It was a long day on Sunday, with over 12 hours spent at the courts, and almost 100 matches played, 34 involving Barbadians. But at the end of Day 2 of the 34th annual Caribbean Junior Squash Championships that are being held at the South Sound Squash Club in the Cayman Islands, all of the Barbadian players seeded to reach age group finals did so with aplomb, and at the end of the night there were a record eight Barbadians contesting seven of the ten age group finals that will be held this afternoon (Monday).

Barbados is already assured of a gold and silver medal in the inaugural BU-11 age group final which the top seed, Alex Stewart and the #2 Aiden Parris reached in contrasting fashion. Stewart defeated both James Mekdeci (Guy) and Seth Thong (Tri) in straight games in his quarter-final and semi-final encounters, while the tiny, left handed Parris had to fight tooth and nail to overcome Michael Alphonso (Guy) in five games in his quarter final match before dispatching another Guyanese opponent, Mohryan Baksh 3-0 in his afternoon semi-final. Nine year old Rebekah Nichols has already claimed the bronze medal for Barbados in the inaugural GU-11 round robin competition.

No other Barbadian player that reached an age group final dropped a game in either of their respective quarter-final or semi-final matches on Sunday. The top seeded trio of Barbadian girls, who are all reigning Caribbean champions in their respective age groups, all looked very comfortable and confident. Sumairaa Suleman (GU-13) only dropped 17 points in winning both of her matches against Guyanese cousins, Paige and Madison Fernandes by three games to love. Amanda Haywood (GU-17) also won easily in straight games, first against Rebecca Low (Guy), and then Marie Claire Barcant (Tri). Our 14-year old, National senior ladies squash champion, Meagan Best, was particularly severe on her opponents and only dropped a total of five points in defeating Bermuda’s Charlotte Toogood and then Jamaican Mia Lake. Barbados’ GU-15 [5/8] seed, Chelsie Samuel, lost her quarter-final encounter with Caymanian, Jade Pitcairn, but advanced in the repechage plate competition and will be playing off for 5th place today, while the twins, Jada and Jodi Smith-Padmore will face each other today to see who will win the plate in the same age group.

On the boy’s side Barbados’ top seeds and defending champions, Khamal Cumberbatch (BU-15) and Shemane Griffith (BU-17) had to work hard but eventually won both their respective matches by three games to love. Cumberbatch defeated Anthony Islam (Guy) and then Taylor Garrick (Ber), while Griffith put out Caymanian Jasun Sairsingh and then Rithew Saywack (Guy) in his two encounters. The #2 seed in the BU-13 age group, Darien Benn, also won twice to advance and will face his Guyanese nemesis, the top seed and defending champion, Shomari Wiltshire.

In other matches, in the BU-17 age group, New York based Barbadian, Reggie Brewster, seeded here at #3/4 comfortably won his quarter-final match but could not overcome the #2 seed, Jonathan Walker (Jam) in their semifinal encounter and went down 0-3. The Barbados boys team captain, Benjamin Griffith, also won his BU-19 quarter-final but lost in straight games to the top seed Julian Jervis (Cay) in his semi-final and will, like Brewster, play off for the bronze medal later on Monday. Zachary Proverbs-Harris lost his quarter-final BU-19 match and will play off today for 7th.

All individual finals and other positional playoffs will be completed today Monday, July 18th. The five day team competition will begin tomorrow, Tuesday July 19th. Full results of all matches and live streaming links to two of the six squash courts being used can be found on http://www.casasquash.com

Matches played Saturday July 17th (players from Barbados in bold font):

Results – All Semi-Finals:

B11:
[1] Alex Stewart (Bar) 3-0 Seth Thong (Tri)  11/9, 11/7, 11/9
[2] Aiden Parris (Bar) 3-0 Mohryan Baksh (Guy) 11/3, 11/4, 11/5
B13:
[1] Shomari Wiltshire(Guy) 3-0 [5/8] Matthew Elliott (Ber) 11/2, 11/2, 11/4
[2] Darien Benn (Bar) 3-0 [3/4] Jace Jervis (Cay) 17/15, 11/5, 11/8
B15:
[1] Khamal Cumberbatch (Bar) 3-0 [3/4] Taylor Carrick (Ber) 11/8, 11/7, 11/7
[2] Kai Bentick (OECS) 3-0 [3/4] Daniel Islam (Guy) 11/6, 11/7, 11/4
B17:
[1] Shemane Griffith (Bar) 3-0 Rithew Saywack (Guy) 11/1, 13/11, 11/5
[2] Jonathan Walker (Jam) 3-0 [3/4] Reginald Brewster (Bar) 11/3, 11/8, 11/7
B19
[1] Julian Jervis (Cay) 3-0 [3/4] Benjamin Griffith (Bar) 11/1, 11/5, 11/3
[2] Jason Doyle (OECS) 3-0 [3/4] Benjamin Mekdeci Guy) 13/11, 11/8, 11/9

G13:
[1] Sumairaa Suleman (Bar) 3-0 Madison Fernandes (Guy) 11/6, 11/3, 11/4
[3/4] Kirsten Gomes (Guy) 3-1 [2] Abosaide Cadogan (Guy) 11/7, 9/11, 11/9, 11/6
G15:
[1] Meagan Best (Bar) 3-0 [3/4] Mia Lake (Jam) 11/2, 11/1, 11/0
[3/4] Jade Pitcairn (Cay) 3-1 [2] Makeda Harding (Guy) 11/7, 11/4, 7/11, 11/5
G17:
[1] Amanda Haywood (Bar) 3-0 [3/4] Marie Claire Barcant (Tri) 11/2, 11/7, 11/7
[2] Alexandria Yearwood (Tri) 3-0 [3/4] Emma Turnbull (Cay) 11/7, 11/3, 11/5
G19:
[1] Taylor Fernandes (Guy) 3-1 [3/4] Alyssa Mullings (Jam) 14/12, 11/6, 8/11, 11/9
[2] Larissa Wiltshire (Guy) 3-0 [5/8] Thandi Myers (OECS) 11/4, 11/5, 11/3

Results – Quarter-Finals (only matches with Barbadian players listed)

B11:

[1] Alex Stewart (Bar) 3-0 James Mekdeci (Guy) 11/5, 11/5, 11/0

[2] Aiden Parris (Bar) 3-2 Michael Alphonso (Guy) 5/11, 11/2, 11/5, 7/11, 11/6
B13:
[2] Darien Benn (Bar) 3-0 [5/8] Luca Reich (OECS) 11/3, 11/6, 11/7
B15:
[1] Khamal Cumberbatch (Bar) 3-0 [5/8] Anthony Islam (Guy) 11/2, 11/1, 11/6
B17:
[1] Shemane Griffith (Bar) 3-0 [5/8] Jasun Sairsingh (Cay) 11/0, 11/5, 11/7
[3/4] Reginald Brewster (Bar) 3-0 [5/8] Luke Roberts (Jam) 11/9, 11/4, 11/4
B19
[1] Julian Jervis (Cay) 3-0 [5/8] Zachary Proverbs-Harris (Bar) 11/1, 11/2, 11/3
[3/4] Benjamin Griffith (Bar) 3-0 [5/8] Chad Salandy (Tri) 12/10, 13/11, 11/8

G13:
[1] Sumairaa Suleman (Bar) 3-0 Paige Fernandes (Guy) 11/0, 11/1, 11/3
G15:
[1] Meagan Best (Bar) 3-0 [5/8] Charlotte Toogood (Ber) 11/0, 11/1, 11/1
[3/4] Jade Pitcairn (Cay) 3-1 [5/8] Chelsie Samuel (Bar) 11/5, 11/5, 5/11, 12/10
G17:
[1] Amanda Haywood (Bar) 3-0 [5/8] Rebecca Low (Guy)  11/1, 11/6, 11/3

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