The 2019 edition of KFC sponsored Guyana Squash Association (GSA) Senior National Championships will serve off at the Georgetown Club Squash Courts tomorrow evening with the finals billed for Sunday at the same venue.
The championships, however, will not feature the 2018 defending champs Mary Fung – A – Fat, who will remain in the United States to fortify her preparations for the upcoming Pan American Games in Peru and Alex Arjoon who is out due to personal reasons.
Nonetheless, the event is still expected to thrill with the likes of Taylor Fernandes and Ashley Khalil – the number one and two seeded female players respectively – likely to make it through the women’s final to set up and exciting clash.
Both players, along with Fung – A- Fat, make up Guyana’s contingent to attend the Peru Games and as such, it is likely that they will stretch themselves at nationals to examine the weight of their preparations.
On the male side, the experienced Richard Chin, who was runner-up in the 2018 event, is favoured to clinch the title in Arjoon’s absence. It is anticipated that he will face stern challenges from Nyron Joseph and Jason Ray Khalil for top honours.
The competition will also feature Guyana’s top juniors in Shomari Wiltshire, Nicholas Verwey, Abosaide Cadogan, Kirstin Gomes and Michael Alphonso who have been refining their craft under the guidance of coach Carl Ince.
The quartet, along with the others, will be using the event to polish their preparations for the fast-approaching Junior Caribbean Squash meet in Trinidad and Tobago from July 6-13.
Further down the line, Guyana will host the senior Caribbean championships from August 18-24, making the 2019 senior nationals event more important, before Fung – A- Fat, Fernandes and Khalil trade serves with Pan American counterparts at the Pan Am Games which is billed for July 25-31. (Royston Alkins)
