acknowledge the end of a gripping 65 minute match. In tonight?s semi-final Simpson will face the dangerous #4 seed Steve Smith ( Jamaica ) who easily defeated Bryant Cumberbatch 3-0.
The other Men’s semi-final will be between the top seed, Shawn Badrinath (Guyana) who dispatched Marlon White in straight games for the loss of five points, and the mercurial #3 seed Charlie Sonson (St. Lucia) who defeated the current Caribbean under-17 champion from Jamaica, Chris Binnie, by three games to one. In this match Sonson used his superior court craft and capitalized on his opponent?s many unforced errors to recover from 2-8 down in each of the first three games to win 10/8 10/8 7/9 9/5 in 53 minutes. There was no such drama in the ladies quarterfinals that were all comfortable 3-0 victories for the higher ranked player. Top seed Karen Meakins will play #3 Alana Simmons ( St. Lucia ) in tonight?s semi-final while the #2 seed, Karen Anderson ( Jamaica ) will face Lilianna White.
Full results of the matches played on Thursday night were as follows (all local players unless noted otherwise):
Men’s A ? Quarterfinals
#1 Shawn Badrinath ( Guyana ) defeated #6 Marlon White (3-0) 9/1 9/1 9/3
#3 Charlie Sonson ( St. Lucia ) defeated Chris Binnie ( Jamaica ) (3-1) 10/8 10/8 7/9 9/5
#4 Steve Smith ( Jamaica ) defeated Bryant Cumberbatch (3-0) 9/3 9/7 9/1
#5 Shawn Simpson defeated #2 Gavin Cumberbatch (3-2) 3/9 9/3 5/9 9/1 9/5
Ladies A ? Quarterfinals
#1 Karen Meakins defeated Elizabeth Johnson (3-0) 9/1 9/2 9/2
#3 Alana Simmons ( St. Lucia ) defeated Sue Rogers (3-0) 9/3 9/6 10/8
#4 Lilianna White defeated Nadia McCarthy (3-0) 9/7 9/3 9/0
#2 Karen Anderson ( Jamaica ) defeated Carla Jackson (3-0) 9/1 9/3 9/0
Men’s A ? Plate 1 st Round
Rhett Cumberbatch defeated Ryan Truss (3-0) 9/2 9/6 9/4
Nigel Griffith defeated Craig Archer (3-1) 6/9 9/5 9/3 9/0
Steven Peever ( Canada ) defeated Alex Garcia (3-0) 9/0 9/4 9/2
