BARBADOS CLAIMS RECORD MEDAL HAUL IN SQUASH

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, July 18, 2016:

To the delight of their assembled parents and other supporters the Barbados team confirmed yesterday (Monday), on the third day of the 34th annual Caribbean Junior Squash Championships being held in the Cayman Islands, that it wasn’t all hype. This Junior Squash Team is being touted as the best that Barbados has ever assembled and they duly delivered yesterday! At the end of the individual competition Barbadian players had claimed a record six individual gold medals with a further two silver medals and three bronze medals from the ten individual finals contested.

First in the inaugural BU-11 age group final the top seed, Alex Stewart (above right) and the #2 Aiden Parris (above left) played an exciting match that Stewart eventually won in five close games to bring Barbados both the gold and silver medals in the first year that this age group has been held. The previous day, nine year old Rebekah Nichols had already claimed the first bronze medal for Barbados in the inaugural GU-11 round robin competition, which was won yesterday by Guyanese Paige Fernandes.

As expected, Barbados then took the girls’ U-13, U-15 and U-17 titles with ease as the top seeded trio of Barbadian girls, who are all reigning Caribbean champions, all comfortably retained their respective titles in straight games. Sumairaa Suleman (left) had to work hard in the first game against Kirsten Gomes of Guyana before winning 14/12, 11/7, 11/2 to claim her second straight Caribbean U-13 title.

Amanda Haywood (below right) claimed her fourth Caribbean title winning easily 3-0 against Trinidadian Alexandria Yearwood in the GU-17 category

while our 14-year old, national senior ladies squash champion, Meagan Best (below), won her fourth straight Caribbean title by dispatching Caymanian Jade Pitcairn in the GU-15 final for the loss of three points.

In other matches played Barbadian, Chelsie Samuel, placed fifth in the GU-15 age group by beating Bermuda’s Abigail Brewer 11/1, 11/1, 11/9 while Jada Smith-Padmore defeated her twin sister Jodi Smith-Padmore 3-1to win the consolation plate and finish ninth in the same age group.

In the boy’s competition Barbados’ top seeded defending champions, Khamal Cumberbatch (BU-15) and Shemane Griffith (BU-17) both had to work hard but eventually won both their respective finals by three games to love.

Cumberbatch (right) defeated his Vincentian rival Kai Bentick 13/11 11/3 11/6 to win his 4th straight Caribbean title while Griffith (foreground) made it 3 in a row by beating Jonathan Walker (Jam) 11/7 11/5 11/6.

The #2 seed in the BU-13 age group, Darien Benn (below left), had to settle for silver as he fell 0-3 to the top seeded Guyanese Shomari Wiltshire (right), who successfully defended his title.

Barbados then won two further bronze medals with excellent performances in the BU-17 age group by the left handed Reggie Brewster, who pulled back from 0-2 down to prevail in five games against Rithew Saywack (GUY) while another lefty, the boy’s team captain, Benjamin Griffith, also won his BU-19 third place match against Benjamin Mekdeci (GUY) 11/9, 11/9, 11/7 in three exciting and close games.

Five days of team competition for the boys and girls now follow. The defending champions and top seeded Barbadian girls team plays this afternoon against Bermuda and after this evening’s opening ceremony the #2 seeded boys team will take on the OECS in pool play. There are 111 players from seven different Caribbean countries competing in this year’s Junior Caribbean Squash Championships.

Matches played Monday July 19th (players from Barbados in bold font):

[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 ]

Results – All Finals and selected 3^rd /4^th Place Matches:

G-11 Final:
Paige Fernandes (Guy) 3-0  Darci Reich (OECS)  11/4, 12/10, 11/2

Rebekah Nichols (Bar) finished in third place

G-13 Final:
[1] Sumairaa Suleman (Bar) 3-0  [3/4] Kirsten Gomes (Guy) 14/12, 11/7, 11/2

G-15 Final:
[1] Meagan Best (Bar) 3-0 [3/4] Jade Pitcairn (Cay)  11/0, 11/3, 11/0

G-17 Final:
[1] Amanda Haywood (Bar) 3-0  [2] Alexandria Yearwood (Tri)  11/8, 11/5, 11/4

G-19 Final:
[2] Larissa Wiltshire (Guy) 3-0 [1] Taylor Fernandes (Guy)  6/11, 11/7, 11/3, 12/10

B-11 Final:
[1] Alex Stewart (Bar) 3-2  [2] Aiden Parris (Bar)  6/11, 11/8, 12/10, 6/11, 11/5

B-13 Final:
[1] Shomari Wiltshire(Guy) 3-0  [2] Darien Benn (Bar)  11/1, 11/2, 11/3

B-15 Final:
[1] Khamal Cumberbatch (Bar) 3-0 [2] Kai Bentick (OECS)  13/11, 11/3, 11/6

B-17 Final:
[1] Shemane Griffith (Bar) 3-0 [2] Jonathan Walker (Jam)  11/7, 11/6, 11/8

BU-17 3^rd  / 4^th Place:

[3/4] Reginald Brewster (Bar) 3-2 Rithew Saywack  7/11, 8/11, 11/8, 11/1, 11/5

B-19 Final:
[1] Julian Jervis (Cay) 3-0 [2] Jason Doyle (OECS)  11/7, 11/5, 11/6
BU-19 3^rd  / 4^th Place:

[3/4] Benjamin Griffith (Bar) 3-0 [3/4] Benjamin Mekdeci Guy) 11/9, 11/9, 11/7

[All photos courtesy of Steve Cubbins and www.SquashSite.co.uk]

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