GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, July 16, 2016:
There were mixed results for Barbadian players on Day 1 of the 34th annual Caribbean Junior Squash Championships that are being held over eight days at the South Sound Squash Club in the Cayman Islands.
None of the unseeded Barbadian players managed to win on Saturday, although in the GU-15 age group, Jada Smith-Padmore gave the Jamaican [5/8] seed, Mia Mahfood a mighty scare by taking a dramatic two games to love lead before conceding the final three games in the hard fought match at 8, 8, and 11-13 to go down by two games to three. In other matches, Jada’s twin sister, Jodi Smith-Padmore lost 1-3 to another seeded Jamaican player, Mia Lake seeded here at [3/4].
Little 9 year old Rebekah Nichols also lost twice today in straight games against more experience Guyanese opponents in both the GU-11 and GU-13 age groups, while in the BU-15 category both Ryan Archer and Kemar Lord lost 0-3 to opponents seeded at [3/4], Taylor Garrick (BER) and Daniel Islam (GUY) respectively.
However, all four of Barbados’ seeded players who took to the courts on Saturday advanced without any fuss. The GU-15 [5/8] seed, Chelsie Samuel dropped only six points while demolishing Bermuda’s Sabrina Lowther in straight games, while top seeds Khamal Cumberbatch (BU-15) and Shemane Griffith (BU-17) also won easily 3-0 against Jamaicans, Sebastian Levy, and Adam Ardito.
Also in the BU-17 age group, New York based Barbadian, Reggie Brewster, who is seeded here at [3/4] also looked comfortable against the Caymanian, Isaiah Robinson, and prevailed 3-0 to the chagrin of the local partisan crowd.
Matches will continue on Sunday, July 17th, when more Barbadian players will be trying to move through the quarter-finals and semi-finals to get into the ten different individual age group finals that will be played on Monday July 18th.
Matches played Saturday July 16th (players from Barbados unless otherwise stated):
GU-11 Rebekah Nichols 0-3 Paige Fernandes (Guy) 6-11, 8-11, 4-11
GU-13 Rebekah Nichols 0-3 Madison Fernandes (Guy) 0-11, 1-11, 2-11
GU-15 Jodi Smith-Padmore 1-3 [3/4] Mia Lake (Jam) 4-11, 11-7, 3-11, 2-11
GU-15 Jada Smith-Padmore 2-3 [5/8] Mia Mahfood (Jam) 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 8-11, 11-13
GU-15 [5/8] Chelsie Samuel 3-0 Sabrina Lowther (Ber) 11-2, 11-3, 11-1
BU-15 Kemar Lord 0-3 [3/4] Daniel Islam (Guy) 4-11, 6-11, 1-11
BU-15 Ryan Archer 0-3 [3/4] Taylor Garrick (Ber) 2-11, 4-11, 3-11
BU-15 [1] Khamal Cumberbatch 3-0 Sebastian Levy (Jam) 11-1, 11-5, 11-2
BU-17 [1] Shemane Griffith 3-0 Adam Ardito (Jam) 11-3, 11-4, 11-2
BU-17 [3/4] Reggie Brewster 3-0 Isaiah Robinson (Cay) 11-5, 11-9, 11-2
Further information and full draws are available on the Junior CASA website: http://www.casasquash.com
[All photos courtesy of Steve Cubbins and www.SquashSite.co.uk]
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