Mr. Consistency, Shawn Simpson, claimed a record setting berth in his 13th National Men’s final as action continued on the penultimate day of competition in the 42nd annual Barbados Senior National Squash Championships, which are sponsored once again this year by the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA). The tall left handed Simpson, who has been a stalwart on both the national volleyball and squash teams over the past decade, has in just 14 years now surpassed the record of the great Rudy Goodridge who reached a total of 12 men’s finals over a 20 year span from 1979-1998. In the first of two men’s semi-finals played last night (Thursday) at the Barbados Squash Club, the #2 seed, Simpson (32), gradually wore down the talented Bryant Cumberbatch over four hard fought games 11-6, 4-11, 11-6, 11-4 in three minutes short of half an hour. After splitting the first two games and having to change rackets on three occasions, Simpson’s superior fitness gradually began to show as he wore down his younger opponent, Bryant (27), who made more and more unforced errors as the match progressed. Having established one record, Simpson will be focusing on equaling another in Saturday afternoon’s final since he needs just one more victory to match both Goodridge and Mark Sealy who jointly hold the record for national men’s titles at 8 apiece.In that men’s final, Simpson will face a Cumberbatch, but not the one most people would have predicted as the National Junior coach, Rhett Cumberbatch, who is seeded at #3/4, upset the formbook and seeding to down his eldest brother and top seed Gavin Cumberbatch, (32) in four games: 11-2, 12-14, 11-9, 11-4 in 37 minutes. After a quick first game where Rhett deployed a succession of accurate straight drops to devastating effect, he then rushed to a commanding 7-2 lead before Gavin settled down and played more conservatively trying to keep Rhett in the back court where his drop shot was less effective. From 7-10 down Gavin saved 4 game balls and won the second game 14-12 to restore parity in the contest. The third game followed the same pattern. From 6-all, Rhett seized a decisive advantage with a succession of winners to go 10-6, game ball up. Gavin pulled back to 9-10 before committing the cardinal sin of serving a fault to gift the third game to his younger sibling 11-9. There was to be no further drama as Rhett kept up the pressure and as Gavin tired more errors started to creep into his game as Rhett swept home for the loss of 4 points to the delight of the national junior squad members present who were very happy to see their coach Rhett finally reach his first national men’s final.
In the only ladies semi-final played after the sudden withdrawal from the competition of 15-time champion Karen Meakins due to illness, the #2 seed, Amanda Haywood, who is the 2015 Caribbean Under-17 squash champion, faced her national senior team compatriot, Muffin Stollmeyer and duly reached her first national final with a straight games victory 11-4, 11-5, 11-3. Haywood (16), who is a former Caribbean U-15 badminton champion will now face the second youngest senior ladies finalist in Meagan Best, the 2015 Caribbean Under-15 squash champion, who is less than three weeks away from her 14th birthday. The combined ages of these two exceptional junior players make them the youngest pair of senior ladies finalists since Natalie Webber beat Tessa Newsam in 1984 to claim her first senior title. The ladies contest should an intriguing contrast in styles as Haywood is both diminutive and fleet of foot, and will look to use her volleys and drops to carry the fight to the powerful Best who used her superior weight of shot on both sides of the court to comfortably defeat Haywood 3-0 in a surprising upset just three weeks ago in the final of the GU-17 age group in the Junior National Squash Championships, which were held at the same venue.
In other consolation plate matches contested Tony Mackenzie eased past 11-year old, Darien Benn, 3-0, while Stewart St. John inflicted similar treatment on Darien’s dad, Don Benn, in a hard fought contest. Another junior player, Zachary Proverbs-Harris, ousted Craig Archer from the competition in four games to complete a good evening for the youth
Results of all matches played at the BSC last night (April 7th) in the Ladies and Men’s Individual competitions are as follows:
Men’s Semi-finals
#3/4 Rhett Cumberbatch def. #1 Gavin Cumberbatch (3-1) 11-2, 12-14, 11-9, 11-4 (37 mins.)
#2 Shawn Simpson def. #3/4 Bryant Cumberbatch (3-1) 11-6, 4-11, 11-6, 11-4 (27 mins.)
Ladies’ Semi-finals
#3/4 Meagan Best def. #1 Karen Meakins by default (withdrew ill)
#2 Amanda Haywood def. #3/4 Muffin Stollmeyer (3-0) 11-4, 11-5, 11-3 (16 mins.)
Men’s 5-8th Place Playoff Semi-finals
#5/8 Khamal Cumberbatch received a bye
#5/8 Stewart St. John def. #5/8 Don Benn (3-0) 11-3, 11-9, 13-11
Men’s Consolation Plate 1st Round
Tony Mackenzie def. Darien Benn (3-0) 11-6, 11-3, 11-2
Zachary Proverbs-Harris def. Craig Archer (3-1) 11-4, 11-1, 4-11, 11-9
Both the ladies and men’s competitions will now resume on Saturday afternoon at the BSC, starting at 11:30 a.m. and continuing until the last match, which is the men’s final which is slated for a 4:00 p.m. start. Admission to the public is free.
