The Little Rascals convincingly defeated the Black Panthers on Saturday evening to cart off this year’s Farfan and Mendes Junior Team Tournament at the Georgetown Club courts.
The rampaging Little Rascals won all of their team encounters during the tournament.
The Little Rascals, comprising Jason Ray Khalil, Larissa Wiltshire, Alec Melville, Gianni Carpenter and Daniel Islam, defeated Black Panthers 4-1 on the final night of competition. The loss bounced the Black Panthers down to third place while the X-Men secured second place after defeating Victorious Secrets.
The Abusement Park edged Victorious Secrets in a tie-breaker for fourth place while winless Danza Kuduro finished sixth.
Three of the five players on the triumphant Little Rascals team were adjudged winners of the Most Outstanding String awards. National under 19 champion and team captain Khalil, who dropped only one game in his five matches was named the most outstanding first string. Melville was also named most outstanding third string while Daniel Islam was adjudged the most outstanding fifth string.
On the final night of competition, Islam, Melville and Khalil all completed dominant 3-0 victories to secure the team title. Khalil crushed Nyron Joseph in three games 11/9, 11/7, 11/9 in the first string matchup. Joseph, who is the national under 17 and reigning Caribbean under 15 champion had won two games against Khalil at Nationals last month but fell in straight games this time around.
Melville trounced Andrew Peroune 11/2, 11/7, 12/10, while Islam overpowered Lucas Jonas 11/5, 11/3, 11/5. In her second string match against Taylor Fernandes, Larissa Wiltshire was able to avenge her recent loss in the national under 15 final by beating Fernandes in four games (9/11, 11/6, 11/4, 11/6).
Top ranked under 15 players Ben Mekdeci and Patrick Fraser went head-to-head in a gruelling five-game thriller in the second string contest between Danza Kuduro and the Abusement Park. Mekdeci, the reigning Caribbean under 13 champion, managed to pull himself out of a hole after trailing 0-2 to win the match for Danza Kuduro 10/12, 6/11, 11/9, 11/8, 11/5 and prevent the upset. The Abusement’s captain Mary Fung-A-Fat won her five-game duel with Ashley deGroot, while her fifth string teammate Zachary Persaud defeated Haley Carpenter in three games. Lydia Alphonso gained a walkover from Sarah Lewis but with both teams tied at two matches apiece and neither Justin Gomes nor Mahendra Khusial present to play, the encounter had to be adjudged a draw.
Steven Xavier, Shomari Wiltshire and Makeda Harding secured wins for X-Men to clinch the win against Victorious Secrets and second place in the tournament. Xavier defeated Victoria Arjoon 11/5, 11/7, 11/4, while Shomari Wiltshire dominated Travis Whitehead 11/5, 11/2, 11/2 and Makeda Harding overpowered Dominic Collins 11/1, 11/4, 11/3. Rebecca Low secured the only win for Victorious Secrets in the encounter when she defeated Maya Collins 11/0, 11/2, 11/3.
The Farfan and Mendes Junior Team Tournament was the final junior tournament before the national junior team departs for the Caribbean Area Squash Association’s Caribbean Junior Squash Championships in Jamaica, July 20th – 26th. Some of the juniors will have the opportunity to sharpen their skills at the Guyana Squash Association’s fifth tournament of the year, the Senior National Championships this month end.
