World-rated Nicolette Fernandes will be attempting to win her second Caribbean title when she faces Karen Meakins in the finals of the Caribbean Squash Championships in the Cayman Islands.
Meanwhile on the opening day of the team championships, Guyana’s male and female teams were beaten by Barbados.
It would be a rematch of the 2005 championships where Fernandes defeated Meakins in the finals to be crowned the senior Caribbean squash queen.
However the Barbados ace player Meakins would be aiming to finally claim the championship which has evaded her twice after also losing to Jamaica’s Karen Anderson who narrowly defeated her in 2007 for the title.
The Guyanese entered the finals by virtue of defeating another Barbadian, Cherri-Ann Parris, in the semi-finals in another straight sets win, 11-7-11-5 and 11-3.
So far in the tournament Fernandes who was seeded number one entering the competition, is yet to drop a set having played flawlessly.
Her opponent in the finals, who was seeded number two, was just as impressive and she too is yet to be given a real challenge in the tournament.
Meakins defeated Denise Summers of Bermuda 11-2, 11-1 and 11-5 in their semi-finals. It was Summers who was responsible for ousting Guyana’s Keisha Jeffrey from the tournament in the quarter-final stage.
The clash between the two players who are both national champions in their respective countries should be nothing short of exhilarating because of the significance it holds for each of them.
Fernandes who is ranked 103 by the Women’s International Squash Players Association (WISPA) is on the comeback trail after returning from a career-threatening knee injury she suffered last year.
The former Central American and Caribbean (CAC) and three-time Southern Caribbean Games ladies champion was previously ranked at 27 in the world back in 2007 but had slipped to as low as 243 since the injury.
For Meakins, Barbados’ most acclaimed female squash player, to land a senior Caribbean championship title would put a cap on her illustrious career.
Meanwhile, in the team championship which began yesterday, Guyana’s male and female teams went down to Barbados.
The men were whitewashed five nil while the females piloted by Fernandes went down 3-2.
The team of national champion Kristian Jeffrey, Oliver Kear-Downes, Regan Pollard, Alexander Arjoon and Raphael DeGroot showed little resistance to the Bajans with DeGroot and Downes being beaten in straight sets.
The women’s team was a bit more competitive in their clash as they were given a good start by Fernandes, who defeated Meakins (7-11, 11-6, 11-4 and 11-7) in a preview of the women’s individual finals.
Kayla Jeffrey chalked up team Guyana’s other win in the team play by defeating Lillian White 11-7, 11-6, 7-11 and 11-3.
The other players, Keisha Jeffrey and Victoria Arjoon sent their games the extra mile but could not keep up.
