Coordinator of the just-concluded 2007 Bounty Farm Ltd Mash Handicap Tournament Robert Fernandes has hailed the event a success.
Speaking to Stabroek Sport yesterday, Fernandes said this is the first time in a very long while that a player with a generous handicap won the tournament.
The open category in this year’s tournament was won by Caribbean Under-15 girls champion Keisha Jeffrey who defeated Allan Downes 15/7, 12/15, 15/13 in the final. Both players were handicapped plus 12 (+12) for the final, after starting the tournament with zero handicaps.
Third place went to Kristian Jeffrey (-30) who received a walkover from Alex Gouveia (+6).
The plate final was won by Joshua Abdool (+8) who defeated Javid Rahaman (+6)15/11, 15/10.
According to Fernandes, who was knocked out of the tournament in the early rounds, the handicap given to players with high levels of play, was aimed at making the tournament more competitive. “The handicap is aimed to make the tournament more competitive, to make anyone win the tournament.”
He reasoned that with a high handicap, a player would have to work harder to get past a player of a lesser calibre and this was what made the tournament exciting.
Fernandes was handicapped -25, Julian Chin, another senior player was handicapped -25 also, while Kristian Jeffrey who Fernandes said played well to reach the semi-final was handicapped -30.
Asked why such a high handicap, Fernandes who is the defending men’s champion explained that the last two occasions he and Jeffrey met, he (Fernandes) was beaten on both occasions.
“The handicap worked out better for the players who reached the final in both the Open and Category `A’ tournaments. They played smart squash, went for winners all the time.”
Last year’s open tournament was won by Shawn Badrinauth who did not participate in this year’s tournament, while Category `A’ was won by Lee Fung-A-Fat.
Badrinauth was handicapped -30 then.
This year, Nicholas Narain (-2) defeated Turhan Mohabeer (-10) 10/15, 15/10, 15/7 to claim the Category `A’ title, while in the third place play-off, Mary Fung-A-Fat (+6) defeated Abhishek Singh (+8) 15/12, 15/12.
The plate final in this category was won by Robert Hiscock (+4) who defeated Kayla Jeffrey (0)15/8, 15/10.
Fernandes said the Open Category final between Keisha Jeffrey and relative new comer to the game Allan Downes (+12) was a close encounter.
The pair he said, started at love all as they both had a +12 handicap and after some even early exchanges, Keisha’s superior fitness and retrieving ability took over, allowing her to take the first 15/7.
By the start of the second it seemed as if the writing was on the wall Fernandes said, but the very competitive Downes found his second wind and was able to keep up with his younger opponent to the end of the second, squeezing by 15/12.
With the games levelled at one all, Downes came out blazing in the third to take a 5-0 lead and he maintained an advantage at 9-3 and again at 10-5, but by this time the long rallies were taking their toll and Keisha was able to move from 5/10 to 11/10 before Downes could get back the serve.
Although he fought gallantly at the end, he never got back the lead and the exceptionally talented Keisha added yet anther trophy to her already impressive collection.
He said the Category `A’ final between veteran campaigner Turhan Mohabeer (-10) and the talented unorthodox youngster Nicholas Narain (-2) was the first close encounter of the night.
After the early exchanges which saw Narain move out to a 6/-3 lead, Mohabeer used his experience to good effect and slowed down the pace.
This, he said, proved decisive in the first as he was able to move from -3 to +10 points with the loss of only one point. He eventually closed out the game at 15/10.
The second game started much like the first but this time Narain didn’t allow Mohabeer to dictate the pace of the match as he started playing much more intelligent squash to keep his older opponent on the back foot. He evened the match by taking the second 15/10. The third was all Narain. He never allowed Mohabeer to score more than three points in a row, and kept scoring regularly to earn his first major tournament win, 15/7 in the third.
