The national senior team expected to represent Guyana at the upcoming National Lotteries Authority 18th Caribbean Squash Championships to be held in St Vincent from Sunday will be without Guyana’s number one player Nicolette Fernandes.
This was disclosed yesterday by president of the Guyana Squash Association, Andrew Arjoon.
Arjoon explained that Fernandes will not attend the event as she is pressed with professional commitments.
The 27-year-old started the tournament with second place finishes in 2001 and 2003 behind Jamaican Marlene West before bagging the title in 2005 defeating Barbadian Karen Meakins.
She has since held the title of women’s singles champion on and off but is currently the reigning champion.
Fernandes has been Guyana’s most accomplished participant at the tournament.
This year the team will comprise eight members, and will feature a mixture of home-based and overseas-based Guyanese players.
The team will be split into two divisions comprising a men’s team and a veteran’s team.
The men’s team will feature Guyanese Regan Pollard and Alex Arjoon along with US-based Richard Chin and Robert McDavid with Julian Chin rounding out the team.
The veteran’s team will feature US-based Alwyn Callender along with Brendon and Patricia Mounter of England.
In the interview with Stabroek Sport yesterday, Arjoon disclosed that the number of overseas-based Guyanese comprising the team was no coincidence adding that getting overseas-based Guyanese to represent Guyana in the sport was an initiative that the association had been tackling for some time.
“We (the Association) have been talking to a number of experienced players and we are trying to get them into returning to play for Guyana,” Arjoon stated.
Speaking of the return of Richard Chin, Arjoon said that while technical impediments had prevented the former star from representing Guyana much earlier, he was very happy to have the accomplished player return.
The event has been held biennially since 1977, before it was decided to make it an annual event from this year.
According to Squash Site, the tournament is scheduled to feature over 100 players from seven countries: namely Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Guyana, Jamaica, OECS and Trinidad and Tobago.
Eight of the medalists (singles, doubles and teams) from the recent Central American and Caribbean Games in Bogota, Colombia will be in action, Squash Site reported.
With Fernandes unavailable, Meakins, whose most recent accolades include a silver medal performance at the CAC Games, is expected to rule the women’s roost.
The tall Bajan has been runner-up at the last three championships and will be looking to capture her first Caribbean women’s single title.
An all-Barbados final might be expected with compatriot Cheri-Ann Parris coming in as the number two seed.
The 20-year-old is coming off a solid rookie season at Bates College where she was named NESCAC `Rookie of the Year’ and could prove to be a formidable opponent.
A pair of Trinidadian players will attempt to prevent this however, on the strength of 3/4 seeds Rhea Khan and Kerrie Sample.
In the men’s division, the return of the experienced Richard Chin just might be able to offset the disappointment of Fernandes’ absence.
Chin represented Guyana well as a junior and much excitement will undoubtedly surround his return to CASA squash.
A six-time Caribbean Junior Champion in the 80s, Chin is still very much in the sport having moved on to coach in the US and having played for various US national teams in the interim.
However, he can expect stiff competition from Jamaica’s Binnie, the defending champion.
Binnie will unquestionably be hoping to build on his historic performance at the CAC Games where he became the first Caribbean male to win a medal in the singles competition.
The men’s field will be extremely competitive and strong challenges are expected from the likes of Trinidadian Colin Ramasra, Shawn Simpson (Barbados), Patrick Foster (Bermuda) and Cameron Stafford (Cayman Islands), Squash Site reported.
Meanwhile, returning with most of the members from the 2009 squad in the team event, Trinidad & Tobago will seek to repeat their winning performance of last year. The men’s team title will be hard to come by however, as many of the other teams have bolstered their lineups with strong additions from previous tournaments.
According to Squash Site, the dark horse will be hosts OECS, as they welcome the debut of former World #10 Joe Kneipp, an Australian who has been living in the British Virgin Islands for the past few years.
The usual suspects will be coming out in full force in the veterans team competition, with heated battles expected between the teams from Barbados, Cayman Islands, OECS and Trinidad & Tobago.
Additionally, prior to the event, there will be a CASA Referee certification clinic on August 14, sponsored by the National Olympic Committee, Squash Site reported.
The clinic will be conducted by Canadian Rod Symington, one of only two Senior Assessors appointed by the World Squash Federation. The clinic is part of an initiative to improve the quality of refereeing throughout the Caribbean, Squash Site stated.
