The top four squash players in Barbados – i.e. Shawn Simpson, the top seed; Gavin Cumberbatch the #3/4 seed (who are both in the 8-man Caribbean Men’s draw) plus Karen Meakins and Cheri-Ann Parris (who have been included in the 16 draw ladies qualifying tournament that begins on May 5th) and two senior Barbadian referees, Craig Archer and Orson Simpson, fly out at 6:45 a.m. on Monday May 4th to participate in the 2009 Cayman Squash Open which is being held from Tuesday, May 5th to Saturday, May 10th at the South Sound Squash Club in George Town, Grand Cayman.
Since 2008 all four of these local athletes have, on the recommendation of the Barbados Squash Rackets Association (BSRA), been designated as ?Elite Athletes? by the National Sports Council (NSC) and have received funding from the NSC to assist with their athletic development. These funds are being used to help cover the cost of this trip to Grand Cayman.
Barbados National Men’s Champion for the last five years (2004-08) and reigning (2008) Southern Caribbean Squash Champion, Shawn Simpson, is seeded at #1 in the Caribbean Men’s draw. The #2 seed is Colin Ramasra (T&T) and the #3/4 seeds are Gavin Cumberbatch (B’dos) and Steve Smith (Jamaica). Cumberbatch is the reigning Caribbean Men’s Squash Champion (2007). The eight time National Ladies Champion (2001-08), Karen Meakins, who was a finalist in the last two Caribbean Squash Championships (2005 & 2007), winner of the 2002 Southern Caribbean Ladies Championship and the runner-up at the last three Southern Caribbean Ladies Championships (2004, 2006 & 2008), along with top local junior, Cheri-Ann Parris, are included in the women’s qualifying draw and begin to play from the evening of May 5th.
The main draw for the US$37,500 WoMen’s International Squash Players Association (WISPA) tournament begins at the South Sound Squash Club on Thursday, May 7th. Seven of the top 10 ladies in the world (including current World #1, Nicole David from Malaysia) have entered. Four players from the woMen’s qualifying draw will feed through to the main draw to play one of the top four seeds in the first round.
For more details please click here: Cayman Squash Open 2009
