The senior Caribbean Squash Championships got off the ground on Saturday in Trinidad and Tobago with the men’s and ladies individuals events which saw Guyanese players winning eight of their nine first round matches.
Victoria Arjoon beat Faith Gillezeau of T&T 11/5,11/2, 11/5 and Ashley DeGroot beat Gen Shim of T&T 11/4, 3/11, 11/3, 11/3.
Arjoon dispatched the younger and inexperienced opponent without much resistance but she was expected to be tested yesterday when she came up against the experienced Alex Jordan of Barbados. DeGroot dropped one game in her 3/1 victory but after losing the second game she made the necessary adjustments by taking the pace off the ball and placing the ball deeper into the court. This resulted in her opponent having to attack from the back giving De Groot more front court winners. The strategy resulted in easy 11/3 scores in the last two games. DeGroot also demonstrated that she is able to adjust her game and consistently stick to a winning strategy. She will face seasoned campaigner Nadia McCarthy of Barbados in the next round.
The men players are also off to a fine start and there were straight set wins for Jason Ray Khalil, Jamal Callender, Julian Chin, Alex Arjoon and Richard Chin while Steven Xavier won in four games and Deje Dias was beaten in his first round match.
Results:-
Jason Khalil beat Nicholas Narain (Guy) 11/3, 11/3, 11/8.
Steven Xavier beat Wilfredo Arcia (Ven) 8/11, 11/6, 11/3, 11/6.
Jamal Callender beat Jason Doyle (OECS) 11/2, 11/5, 11/3.
Julian Chin beat Gabriel Teran (Ven) 11/6, 11/3, 12/10.
Alex Arjoon beat Stephen Smith (Bermuda) 11/5, 11/5, 11/7.
Richard Chin beat Kyle Chin (Jamaica) 11/3, 11/3, 11/5.
Dejay Dias lost to Chase Mc Quan (TT) 11/9, 10/12, 3/11, 6/11 in a well fought match.
Jason Khalil, one of two Guyanese who played two matches on the opening day unfortunately lost 11/6, 6/11, 6/11, 4/11 to 2011 Caribbean under 19 Junior Champion Kale Wilson of TT.
Khalil will now face Wilfredo Arcia of Venezuela in the plate draw. Steven Xavier, who won his first match, also lost his second going under to Trinidad and Tobago’s national champion Josh Pinard 0/3. He will now play fellow Guyanese Nicholas Narain in the plate.
Guyana’s world ranked Nicolette Fernandes was scheduled to be in action yesterday.
