– Guyana successful after first night of team event
The Guyana boys’ team shut-out Jamaica 5-0 and stopped the (OECS) Organization of Eastern Caribbean States 3-2 while the girls’ team dominated Barbados 4-1 on the opening night of the team event at CASA Caribbean Junior Squash Championships in Bermuda Wednesday night.
Although the GT boys were unable to secure any individual titles, unified they have so far stomped through the team event to take up residence at the top of the points standing having claimed two victories after the first night of play.
GT boys defeat OECS 3-2
The first win for the GT boys came against OECS which they won by a 3-2 margin, complements of wins from Jean-Claude Jeffrey, Alex Arjoon and Deje Dias who defeated Rory Thornton, Stefan Joseph and Jules Snaggs respectively all in straight games.
Under-13 competitor Nyron Joseph lost his match against Kevin Hannaway when he stepped up to play in the under-15 category and so did Oliver Kear-Downes in the under-19 category when he fell to Joe Chapman in straight games.
Jamaica Blown away 5-0
With a few adjustments in the team in their second match, the GT boys completely dominated their Jamaican opponents, winning all five matches.
Raphael DeGroot pushed over Bruce Burrowes 9/2, 9/4 & 10/8, while his backup Dias brushed aside Stephen Reid 9/1, 9/1 & 9/0 to sweep the under-19 category.
In the under-17 category Arjoon made quick work of Julian Morrison 9/4, 9/0 & 9/0 while Abhishek Singh raced to victory against Joshua Mahfood 9/1 , 9/4 & 9/5.
With the win already in the bag, much was not needed from fifth place finisher in the under-13 individual category, Joseph, but this did not keep him from taking apart Jake Mahfood in a five-game thriller.
Mahfood, this year’s runner-up in the under-13 category won the first game 10/9 before Joseph shifted the momentum when he took the second game 9/2.
Mahfood regained control again when he took the third came 9/5, but Joseph ended the see-saw pattern and won the next two games to complete his upset victory to zip Jamaica.
Girls in quest
After winning the girls’ team title in 2006 and 2007 at these championships, the Guyana girls began their journey for the third straight title with a commanding 4-1 victory against Barbados.
Three of the four victories came from the individual champions at this year’s event Keisha Jeffery, Mary Fung-A-Fat and Victoria Arjoon while runner-up in the under-17 category Kayla Jeffrey added the fourth.
The four winners disposed of their opponent without dropping a single game and conceding less than nine points combined from their four opponents.
Their only loss came after third place finisher in the under-19 category Daina King was defeated by this year’s runner-up in that same category, Cheri-Ann Parris, in straight games.
The last time Guyana won both the male and female team events was in 2003, when they claimed their 12th overall title at these championships.
