The top seeds, Shawn Badrinath and Karen Meakins, each justified their seeding by comfortably winning their respective finals as the curtain came down on the Playfair Ltd. / Federal Bookmakers Barbados Squash Open over the weekend at the Barbados Squash Club (BSC), Marine Gardens, Hastings, Christ Church.
Meakins, a six-time Barbados national champion and arguably the best female player ever to represent this island in squash, was too good for the current British Under-17 Closed Champion, Victoria Lust. Meakins started the ladies final a little nervously and made several uncharacteristic errors to give Lust, her former student, some hope of a major upset. Neither player seized a clear advantage in the close first game until Meakins finally shook off the cobwebs at 6-7 down and reeled off the last three points in a single hand to take the first game at seven. Lust never led again in the match as the increasingly confident Meakins dominated the tee position and forced the petite English teenager to scurry frantically from corner to corner in an attempt to stay in each rally. Punishing drives and crisp volleys on either flank flowed from the Meakins’ racket and whenever the desperate Lust erred in her length the trademark Meakins drop shot was deployed with deadly effect. In what seemed to be a flash the match was over with Meakins winning 18 of the last 20 points to emphatically claim her seventh Barbados Open crown 9/7 9/2 9/0 in 35 minutes.
The Men’s final was more competitive and saw a repeat of the finals in both 2002 and 2003 when the top seeded Guyanese, Shawn Badrinath, faced the best local player this decade, Gavin Cumberbatch. The dreadlocked Cumberbatch, a former captain of his Yale University squash team, began the first game at a frenetic pace and attempted to impose himself on the diminutive Badrinath by hammering hard low drives into the back court at every opportunity. Badrinath answered this challenge with even more pace and greater control and after losing the first game at one in only six minutes Cumberbatch had to revert to plan B. The pace slowed and the rallies lengthened and Cumberbatch probed away looking for any weakness in the Badrinath game to exploit. There was none to be found. As many over the past five years have discovered to their chagrin the Guyanese champion is fast, fit and extremely agile, and is proficient with his drives and volleys on either wing and, most importantly, has an array of attacking options in the front of the court. Try as he might, Cumberbatch could not overcome his opponent in the back court and simply made too many errors with his drop shot when he tried to move Badrinath to the front of the court. The second game was lost at two and at 1-5 down in the third the partisan crowd feared the worst for their hero. Cumberbatch gave it his all at this stage and reeled off 8 of the next 9 points to take the third game 9-6 as Badrinath lost concentration and made a few uncharacteristic errors. In the fourth game the rallies became longer still, but as Badrinath became steadier the uncertainty returned to the Cumberbatch drop shot and several of his front court shots found their way into the tin. There was no reprieve for Cumberbatch in this game and after 41 minutes it was all over. After hitting his final winning shot a delighted Badrinath punched the air to celebrate winning his fifth straight Barbados Open in four games 9/1 9/2 6/9 9/3.
In the Men’s third place match Steve Smith, the #4 seed from Jamaica, dominated a tired looking Shawn Simpson in 45 minutes of attacking play. It might have been different had the third seeded Simpson been able to win the second game after being 8-4, game ball up. He could not, but fought back strongly from 3-8 down to take the third game at eight. Smith then attacked with his trademark volleys and drops to rush to an 8-1 lead before Simpson could mount a comeback. He battled gallantly but Smith finished the match on his second match ball 9/1 10/8 8/10 9/4. Jenny Armstrong took the ladies third place match by default when the #2 seed Sonia Perkins failed to recover from the ankle injury sustained in her semi-final match.
In the Ladies 5th place match 15 year old Cheri-Ann Parris beat Lilianna White for the first time in four games, while the Caribbean Under-19 champion Chantelle Day (Cayman) defeated Nadia McCarthy in straight games to clinch 7th place. In the Men’s A 5th place match Colin Ramasra (Trinidad) beat the very promising Vincentian teenager Shane Slater 3-2, while Nigel Griffith defeated Frenchman, Fabien Magne in straight games for 7th place. Fabian Goodridge easily beat Alex Garcia 3-0 for 9th place.
The Men’s B final was won by the outstanding Cliff Nolan who defeated Tariq Williams (Guyana) in four games. A representative of the sponsors, Ms. Liz Ward, presented prizes to the winners in a short ceremony held at the BSC after the conclusion of the men’s final.
(The attached photo shows the four Barbados Open finalists, from the left: Shawn Badrinath – men’s champion; Victoria Lust – runner-up; Karen Meakins – ladies champion; Gavin Cumberbatch – runner-up.)
Full results from Day 6 are as follows (all players from Barbados unless stated otherwise):
Ladies Final: #1 Karen Meakins defeated #4 Victoria Lust (England) 9/7 9/2 9/0
Ladies 3/4th Place: #5 Jenny Armstrong defeated #2 Sonia Perkins by default due to injury
Ladies 5/6th Place: #7 Cheri-Ann Parris defeated #3 Lilianna White 9/4 9/5 5/9 9/7
Ladies 7/8th Place: #6 Chantelle Day (Cayman) defeated #8 Nadia McCarthy 9/6 9/6 10/9
Men’s A Final: #1 Shawn Badrinath (Guyana) defeated #2 Gavin Cumberbatch 9/1 9/2 6/9 9/3
Men’s A 3/4th Place: #4 Steve Smith (Jamaica) defeated #3 Shawn Simpson 9/1 10/8 8/10 9/4
Men’s A 5/6th Place: #5 Colin Ramasra (Trinidad) defeated Shane Slater (St. Vincent) 1/9 9/4 0/9 9/2 9/7
Men’s A 7/8th Place: #8 Nigel Griffith defeated #7 Fabien Magne (France) 9/5 9/1 9/3
Men’s A 9/10th Place: Fabian Goodridge defeated Alex Garcia 9/0 9/3 9/7
Men’s B Final: Cliff Nolan defeated Tariq Williams (Guyana) 3/9 9/5 9/6 9/1
Men’s B 3/4th Place: Mickey Armstrong defeated Fredrik Crouzet (Martinique) by default
Men’s B 5/6th Place: Roger Martin defeated David Foster 2/9 10/9 9/5 8/10 9/7
Men’s B 7/8th Place: Alex McDonald defeated Andrew Nunes by default
