Spectators were treated to several close and exciting matches as the curtain came down on the 8th annual River Bay Seniors Squash Open at the Barbados Squash Club over the weekend. In the feature match, the Men’s over-40 top seed and defending champion, Nigel Griffith had to draw on all his amazing retrieving powers to quell the challenge of John Cumberbatch who bravely fought back from a two game deficit to square the match at two all. In the fifth game, despite having done more work in the previous four, it was Griffith who, as usual, found another gear and after dropping the first two points reeled off nine unanswered points in a single hand to prevail 9/3 9/4 5/9 6/9 9/2 in 50 minutes. In the over-40 third place match, Roger Martin completed an excellent tournament for him by defeating another seeded player, this time his training partner and #3 seed, Peter King, in five close games 7/9 10/8 4/9 10/8 9/2 in 57 minutes.
The over-45 final between, Mickey Armstrong, and champion horse trainer, Andrew Nunes, was also close and should have also gone to five games since Nunes led 8-4 in the third game after splitting the first two games with the three time former national squash champion. The wily Armstrong, however, had other ideas and used his vast experience to pull back to nine all, at which point Nunes served out and handed the initiative back to Armstrong who promptly won that game and never looked back again. In the fourth game he quickly asserted himself and was 8-0 up before the nonplussed Nunes won his first point. The end swiftly followed with the evergreen Armstrong winning 8/10 9/3 10/9 9/1 in 39 minutes. The over-45 third place match saw the top seed Craig Archer fully extended by the persistent Barry Gale who clawed his way back into the match from 0-2 down and then fought tooth and nail in the pulsating fifth game which could have gone either way. Neither player could claim a clear cut advantage and the scores were locked all the way through to 8-all. Gale, who played his best squash ever in this tournament, then squandered two match balls at 9-8 and 9-all before Archer wrapped things up on his fourth match ball 9/7 9/4 6/9 5/9 10/9 in 51 minutes.
In the other finals played, the over-50 top seed Richard Walcott defeated the #2 seed Orson Simpson 9/4 9/1 9/5. David Spink finished third by defeating Nick Paddison also in straight games 9/7 9/4 9/0. The over-55 top seed, the amazing Errol Pilgrim, had to work hard to defeat the much younger #2 seed David Foster 9/4 9/4 3/9 9/7 in 50 minutes. In the over-55 third place playoff David King defeated Ian “Mr. River Bay” Pickup 9/5 9/4 9/8 while in the ladies over-50 final, the top seed Elizabeth Johnson defeated the plucky Audre Spence 9/3 9/5 9/5. Other results from the weekend were as follows:
Men’s Over-35 Third Place:
Jason Small defeated Norman Rice 10/8 9/4 9/6
Men’s Over-40 Fifth Place:
Dean Straker defeated Mylon Wason 9/0 9/3 9/7
Men’s Over-40 Plate Final:
Ricky Edwards defeated Michael Best 9/2 9/2 9/4
Men’s Over-45 Fifth Place:
Cliff Nolan defeated Glyne Husbands 9/6 9/5 9/1