There was only one upset on the second day of the veterans competition of the 34th annual Barbados National Squash Championships, which is sponsored by the Barbados Olympic Association, but it was a significant one. In the second of the Men’s over-40 semi-finals played on Thursday night May 8th at the Barbados Squash Club, Marine Gardens, the #2 seed, Nigel Griffith, a former Caribbean and multiple local over-40 champion was defeated by national team mate Marlon White in five hard fought games. White had the better of the exchanges in the first two games and took them fro the loss of 6 and 5 points respectively to mov into a 2-0 lead. As he has done many times in the past, Griffith ? known to local and Caribbean squash fans as the ?Dragon? ? then clawed his way back into contention by winning the next two games at 4 and 3 by utilizing all of his skills at the front of the court to full effect as White lost concentration and then struggled to stay in contention. At the start of the fifth game all the smart money would have been on Griffith to win, since his ability to recover seemingly lost causes and to win in five games is legendary, both at home and across the squash playing Caribbean. But to his great credit, White managed to regroup and return to the attacking style that had been so successful for him in the first two games. His relentless attacking play quickly established commanding leads at 5-0 and then at 7-2. There were then a succession of hand outs as Griffith tried desperately to keep each rally going for as long as possible in the hope that his opponent would break down mentally or physically. But with the finishing line so close, White was simply not to be denied. As he hit his final shot for a clean winner, White let out a loud yelp of triumph as he won 9/6 9/5 4/9 3/9 9/3 in six minutes short of an hour, the longest match in the tournament thus far.
Of all the other matches played the most exciting was the Men’s over-50 semi-final between the top seed and defending champion, Orson Simpson, who had to dig deep into his bag of trick shots to defeat a fit looking Barry Gale in five tense games.
The results of all the matches played on Thursday, May 8, 2008 were as follows:
Thursday, May 8th
M+35 Round robin [1] Mark Gilkes bt. James Punnett 9/4 9/1 9/5
M+40 Semi-final: [1] Mark Sealy bt. [3/4] Leon Truss 9/3 9/1 9/0 (17 mins.)
M+40 Semi-final: [3/4] Marlon White bt. [2] Nigel Griffith 9/6 9/5 4/9 3/9 9/3 (54 mins.)
M+45 Semi-final: [1] Mickey Armstrong bt. [3/4] Dean Straker 9/7 6/9 9/4 9/7 (36 mins.)
M+45 Semi-final: [2] Craig Archer bt. [3/4] Andrew Nunes 9/7 9/6 9/2
M+45: Plate round robin: John Freer bt. Peter Raymer 9/6 3/9 9/0 9/4 (22 mins.)
M+50: Semi-final: [1] Orson Simpson bt. [3/4] Barry Gale 4/9 9/4 9/4 2/9 9/3 (36 mins.)
M+50: Semi-final: [2] Cliff Nolan bt. [3/4] David Spink 9/2 9/2 9/1 (21 mins.)
M+50 Plate 1st round: ?Rory? Mackenzie bt. Chester Haynes 2/9 9/7 9/4 9/7 (34 mins.)
