– as Bounty Farm handicap tournament serves off

The Guyana Squash Racquets Association, Bounty Farm handicap squash tournament served off last Tuesday evening with several matches at the Georgetown Club courts.

A total of 17 matches were contested on the opening night of the tournament which will be played on a level playing field for some, while others like world-ranked Nicollette Fernandes and former national men’s champion Reagan Pollard,  will start with a minus 35 in all their matches.

According to a GSRA press release, the match that took the spotlight on the opening night involved Caribbean under-15 champion Mary Fung-A-Fat and Brian Young, with both players battling for supremacy.

Young, who started at plus eight (+8), overpowered Fung-A-Fat (+10) to take the first set 15-12. But the diminutive young Caribbean champion came back to level the match when she took the second 17-15.

In the decider, Young came out hitting the ball with express pace to reach match ball at 14-13, but Fung-A-Fat refused to give in and calling on her experience and ability, tied the scores at 14.

Young had his second chance to close out the match at 16-14, but true to her reputation, Fung-A-Fat never gave up and clawed her way back to pull off the remarkable victory 17-16, much to the delight of the crowd who cheered every point during the final set.

Other results of the night were as follows:
Open Category

David Fernandes (+12) defeated Andrew Arjoon (+8)   15-11, 15-12                                                                      Victoria Arjoon (+12) defeated Xavier Grau (+10)  16-17, 15-12, 15-13                                                                        Luca Palazzotto (+12) defeated Keisha Jeffrey (0) 15-13, 15-8                                                                                   Medharishi Ramdhani (+8) defeated Ryan Whitehead (+12) 10-15, 15-13,  17-15                                                  Kayla Jeffrey (+4) defeated Deje Dias (-15) 15-13, 14-17, 15-4                                                                                  Allan Downes (+8) defeated Jerozeno Bell 15-7, 15-10
Category A

Nyron Joseph (-15) defeated Randy Hope (-15) 15-4, 15-12                                                                                 Lee Fung-A-Fat (-8) defeated Ongelle Burnett (+10) 15-13, 15-11                                                                               Steven Xavier (-8) defeated Daniel Persaud (+2) 15-14, 15-9                                                                                        Lydia Fraser (-10) defeated Kristina Cheeks (+6) 15-12, 15-10                                                                                    Gabrielle Fraser (+8) defeated Alexander Cheeks (+10) 17-16, 15-12                                                                           Taylor Fernandes (+12) defeated Ryan DaSilva (-5) 15-5, 16-17, 15-10                                                                               Nase-d Benn (-8) defeated Patrick Fraser (+8) 15-12, 12-15, 15-13                                                                                         Ashley deGroot (-8) defeated Nicholas Peters (+6)  15-12, 15-8

Alex Gouveia (+8) and Michael Atherley (+10) received walkovers from Jason Ray Khalil (-10) and Nicholas Narain (0) respectively.

Action in this tournament which is eagerly anticipated by local squash players will continue from 6:00pm each day, leading up to the finals which will be played on Saturday at the same venue.