The top four seeded ladies and three of the four top men progressed as expected to their respective semi-finals in the 33rd annual Barbados National Squash Championships, which is sponsored by the Barbados Olympic Association.
In the ladies quarter-finals played on May 10th at the Barbados Squash Club (BSC) the top seed and prohibitive favourite, Karen Meakins, easily beat Elizabeth Johnson in straight games and will take on Carla Jackson Friday night in the first ladies semi-final. Jackson defeated Edna Corbette 3-0 to advance to the last four for the first time. The other ladies semi-final will see the #2 seed and former top junior player, Lilianna White, takes on the current local and Caribbean under-17 champion, Cheri-Ann Parris. Both players progressed with comfortable 3-0 victories over Ayoni Bradshaw and Muffin Johnson respectively.
On the Men’s side of the draw there was one minor upset when #5/8 seed, Fabian Goodridge, disdainfully dispatched the #4 seed, Marlon White, in straight games for the loss of a total of just six points. White who had been struggling for form the entire tournament had no answer to the speedy Goodridge who moved in every rally like a panther and finished off his experienced opponent with a series of front court shots that White could not get close to. The end came quickly as Goodridge, nephew of local squash legend Rudy Goodridge, reeled off 14 of the last 15 points in the match to record an impressive 9/3 9/2 9/1 victory in just 25 minutes. In the semi-final Goodridge will face the current three time defending champion and #2 seed, Shawn Simpson, who comfortably defeated Alex Garcia
in straight games in just 22 minutes. The other Men’s semi-final will be between the top seed and champion in 2000, Gavin Cumberbatch, and the #3 seed Mark Sealy, in what should be a classic battle of youth versus experience. Sealy, an eight time former national champion, put in an impressive display and was in full control in his match against the experienced veteran Nigel Griffith and won 9/5 9/7 9/0 in 40 minutes. Cumberbatch had to work just as hard against his younger brother Bryant, who was good enough on the night to snatch the first game for the loss of five points. Gavin then settled down and was in control thereafter and took the match in four games 5/9 9/4 9/3 9/3 in 32 minutes.
In the Men’s Consolation Plate 1st round another Cumberbatch sibling ? Rhett ? comfortably defeated Nkosi Ross 3-0 while Nkosi?s younger brother, Liu Ross was also defeated by the wily veteran, Leon Truss, 9/5 9/5 8/10 9/3. A fit looking Don Benn, easily defeated Roger Martin 3-0 and in one of the matches of the night the unseeded Dean Straker sent yet another spicy message to the local seeding panel by storming back from 0-2 down against the experienced Craig Archer to run away with the match 3/9 6/9 9/1 9/5 9/3 in just over 50 minutes. This impressive victory by Straker was his second against a 9/16 seed in the past three days and will surely result in an improved national ranking for him at the end of these championships.
The Ladies and the Men’s Semi-finals, as well as matches in the Men’s Plate, the Consolation and Classic Plates, continue at the BSC on Friday night, May 11th beginning at 5:45 p.m. All finals are scheduled between 2:00 and 6:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, May 12th. The trophy presentation will be held immediately afterwards at approximately 6:30 p.m. at the BSC .
Results of matches played on Thursday May 10th are as follows:
Ladies Main Draw ? Quarter-finals
#1 Karen Meakins defeated Elizabeth Johnson 9/1 9/6 9/6
#3/4 Carla Jackson defeated Edna Corbette 9/4 9/0 9/0
#3/4 Cheri-Ann Parris defeated Muffin Johnson 9/1 9/2 9/0
#2 Lilianna White defeated Ayoni Bradshaw 9/0 9/0 9/3
Men’s Main Draw ? Quarter-finals
#1 Gavin Cumberbatch defeated #5/8 Bryant Cumberbatch 5/9 9/4 9/3 9/3
#3/4 Mark Sealy defeated #5/8 Nigel Griffith 9/5 9/7 9/0
#5/8 Fabian Goodridge defeated #3/4 Marlon White 9/3 9/2 9/1
#2 Shawn Simpson defeated #5/8 Alex Garcia 9/7 9/7 9/5 9/2
Men’s Consolation Plate – 1st Round
#9/16 Rhett Cumberbatch defeated Nkosi Ross 9/2 9/7 9/6
#9/16 Leon Truss defeated Liu Ross 9/5 9/5 8/10 9/3
#9/16 Don Benn defeated Roger Martin 9/1 9/5 9/5
Dean Straker defeated #9/16 Craig Archer 3/9 6/9 9/1 9/5 9/3
Men’s Plate – 1st Round
Orson Simpson defeated Ronald Watson 5/9 9/3 9/0 9/0
Michael Best defeated James Punnett 5/9 9/2 5/9 9/2 9/3
Ciaran Raymer defeated Jonathan O?Dowd 9/2 9/4 9/7
Sylvester Nurse defeated Bertram Butcher 9/1 9/3 6/9 10/8
You can follow the action day by day by downloading the updated tournament draw for National Squash Championships by following the link below.
