Caribbean U19 girls’ singles runner-up Taylor Fernandes suffered an upset defeat when the Guyana Squash Association (GSA) in collaboration with its number one corporate sponsor Digicel’s annual Farfan and Mendes junior squash tournament got underway at the Georgetown Club Inc. squash courts.
Play got underway Tuesday night with matches in eight of the nine categories which are being contested and the highlight of the evening was the upset win in Category A by national U17 player Alex Cheeks over the much higher ranked and seeded Fernandes. Cheeks won 3-2 in a match that could have gone either way.
Fernandes won the first game 11- 6 but Cheeks bounced back to win the second game 11 – 6. Fernandes then won a close third game 11 – 9 but Cheeks again rebounded to take the fourth game 11 – 4.
The fifth game was close throughout and when Cheeks had match ball at 10 – 7 it seemed all over for Fernandes but she refused to give up easily and won the next three points to even the score 10-10. The scores were again even at 11-11 before Cheeks won the next two points to secure a well-earned victory.
Also in category A in the match-up of the Islam brothers Daniel defeated Anthony in three straight games 11 – 8, 11 – 1, 11 – 8.
Category B saw another upset as Samuel Ince-Carvalhal defeated the higher seeded Maya Collins in straight games 11 – 8, 11 – 5 and 11 – 4
In category C Michael Alphonso proved to be too strong for Dominic Collins winning easily 11 – 1, 11 – 3, 11 – 1 while in category D Kirsten Gomes outplayed Aliyah Persaud winning 11 – 7, 11 – 0, 11 – 5.
Also in category D Abosaide Cadogan defeated Jason Gomes also in straight games 11 – 3, 11 – 6, 11 – 7.
Results in each of the categories were as follows.
Category I
Aishani Persaud beat Grant Fernandes 11-6, 11-7
Noah Rahaman defeated Dhiren Persaud 11-7, 11-4
Malia Maikoo beat Jared Saul 11-4, 11-5
Category G
Jahcinta Adams beat Teija Edwards 11 – 13, 11 – 9, 11 – 4
Isabella Ramjohn beat Osmond Mack 11 – 9, 3 – 11, 12 – 10
Category F
Mikhail Persaud beat Nicholas Verwey 9 – 11, 11 – 7, 11 – 8
Louis Da Silva defeated Liam Carpenter 11 – 8, 11 – 4
Chad De Abreu defeated Shiloh Asregado 10 – 12, 11 – 8, 11 – 7
Category E
Mohyryan Baksh beat Zachary Persaud 11 – 6, 12 – 10
James Mekdeci beat Paige Fernandes 11 – 3, 7 – 11, 11 – 7
Category D
Abosaide Cadogan defeated Jason Gomes 11 – 3, 11 – 6, 11 – 7
Kirsten Gomes beat Aliyah Persaud 11 – 7, 11 – 0, 11 – 5
Category C
Michael Alphonso beat Dominic Collins 11 – 1, 11 – 3, 11 – 1
Category B
Samuel Ince-Carvalhal beat Maya Collins 11 – 8, 11 – 5, 11 – 4
Category A
Daniel Islam beat Anthony Islam 11 – 8, 11 – 1, 11 – 8
Alex Cheeks beat Taylor Fernandes 6 – 11, 11 – 6, 9 – 11, 11 – 4, 13 – 11
Matches will continue from 6.00 pm daily with the finals set to commence from 11.00 am Sunday.
