Nineteen year-old national squash champion Alex Arjoon will be taking the court this week to put up all the resistance that he possibly can to defend his title at the 2012 Digicel National Championships which begins tomorrow night at the Georgetown Club.
Arjoon, who plays at the collegiate level in the USA, won his maiden senior title at last year’s event. This year’s title quest for Arjoon is expected to be even tougher as the Digicel National Senior Championships have so far attracted a star-studded field of competitors including world ranked squash star Nicolette Fernandes who will be competing in the men’s category again this year.
Arjoon, a former Caribbean under 15 squash champion, recently returned from the USA after completing his rookie year at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania. Even as a freshman, Arjoon plays as the number four seed on his school’s team which is ranked eighth nationally. Franklin and Marshall finished eight at the Nationals this year while Princeton was able to take the number one spot.
Arjoon had been playing for Berkshire High School last year and after returning, the surge in his game was evident as he won the national championship and raced to the finals of the Junior Caribbean Squash Championships. Now that he has been exposed to an even higher level of competition at Franklin and Marshall, a division one squash school, Arjoon’s game has progressed even more. The reigning national champ said that playing in such a tough and competitive environment forced him to make adjustments and change his approach to the sport.
“The game is thought through at a much higher level over there, while in this region there is a little too much flash,” Arjoon said.
“It’s more tactical and technical there but I still feel as though we in Guyana have the equal amount of talent,” Arjoon added.
During the past year, Arjoon has been trying to combine his talent with the more tactical approach to improve. He also added that the confidence gained from playing against some of the college players in the USA was very beneficial as he was able to absorb so much from playing overseas.
The only obstacle in his way was a back injury which hindered his progress close to the end of the season. Arjoon had to undergo surgery and is still recuperating from the injury. Nevertheless, he continues to train and hopes to be in optimum shape in time for the Caribbean Areas Squash Association’s (CASA) Senior National Championships in August.
While defending his title at this week’s nationals is important, Arjoon said that competing at Senior CASA this year is his main focus. After placing 10th in the competition last year, Arjoon said that he feels as though he has to perform better this time around especially since it is her first year as a legitimate senior competitor.
“It’s a very crucial point for me now as I don’t have a junior role to fall back into. It’s a make or break point for me in terms of my squash career but I should be fine, I should be back to my peak and fit by August just in time for senior CASA,” Arjoon said.
For now, Arjoon said that he is not willing to sit back and surrender his title without a fight. As he sees it, it is his duty as the defending champion to battle the hardest to keep his title while a providing a superior level of competition for the top juniors preparing for Junior CASA later this month.
