Team Guyana secured a historic bronze medal in the girls doubles of the squash competition on day two and three of the Commonwealth Youth Games which concluded Thursday in Samoa.
Going into the matches, the pair of Larissa Wiltshire and Taylor Fernandes, ranked fifth, defeated Norfolk then also upset Australia to finish third and occupy the podium.
According to a release from Chef De Mission, Garfield Wiltshire, the Wiltshire/Fernandes duo played against Norfolk winning an exciting, tactical match; exposing their opponents’ weaknesses. They targeted the weaker of the two girls, resulting in an 11-2, 11-5 triumph which guaranteed them the bronze medal. It was well-deserved medal as they were indeed the third best pair.
Athletics
Junior sprint sensation, Compton Caesar placed second in heat three of the 200m with a personal best of 21.38s which qualified him for the semifinals with the fifth fastest time. He, however, placed seventh in the final with a time of 21.60 after experiencing hamstring soreness following the semifinal in which he also placed second.
Squash (Men’s, Doubles
and Mixed Doubles)
Benjamin Mekdeci played against Thomas da Silva (Gibraltar) in the semi-finals of the Plate at 11:00am. He won 3-0 (14-12, 11-9 and 11-3).
At 2:00pm he played Jason Doyle (St. Vincent & The Grenadines) for the Plate Final for the prize of a traditional wooden bowl. Mekdeci lost the first game 12-10, then won the 2nd 11-7. Doyle won the 3rd 11-2 and won a close-fought fourth 10-12.
At 6:30pm Fernandes and Wiltshire played the number two ranked Malaysia in the doubles. They lost 11-3, 11-3 in a two best of three. Squash started for Team Guyana at 10:00 with Mixed Doubles (Fernandes and Meckdeci) against Norfolk Islands. Guyana won two best of three 11-2 and 11-5.
Women’s Doubles – Wiltshire and Fernandes played against Australia at 11:30; winning an exciting match – first game won 11-9 (after coming back from 9-4), second lost 7-11, third won 11-10 in a sudden-death tie-breaker with Australia serving.
Later in the day, Fernandes and Mekdeci played top-seeded Malaysia in Mixed Doubles. In the first game they did very well, losing 11-7. The second game was lost 11-1.
At 3:30pm there was another Women’s Doubles match against top-ranked New Zealand. The Guyana girls played very well, but lost 11-7 and 11-9.
At 6:30pm Meckdeci and Fernandes played in the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles against India. They were going smoothly in the first game until Meckdeci was struck in the right temple, by the ball. He continued to play, but was dazed. The team lost 11-4 and he was forced to take two injury time-outs between the games. The second game was lost 11-7. Mekdeci was still not feeling well and received attention from the medical team.
