The two best Barbadian players over the past decade, Karen Meakins and Shawn Simpson, were both pushed hard but ultimately prevailed in their respective finals as the curtain came down on the 36th National Squash Championships, sponsored by the Barbados Olympic Association Inc., (B.O.A.)at the Barbados Squash Club on Saturday May 15th.
The Ladies top seed and Caribbean #2, Meakins, who has made Barbados her home since 2000 and has played for the Barbados national team since 2002, duly claimed her tenth straight national squash title in a pulsating encounter with Barbados’ best ever female junior player, and reigning Caribbean under-19 champion, Cheri-Ann Parris. Both players started a little nervously, but Meakins settled down quicker and, helped by several unforced errors from her powerfully built teenaged opponent, duly wrapped up the first game for the loss of only four points. The #2 seed Parris, however, was not fazed by this and increased her pace of shot in the second game. This game was played at an incredible tempo and few players, male or female, in the Caribbean would have been able to live with it. Meakins got sucked into this power hitting game and her length and width deteriorated and Parris was able to pull away to win it at eight, to the delight of the spectators crammed into BSC court #1 who had never before witnessed Meakins drop a single game in ten years at the National Championships until then.
In adversity, however, the truly great players can always make adjustments and re-group and the tall and elegant Meakins did just that. She concentrated on placement instead of power and as her length and width improved the athletic Parris could not dominate the rallies like she had done in the previous game. The third game was over in a flash and the fourth game followed the same pattern as Meakins relaxed and visibly grew more confident whilst placing her shots precisely into the corners to win in four games: 11-4, 8-11, 11-2, 11-6 in 34 minutes. Parris, who is still only 19, can be truly proud of her efforts in her fourth National Championship final which many believe was the most competitive seen since 2000.
The men’s final was just as exciting as the top seed and Caribbean #3 player, Shawn Simpson, was pushed to the very brink by the dreadlocked, Bryant Cumberbatch, the #3 seed who started the first game hitting the ball not as hard as he can do and tried moving his tall, left handed opponent front to back and side to side with deceptive shots and acute angles. Both players worked hard throughout the match and retrieved each others shots with amazing skill and agility. After Cumberbatch claimed the first game 11-9, Simpson tried to keep the rallies longer and played a bit more conservatively, but the second was always close with no player taking a significant lead until Simpson claimed the final two points to take it 11-9.
In the context of the match that probably was the turning point, as at one game all Simpson would have felt much more comfortable than if he had gone 0-2 down. Cumberbatch then played a very loose third game and made quite a few unforced errors as he tried to win points quickly. Simpson took that game for the loss of only four points but the fourth game began in a completely different fashion. Cumberbatch began playing better length and tried to extend the rallies as Simpson visibly began to tire. There was never more than a couple of points in it but Simpson, when pushed into the front court, either tossed up high lobs to get out of trouble or re-dropped effectively without making too many errors. A few times the younger Cumberbatch lost patience and went for a winner when a safer shot was what was needed. He was twice within a single point of taking the match into a fifth game, the second time in the tie-break, but couldn’t convert on either occasion and, as the momentum shifted, Simpson then had a match ball, which he lost, and then another which he clinched to win his sixth national title in his eighth straight final. He acknowledged the applause from the appreciative audience by raising his weary arms aloft in triumph after a 36 minute match which he won by three games to one: 9-11, 11-9, 11-4, 14-12.
In the ladies third place match, #3 Lilianna White easily defeated a plucky Alex Jordan in straight games while in the men’s equivalent, the evergreen #4 seed Mark Sealy played very well to take a two games to one lead and fully extend the #2 seed Gavin Cumberbatch to five games in a marathon match before the younger, charismatic Cumberbatch finally prevailed: 11-7, 6-11, 10-12, 11-2, 11-6 in 45 minutes which was the longest match of the tournament.
The following matches were played last night at the Barbados Squash Club (BSC), Marine Gardens, Hastings, Christ Church:
Ladies‘ Final
#1 Karen Meakins def. #2 Cheri-Ann Parris (3-1) 11-4, 8-11, 11-2, 11-6 (34 mins.)
Ladies‘ Third Place
#3 Lilianna White def. #5/8 Alex Jordan (3-0) 11-4, 11-6, 11-3 (16 mins.)
Ladies‘ Fifth Place
Ayoni Bradshaw def. Lea Solomon by walkover (illness)
Ladies’ Plate
Gylla Mackenzie def. Nicole Jordan (3-0) 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 (19 mins.)
Men‘s Final
#1 Shawn Simpson def. #3 Bryant Cumberbatch 9-11, 11-9, 11-4, 14-12 (36 mins.)
Men‘s Third Place
#2 Gavin Cumberbatch def. #4 Mark Sealy (3-2) 11-7, 6-11, 10-12, 11-2, 11-6 (45 mins.)
Men‘s Fifth Place
Andy Gill def. Fabian Goodridge by walkover
Men‘s Consolation Plate (9th Place)
Mark Gilkes def. Nigel Griffith (3-2) 6-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4 (38 mins.)
Men‘s Plate Final
Ryan Foster def. Stuart Tippleston (3-1) 11-8, 19-17, 4-11, 11-8 (32 mins.)
At the trophy presentation ceremony that was held after the finals, B.O.A. Director, Lt. Col. Trevor Browne, commented on the high standard of the matches he had seen and noted that the B.O.A. was always pleased to see when its significant investment in the various National Sports Federations yielded good results, both domestically and regionally. He lauded the medal winning achievements of squash at the last Central American & Caribbean (CAC) Games in 2006 and at various Caribbean and Pan-American events held since then and urged the gathered players and administrators to keep doing what they had been doing in the recent past and to continue to strive for excellence.
