The peerless Karen Meakins easily cruised into her seventh straight National Championship ladies final as action in the 33rd annual Barbados National Squash Championships, sponsored by the Barbados Olympic Association, continued on Friday night, May 11th.
In the ladies semi-finals at the Barbados Squash Club (BSC) the top seed and prohibitive favourite, Meakins, easily beat Carla Jackson in straight games and will take on top local junior Cheri-Ann Parris in the final. Sixteen year-old Parris crushed the #2 seed Lilianna White 3-0 for the loss of just ten points to become the youngest female in over 20 years to reach a senior national ladies final.
On the Men’s side of the draw the semi-finals were more competitive, but in the end the top two seeds progressed to repeat the match-up from last year. In the first semi-final the current three time defending champion and #2 seed, Shawn Simpson, comfortably defeated Fabian Goodridge in straight games 9/4 9/3 9/0 in half an hour. The speedy Goodridge ran down nearly every shot in the first two games and made some incredible digs to stay in the rallies, but had too few weapons to hurt the lanky southpaw who has added a punishing straight drop and volley to his arsenal of attacking shots in recent times. By the third game Goodridge had little left in the tank and did not win a single point as Simpson became the first man ever to progress to five consecutive senior National finals. There he will face his old friend and rival, Gavin Cumberbatch, who is currently the #1 ranked player in the Southern Caribbean. Cumberbatch prevailed in a lengthy battle with the #3 seed Mark Sealy, an eight time former national champion, who tried his best and controlled the tempo for much of the match but just could not finish off his lightning quick opponent. In rally after punishing rally, the cagy veteran moved Cumberbatch all around the court but found that what would have been winners against normal players kept coming back as Cumberbatch glided around the court to the amazement of the appreciative audience. There was not much in it for the first two games but most of the big points were won by the pacy Cumberbatch who after 34 minutes found himself 2-0 up. As Sealy slowed slightly in the third game, Cumberbatch seized the initiative for good and stepped on the accelerator and powered away to win 9/7 9/5 9/4 in 42 minutes.
The eagerly anticipated Ladies and the Men’s finals, as well as the other finals in the Men’s Consolation Plate, the Men’s and Ladies? Classic Plates, and the Men’s and Ladies? Plates continue at the BSC on Saturday afternoon, May 12th beginning at 2:00 p.m. with the last match scheduled for 5:45 p.m. The trophy presentation, including trophies for the veterans competitions held last week, will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the BSC on Saturday evening.
Results of matches played on Friday May 11th are as follows:
Ladies Semi-finals
#1 Karen Meakins defeated #3/4 Carla Jackson 9/4 9/3 9/1
#3/4 Cheri-Ann Parris defeated #2 Lilianna White 9/2 9/1 9/7
Ladies Classic Plate Semi-finals (5th ? 8th)
Elizabeth Johnson defeated Edna Corbette 9/4 9/5 9/0
Ayoni Bradshaw defeated Muffin Johnson 9/5 8/10 0/9 9/6 9/6
Men’s Semi-finals
#1 Gavin Cumberbatch defeated #3/4 Mark Sealy 9/7 9/5 9/4
#2 Shawn Simpson defeated #5/8 Fabian Goodridge 9/4 9/3 9/0
Men’s Classic Plate Semi-finals (5th ? 8th)
#5/8 Bryant Cumberbatch defeated #3/4 Marlon White 9/2 9/1 9/5
#5/8 Nigel Griffith defeated #5/8 Alex Garcia 7/9 4/9 10/8 9/2 9/6
Men’s Consolation Plate Semi-finals (9th ? 16th)
#9/16 Rhett Cumberbatch defeated #9/16 Leon Truss 8/9 9/3 9/2 9/3
#9/16 Don Benn defeated Dean Straker 9/3 0/9 9/7 9/3
Men’s Plate Semi-finals
Orson Simpson defeated Michael Best 9/0 9/3 9/7
Sylvester Nurse defeated Ciaran Raymer 9/1 2/9 7/9 9/7 9/6
You can follow the action day by day by downloading the updated tournament draw for National Squash Championships by following the link below.
