On the second day of the team competition in the 16th biennial Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) Championships played yesterday (Wednesday) at the Liguanea Club in Kingston, Jamaica, the Men’s and Veterans teams from Barbados continued to do well.
In the Ladies Team competition there are only four teams participating and the defending champions Barbados had the day off. Their main rivals for the title this year, Jamaica, looked in impressive form, however, whipping the OECS by five matches to nil with the loss of only six points in total! This Jamaican team will be a real threat to Barbados this year as the defending Caribbean Ladies Individual Champion, Karen Anderson, is playing at #2 on the Jamaican team behind four-time former Caribbean Ladies Champion, Marlene Rabess (nee West). The Barbados ladies are scheduled to face the OECS in an evening tie today (Thursday) in this straight round robin format. The ladies team final between Barbados and Jamaica will be played on Saturday afternoon.
In the Veterans Team competition there are six teams competing, once again in a straight round robin format. Defending champions Barbados easily defeated Cayman by four matches to one with only the Bajan over-50 veteran, Leon Truss losing to former three time Caribbean Men’s Champion, John MacRury of Cayman. In the other veterans ties played Trinidad and Tobago defeated the OECS by three matches to two and Jamaica defeated Guyana by four matches to one. All the veterans? teams will play once a day until Saturday evening. The last tie should effectively be the veteran?s team final between Barbados and main rivals Jamaica.
The Men’s Team event is being contested by teams that were supposed to be divided into two pools of four. Pool A now consists of defending champions Jamaica, Bermuda and Guyana (the Venezuelan team having failed to show up in Jamaica), while Pool B comprises Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, OECS, and Cayman. After the initial round robin the top two teams in each pool will contest the semi-finals on Friday, with the team finals scheduled for Saturday, August 18th. Three Men’s ties were played yesterday and in Pool B Barbados recorded an impressive 5-0 victory over the OECS, with #1 Shawn Simpson coming back from 0-2 down to defeat the wily St. Lucian Charlie Sonson in five games, and newly crowned Caribbean Men’s Champion, Gavin Cumberbatch, playing at #2, surviving a close encounter with Vincentian, James Bentick, to also win in five games. The three other matches in this tie were straight forward 3-0 wins for Barbadians Bryant Cumberbatch, Mark Sealy and Fabian Goodridge, playing at #3, #4 and #5 respectively. In the other tie in Pool B, Trinidad and Tobago rested its top player, Colin Ramasra, and still crushed the Cayman Islands by five matches to nil, while in Pool A, Bermuda, the Men’s team champions in 2003, defeated Guyana by four matches to one. Three Men’s ties are scheduled to be played today (Thursday) with the top of the table clashes between defending Men’s team champions Jamaica and Bermuda in Pool A, and Barbados and T&T in Pool B to determine which of these four teams will advance to tomorrow?s semi-finals at the top of their respective groups.
Match results on the second day of the team competition were as follows (N.B. The full playing schedule can be downloaded by clicking on the link below):
Morning Matches
Men’s Pool B
Barbados def. OECS (5-0). Match scores were as follows, B?dos players mentioned first).
#5 Fabian Goodridge def Kevin Bailey (3-0) 9/5, 9/1, 9/0
#3 Bryant Cumberbatch def Shane Slater (3-0) 9/2, 9/2, 9/1
#1 Shawn Simpson def Charlie Sonson (3-2) 4/9, 6/9, 9/2, 9/0, 9/2
#2 Gavin Cumberbatch def James Bentick (3-2) 9/7, 8/10, 9/1, 7/9, 9/1
#4 Mark Sealy def Mike Adamson (3-0) 9/0, 9/1, 9/0
Men’s Pool B
Trinidad def. Cayman (5-0). Match scores were as follows, T&T players mentioned first.
#5 Peter Pirtheesingh def. Dean Smith (3-0) 9/5, 9/5, 9/2
#3 Ryan Abrahams def. Jake Kelly (3-0) 9/8, 9/2, 9/2
#1 Paul DeVerteuil def. Gabe Rabess (3-2) 7/9, 9/2, 4/9, 9/5, 9/0
#2 Josh Pinard def. Alain Mudeen (3-0) 9/0, 9/1, 9/2
#4 Mark Pontifex def. Cameron Stafford (3-2) 6/9, 3/9, 9/1, 9/7, 9/3
Veterans Round Robin
Barbados def. Cayman (4-1). Match scores were as follows, B?dos players mentioned first.
Ladies +50: Elizabeth Johnson won by walkover
Men +60: Errol Pilgrim won by walkover
Men +40: Nigel Griffith def. Jeff Broderick (3-0) 9/4, 9/7, 9/3
Men + 50: Leon Truss lost to John MacRury (0-3) 4/9, 3/9, 4/9
Ladies +40: Sonia Perkins def. Marian Goodall (3-0) 9/0, 9/2, 9/1
Veterans Round Robin
Trinidad def. OECS (3-2). Match scores were as follows, T&T players mentioned first.
Ladies +50: Sonia Carrington def. Vonnie Roudette (3-0) 9/1, 9/0, 9/0
Men +60: Victor Thong lost to Ken Adamson (1-3) 5/9, 9/1, 8/10, 3/9
Men +40: Roger Salandy won by walkover
Men +50: John Holley def. John Osman (3-0) 9/0, 9/3, 9/2
Ladies +40: Michelle Corneliac lost to Sherian Slater (0-3) 1/9, 3/9, 4/9
Evening Matches
Ladies Round Robin
Jamaica def. OECS (5-0). Match scores were as follows, Jamaican players mentioned first.
#5 Tracy Binnie won by walkover
#3 Anita Bicknell def. Amber Glasgow (3-0) 9-3, 9-2, 9-1
#1 Marlene Rabess def. Alana Simmons (3-0) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
#2 Karen Anderson def. Greta Primus (3-0) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
#4 Stephanie McConnell def. Cheryl Renwick (3-0) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
Men’s Pool A
Bermuda def. Guyana (4-1). Match scores were as follows, Bermudian players mentioned first.
#5 Richard Van Liendon won by walkover
#3 Melrindo Caines lost to Alex Arjoon (0-3) 8-10, 2-9, 4-9
#1 Nicholas Kyme def. Julian Chin (3-0) 9-3, 9-3, 9-1
#2 Patrick Foster def. Robert McDavid (3-0) 9-1, 9-0, 9-2
#4 Michael Shrubb def. Raphael DeGroot (3-0) 9-5, 9-5, 9-1
Veterans Round Robin
Jamaica def. Guyana (4-1). Match scores were as follows, Jamaican players mentioned first.
Ladies +50: Gill Binnie def. Chauncey Richmond (3-0) 9-0, 9-2, 9-2
Men +60: Douglas Beckford won by walkover
Men +40: Warren Burrowes def. Brendon Mounter (3-1) 9-2, 9-10, 9-8, 9-0
Men +50: Patrick Chin lost to Alwyn Callender (0-3) 1-9, 0-9, 5-9
Ladies +40: Dingle Spence won by walkover
Senior CASA XVI Team Playing Schedule (Aug 14-18, 2007) – file no. 1
