Records tumbled on Saturday at the Barbados Squash Club (BSC) as the 33rd annual Barbados National Squash Championships, sponsored by the Barbados Olympic Association, came to an exciting climax.
In the Ladies final the peerless Karen Meakins easily crushed top local junior Cheri-Ann Parris in straight games to extend her record to seven consecutive National Ladies Championship titles. In a ruthless display of precision squash the top seed, who is currently ranked #2 in the Caribbean region, never allowed Parris, who is the current Girls’ under-17 Barbados and Caribbean champion, to get into a rhythm. Seventeen minutes was all it took for Meakins’ to win 9/5 9/0 9/1 and extend her amazing sequence of not dropping even a single game to a female Barbadian in any squash tournament held in Barbados since she started to complete after taking up residence in Barbados in 2000. In the ladies third place playoff the #2 seed Lilianna White beat Carla Jackson 3-0 in 27 minutes while Ayoni Bradshaw came from 1-2 down to upset the experienced Elizabeth Johnson 3-2 to claim fifth place. Muffin Johnson defeated Edna Corbette for seventh.
On the Men’s side of the draw the matches were much more competitive. In a repeat of last year?s final the current three time defending champion and #2 seed, Shawn Simpson, outlasted the top seed Gavin Cumberbatch, in four grueling games. After an up tempo 18 minute first game that Simpson lost 4-9 he made a number of errors in the front of the court early in the second game, and soon found he was down 0-6 in that game and in danger of getting into a deeper hole. He responded by taking the pace off and was thereafter more effective in moving Cumberbatch from the very back of the court right up to the front of the court by the use of excellent width and depth of shot. Cumberbatch continued to amaze the spectators with his speed about the court and his retrieving ability, but it became increasingly obvious that he was starting to feel the effects of this mileage as the match approached the 30 minute mark. From 0-6 down Simpson restored parity at 6-all and then 7-all. By now Simpson looked the more secure in the front of the court and snatched the last two points to win the game 9-7 and square the match at one game all. The lanky left hander never trailed again as Cumberbatch began to look more and more tired and suddenly the third game was over 9-4 to Simpson. The fourth game was quick as Simpson never lost focus and deployed his excellent straight drops and volleys to win point after point. Fittingly the 52 minute match was won by Simpson with an unreachable straight forehand drop. As Simpson triumphantly punched the air with both fists the crowd rose to applaud this multi-talented athlete, who is now the only Barbadian to have ever won four consecutive national men’s titles in squash.
The third place playoff was no less exciting as the #3 seed Mark Sealy, an eight time former national champion, played an excellent match but could not close out the resilient Fabian Goodridge who came back from 1-2 down to win in five games in a match that had the crowd on the edge of their seats. After dropping the first game at four, Sealy’s obvious strategy thereafter was to make Goodridge cover every inch of the court and that plan appeared to be working as a 20 minute marathon second game followed which Sealy claimed at seven. When Sealy then confidently took the third 9-2, few would have given a jaded looking Goodridge much chance to recover the initiative. They were wrong! Calling on incredible reserves of speed and stamina Goodridge ran down every ball like a man possessed. Sealy found that his certain winners now kept coming back, and try as he might, he could make no further impression on his 23 year old opponent who ground out an impressive 9/4 7/9 2/9 9/6 9/5 victory in 70 minutes, the longest match of the two week tournament.
In other matches, Rhett Cumberbatch easily defeated Don Benn 3-0 to finish ninth. The wily veteran Orson Simpson held his nerve to beat Sylvester Nurse and win the Men’s Plate 3-2. Lea Solomon defeated Zoe Lisk 3-0 to win the Ladies Plate.
Final results for the matches played on Saturday, May 12th are as follows:
Ladies Final
#1 Karen Meakins defeated #3/4 Cheri-Ann Parris 9/5 9/0 9/1
Ladies Third Place
#2 Lilianna White defeated #3/4 Carla Jackson 9/4 9/3 9/5
Ladies Classic Plate Final (5th place)
Ayoni Bradshaw defeated Elizabeth Johnson 7/9 9/5 1/9 9/1 9/5
Ladies 7th place
Muffin Johnson defeated Edna Corbette 9/7 9/2 9/3
Ladies Plate final
Lea Solomon defeated Zoe Lisk 9/1 9/1 9/0
Men’s Final
#2 Shawn Simpson defeated #1 Gavin Cumberbatch 4/9 9/7 9/4 9/1
Men’s Third Place
#5/8 Fabian Goodridge defeated #3/4 Mark Sealy 9/4 7/9 2/9 9/6 9/5
Men’s Classic Plate Final (5th Place)
#5/8 Bryant Cumberbatch defeated #5/8 Nigel Griffith by default
Men’s 7th place
#3/4 Marlon White defeated #5/8 Alex Garcia by default
Men’s Consolation Plate Final (9th Place)
#9/16 Rhett Cumberbatch defeated #9/16 Don Benn 9/4 9/6 9/1
Men’s Plate Final
Orson Simpson defeated Sylvester Nurse 9/3 6/9 9/6 0/9 9/3
You can download the updated tournament draw for the National Squash Championships by following the link below.
B’dos National Championships 2007 – Final Results – file no. 1
