GSA selects Fung-A-Fat, Khalil, Fernandes for Pan Am 

—Trio recently completed two training camps

Guyana’s Pan Am bound squash team along with former world number one and David Palmer.
Guyana’s Pan Am bound squash team along with former world number one and David Palmer.

The Guyana Squash Association (GSA) has selected Mary Fung – A – Fat, Ashley Khalil and Taylor Fernandes as Guyana’s representatives to compete at the upcoming Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru, according to its President David Fernandes.

The team, which will be coached by Ramon Chan-A-Sue, earned the spot to attend the Lima event after strong performances last September during the Pan Am qualifiers in the Cayman Islands. National squash queen Nicolette Fernandes had participated in that event. 

Meanwhile, the squash body, with the aid of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), has been pulling out all the stops to armour the trio for what is expected to be a tough assignment.

Fernandes told Stabroek Sport that the players were involved in two overseas training stints. 

“During the Easter, Ashley and Taylor went to Barbados to train with an Egyptian coach; that was at our expense while Mary was with her coach and she went to England as well and she will be making several trips in around North America and Europe in preparations for Pan Am.”

He added: “Last week from the 5th to the 11th they went to Cornell University in the U.S to train with David Palmer, who is a former world number one squash player and current coach working at Cornell University. 

“We were able through the kind assistance of the GOA to afford the trip for them to have very intense training where they did a lot of physical work, work on their technique and he [Palmer] really drove home the importance of the basics.”

Asked about what he envisaged as a successful outing for the trio, Fernandes was quick to point out that while qualifying for the event was a great feat, he explained that Guyana will be going up against some of the best in the world including the U.S, Canada and Mexico. 

Notwithstanding the obvious challenges, he suggested that success for him would embody the team leaving it out on the court where the players will compete in the teams, singles and doubles event.  

The team departs on July 22. Immediately after that assignment, they will head home for Guyana’s hosting of the senior Caribbean championships.