Although she did not admit it herself, every member of the notably large turnout for last night’s final of the 2008 Cellink Plus Southern Caribbean Championships at the Georgetown Club, can testify to having witnessed a world-class performance from Guyanese international squash star Nicolette Fernandes who conquered long time rival Karen Meakins for the ladies’ title.
Fernandes claimed her third major title after returning from a career-threatening injury with superior retrieving skills to score to a magnificent come-from-behind 3-1 victory.
Fernandes said that this victory was very special as the Southern Championships was where she began her rise to the top, winning her first at age 16.
“This is the first time that my family had the chance to see me play after my injury and I am glad that I was able to show them that the last year-and-a-half that I have been off, was not in vain.
“The crowd support was incredible and I could hear all my friends and family shouting my name, I couldn’t ask for more,” Fernandes added.
However, it was no walk in the park.
Meakins set the intensity of the match early with a fierce onslaught of high quality shots even by the standards of an excellent retriever like Fernandes.
She took an early 1-0 lead after claiming the first game 9/7 but that was as far as she was going to get against the hometown squash hero.
“I have played Karen a lot over the past four years and I have learnt that she cannot be if taken for granted as we saw in the first game,” Nicolette told Stabroek Sport in a post game interview.
With all the junior players watching on in admiration, Fernandes took the momentum away from her Barbadian opponent early in the second game.
She got the better of all of the long rallies plunging, sweeping and swooping as there was nothing too low to fast or too soft for her to return.
The rest, as they say, was history.
Fernandes won the next three games 9/7, 9/4 and 9/3.
“As I said before it’s always nice to get some competitive match practice,” Fernandes said.
Her next individual tournament will be the South American Open, which will be held in Paraguay in early September.
