By Treiston Joseph
Guyana will feature in both the male and female finals of the team competition after outclassing their opponents yesterday in the Digicel Caribbean Areas Squash Association (CASA) Junior Championships at the Georgetown Club Courts.
Guyana will now face Jamaica in the final of the female competition at 10:00hrs while the males will battle Trinidad and Tobago at 15:00hrs.
Female team captain of Guyana, Ashley Khalil started the demise of their Trinidadian counterparts and the semifinal match-up between the two powerhouses ended 5-0.
Khalil continued her good show of form as she made quick work of Emily Bones to win 3-0 at 11-2, 11-0 and 11-8 in the under 19 category while Kayla Jeffrey used her wealth of experience to dominate Angelique Jackson 3-0 at 11-2, 11-2 and 11-0 in the under-19 category as well.
Victoria Arjoon then completed a close encounter to seal Guyana’s advance when she defeated Charlotte Knaggs 3-2 at 11-8, 9-11, 10-12, 11-9 and 11-9 in the under-17 category.
Akeila Wiltshire and Lydia Alphonso then emphasized the quality of the Guyanese females when they finished off their opponents in similar fashion – 3-0 – in the under-15 and 13 categories respectively.
“Well we’re playing Jamaica in the final and their under-15 should give us some trouble but our under 19’s and 17’s should have it, we’re going to go all out for the win… that is what we came for.
“We’ll have a big advantage of being home with our supporters and family here so we’ll not take any chance tomorrow against our opponents,” Khalil told Stabroek Sport.
On the male side of things, the Guyanese men have seemingly caught some rhythm to their game as they were in a no-nonsense mood when they dispatched Jamaica 5-0.
Deje Dias started the Guyanese males on the right track when he played with vigour and energy to defeat Ashante Smith in the under-19 category 3-0 at 11-4, 11-4 and 11-5 while Alex Arjoon put Guyana up 2-0 with a win over Josh Mahfood in the under-19 category as well.
Nyron Joseph then followed to place Guyana in the final when he defeated Jake Mahfood 3-0 with scores of 11-5, 11-8 and 11-9.
Like the females Jason-Ray Khalil and Patrick Fraser were the exclamation points for the males as they showcased their dominance by defeating their opponents 3-0.
Meanwhile Jamaica defeated the Cayman Islands 4-1 in their female semifinal encounter while Trinidad and Tobago downed Bermuda 3-2 in the male version.
Jamaica will now meet Bermuda in the male third place playoff while Trinidad and Tobago will meet the Cayman Islands in the female encounter.
