The veteran’s competition in the 33rd edition of the annual Barbados National Squash Championships which is sponsored by Sports Lottery Barbados, the lottery of the Barbados Olympic Association Inc. (BOA), got underway on Wednesday night, May 2nd, at the Barbados Squash Club (BSC), Marine Gardens, Christ Church (427-7913).
Competition this year is in Men’s +40, +45 and +50 age groups as well as in the Ladies’ +40 and +45 divisions. The top two seeds in each contested age group are as follows:
Men Over-40: #1 Mark Sealy, #2 Nigel Griffith.
Men Over-45: #1 Mickey Armstrong, #2 Craig Archer.
Men Over-50: #1 Errol Pilgrim, #2 Orson Simpson.
Ladies Over-40: #1 Sonia Perkins, #2 Ayoni Bradshaw.
Ladies Over-45: #1 Elizabeth Johnson, #2 Cilla Seale.
Results from Day 1 on May 2nd were as follows:
L+40 Final: Sonia Perkins defeated Ayoni Bradshaw 9/1 9/4 9/5
L+45: Elizabeth Johnson defeated Cilla Seale 9/1 9/3 9/3
M+40: Mark Sealy defeated Ricky Edwards 9/0 9/3 9/0
M+40: Roger Martin defeated Brian Robinson 9/6 9/2 9/5
M+40: Marlon White defeated Dean Straker 9/6 9/4 8/10 2/9 9/3
M+40: Nigel Griffith defeated Michael Best 9/3 9/1 9/2
M+45: Andrew Nunes defeated Frank Jordan 9/5 9/0 9/0
M+45: Mickey Armstrong defeated Peter Raymer 9/3 9/1 9/7
M+45: Cliff Nolan defeated Andrew Nunes 9/3 9/4 9/0
M+45: Craig Archer defeated Ashok Merai 0/9 4/9 9/2 9/1 9/4
M+45: Leon Truss defeated Brian Robinson 9/5 9/0 9/1
M+50: Errol Pilgrim defeated David Spink 8/10 9/6 9/5 9/4
M+50: Orson Simpson defeated Ronald Watson 10/9 9/1 8/10 9/2
There were no upsets on Day 1 but in the over-40 age group the former Spice & Co. band leader, Dean Straker, came from two games down to win the next two and fully extend the #3 seed, Marlon White to five games. In a pulsating match that went to and fro White, who is an experienced member of the Barbados National Team and the current Junior Team Coach, then ran away with the final game to win 9/6 9/4 8/10 2/9 9/3 in just under 40 minutes of play. In the other close match, the over-45 #2 seed, Craig Archer, was stunned by the lively Ashok Merai who unleashed a blitz of devastating shots right from the start of their match and quickly established a two love lead in just over 10 minutes. Unfortunately, from that point on Merai?s all out attacking game went off the boil and with the rallies taking longer he began to tire and never mounted a serious challenge again as Archer recovered to take the next three games and the match 0/9 4/9 9/2 9/1 9/4 in 35 minutes.
The longest match of the night was played by the oldest player in the tournament, the amazing Errol Pilgrim, the top seed who had to fight tooth and nail for 46 minutes to quell the challenge of the hard running David Spink in four exciting games 8/10 9/6 9/5 9/4 in the Men’s over-50 competition.
The veteran’s competition continues on May 3rd and May 4th beginning each evening at 5:45 p.m. All remaining finals will be played on Friday May 4th. Admission to the BSC is free and spectators are welcome.
The National Closed Squash Championships will follow, beginning at the BSC on Monday May 7th at 5:45 p.m. You can follow the action day by day by downloading the updated tournament draw for the veteran’s competition by following the link below.
B’dos National Championships 2007 (Veterans) – Day 1 – file no. 1
