BTMI B’dos Squash Open Qualifying Draw – Final Round Results

Qualifying Draw – final round (players are from Barbados unless stated otherwise). 

Laurence Green (ENG) d. Josiah Griffith (3-1) 11-4, 13-11, 11-13, 11-2 – 42 mins.

A pacy, exciting match between two fit and nimble teenagers. Green never trailed in the first game and won that comfortably 11-4. Griffith fought hard in the second game to move from 8-all to 10-8 game ball up but couldn’t convert his opportunities. Green pulled back to 10-all, then 11-all, before snatching the last two points to win that game 13-11. At 2-0 up the 18 year old Green now had a cushion and kept the rallies long to test the fitness of his younger opponent. Griffith, the reigning Caribbean U-17 champion, fought bravely in the third game, but couldn’t close things out quickly enough. He led 7-2, then 8-3, then 9-6, and then 10-7, before Green reeled off four straight points to get to 11-10 match ball. Griffith was not to be denied in this lengthy game and claimed the next three points to win the third at 13-11. But the long rallies had taken their toll and Griffith was now spent. Green rattled off eight straight points to move from 1-all to 9-1 up. There would be no coming back from that deficit. 3-1 to Green, who moves into the first round of the main draw and will face the top seed Joe Chapman (BVI).

This match followed a similar pattern to the previous one as the 14-year old Khamal faced his older brother Rhett, who is twice as old as he. The younger Cumberbatch is the current Caribbean U-15 champion and went 5-1 up in the first game before Rhett reeled him in, winning 10 of the next 12 points to win that game 11-7. Khamal played well to hold leads of 5-2, 7-4 and 9-8 before it went to 10-all, deuce. From 10-all, Rhett held his nerve and closed the game out 13-10. Once again, the older player had a 2-0 cushion to play with, which was to his distinct advantage. So even though Khamal never trailed in the third game which he won 11-7 with ease, Rhett was able to regroup and drive home the advantage of going 4-1, then 6-2, then 7-4 and then 8-7 up in the fourth game. Rhett closed out the match with four successive points to win by 3 games to 1 and will face Julian Morrison, the #7 seed from Jamaica.

Another tremendous victory by the cagy Chin in a match of the highest quality that was played in great spirit throughout. After a fairly routine 8 minute first game that Chin won for the loss of 4 points, there followed a 23 minute marathon second game where both players battled brilliantly, with long patient rallies down both wings, incredible digs, high cross court lobs to get out of danger, with crisp straight volley drops to attack. The scores were locked from 7-all all the way to 19-all. Chin saved 7 game balls along the way, then squandered two of his own before finally clinching this pulsating game 21-19. His 18-year old American opponent upped the tempo and pulled away to claim the third game in 7 minutes but the vastly experienced Chin dug deep in his bag of tricks in the 10 minute fourth game and now deployed a variety of shots – tickle boasts, deft volley drops, soft cross court kills, reverse angles, and his trademark clinging straight drives to length to pull back from 8-9 down to win the last three points for a famous victory. 3-1 to Chin. His reward is a match against the #4 seed Micah Franklin (BER).

Snagg is a young attacking player with a good volley who had an easy 20 minute 3-0 victory earlier in the day. Sealy played a punishing 69 minute five game marathon less than six hours earlier and was never going to be able to recover sufficiently to mount much of a challenge to his much younger opponent. And so it proved. Snagg went 8-3 up in the first game. Sealy bravely pulled back to 8-all only for his Vincentian opponent to win the last three points to win 11-8. This pattern was repeated in the second game. Snagg went 8-5 up, Sealy pulled it back to 7-8 and then Snagg won the next three rallies to win 11-7. After Snagg pulled ahead 8-2 in the third game Sealy was unable to mount a challenge. 3-0 to Snagg who goes forward to play the #2 seed, Cameron Stafford (CAY), who is by far the most attacking player in the tournament.

The four quarter-finals will be played in the evening, on courts 1 and 2, starting at 5:30 p.m.