The top two Men’s seeds emulated their female counterparts by booking their places in the Men’s final when action continued on Friday, May 19th in the 32nd edition of the annual Barbados National Squash Championships, which is being sponsored by the Barbados Olympic Association.
Top seed Gavin Cumberbatch, who in the year 2000 became the youngest ever Men’s national squash champion at age 16, makes his long anticipated return to the Men’s final of the National Championships this afternoon (Saturday) when he takes on the two time defending champion and fellow 22 year old Shawn Simpson, who is seeded at #2 this year. Cumberbatch, who has been the island?s top player for the last five years, has missed several national championships during that period because he was overseas studying at Yale University. In his semi-final encounter on Friday night against the #4 seed Marlon White, Cumberbatch was rarely troubled and won easily 9/2 9/3 9/3 in 24 minutes. The second semi-final was more competitive and hence longer than the first but, in the end, the up tempo, power hitting game of the #2 Simpson, who is also a national volleyball player, was too much for the 8-time former national champion and #3 seed, Mark Sealy, who was defeated 9/3 9/5 9/6 in 36 minutes. This will be Simpson?s fourth straight national Men’s final, a feat only achieved three times in the past, the last being Mark Cox, the beaten finalist from 1986 to 1989.
The fifth place playoff semi-finals were more exciting. The #5 seed, John Cumberbatch, defeated the top local junior, Alex Garcia 9/6 9/4 1/9 10/9 in 34 minutes, while Tim O?Neal?s versatility in the front court was too much for a tiring Ian Worrell who fought hard but faded in the end 9/1 4/9 9/6 9/3 in 47 minutes. In the ladies equivalent, Nadia McCarthy defeated Carla Jackson 9/0 4/9 9/2 9/5 to reach the 5/6th playoff where she will face fellow junior team member, Bo Harris.
Full results from Day 5 on May 19th were as follows:
Men’s Semi-final: #1 Gavin Cumberbatch defeated #4 Marlon White 9/2 9/3 9/3
Men’s Semi-final: #2 Shawn Simpson defeated #3 Mark Sealy 9/3 9/5 9/6
Men’s 5/6th Place S/F: #5 John Cumberbatch defeated #10 Alex Garcia 9/6 9/4 19 10/9
Men’s 5/6th Place S/F: #9 Tim O?Neal defeated Ian Worrell 9/1 4/9 9/6 9/3
Ladies? 5/6th Place S/F: #6 Nadia McCarthy defeated Carla Jackson 9/0 4/9 9/2 9/5
Men’s Plate Semi-final: Cliff Nolan defeated Kieran Young 9/1 9/10 9/1 9/7
Men’s Plate Semi-final: Roger Martin defeated Ciaran Raymer 9/2 9/4 9/6
Ladies Plate Semi-final: Carolyn Last-Johnson defeated Cilla Seale 9/0 9/4 3/9 9/6
Ladies Plate Semi-final: Tracy Roett defeated Edna Corbette 9/6 9/6 4/9 9/2
The National Squash Championships end on Saturday, May 20th. Matches at the Barbados Squash Club (427-7913) begin at 1:00 p.m. and continue until the last scheduled match, the Men’s final, which should get underway at 5:30 p.m. The presentation of trophies for the tournament, including the veterans event from last week, will take place immediately thereafter in court #1.
