World ranked Nicolette Fernandes with no trouble yesterday afternoon clinched the Women’s squash title but her earlier attempt to make it a double were squashed by defending male champ Alex Arjoon who outplayed her in the men’s final of the Digicel Senior National Squash Championships.
Playing before a sizeable crowd at the Georgetown Club, Arjoon prevailed over Fernandes after marking the best three of five games in the match which lasted for an hour. Arjoon was defeated in the first game, 11-7, but recovered and won the second, 11-5, after being up 5 love and then 7-1 before pulling ahead.
The third match was more physical and saw both athletes touching all corners of the court. The match was close but Fernandes claimed the round, 11-9. The last two games required much more energy and saw both players in energizer bunny mode with brilliant strokes all across the court. However, Fernandes’ energy level dropped and Arjoon took advantage of the opportunity to win two straight sets, 11-7 and 11-1.
Action continued and saw Fernandes stepping back into the court minutes later to comfortably roll over Ashley Khalil for the Women’s title. Fernandes won comfortably, 11-1, 11-9 and 11-6.
Ashley De Groot secured the third place prize after a win over Mary Fung-A-Fat: 11-9, 3-11, 11-8, 7-11 and 7-11. Kathy Ten-Pow prevailed over Larissa Wiltshire in the Women’s third place Classic Plate play-off, winning 7-11, 11-3, 5-11, 11-9 and 11-5. And Victoria Arjoon overcame Akeila Wiltshire, 11-5, 4-11, 11-9, 7-11 and 11-4 in the Women’s Classic Plate finals.
Coming in second place in the Men’s category was Jason Ray Khalil who defeated former national champion Regan Pollard, 11-9, 11-9 and 11-5. Steven Xavier registered a surprise victory over Nyron Joseph in the Men’s Classic Plate finals. Xavier won 11-3, 11-9 and 11-4.
In the Men’s Plate finals, Deje Dias proved too good for Nicholas Narine winning in straight games, 11-3, 11-6 and 11-8 while Allan Downes overcame a fighting Jo Jo Mekdeci 6-11, 19-17, 7-11, 11-8 and 11-3 in the third place play-off.
In the Classic Plate third place play-off, Raphael De Groot played well to dispose of Ben Mekdeci in five games 6-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-4 and 11-6.
A simple presentation ceremony followed with Garfield Wiltshire, Treasurer of the Guyana Squash Association (GSA) thanking their sponsor, Digicel as well as the Georgetown Club for hosting and allowing the use of the two new refurbished courts. He added that the players will be pleased with the facility when the Caribbean Squash Tournament kicks off in a few weeks at the same venue.
Meanwhile, Digicel’s Junior Marketing Manager Tandika Johnson said that the company is proud to be the main sponsor. She added that squash is a big game on the local scene with a lot of junior players involved. Johnson congratulated the Men’s and Women’s champion, Arjoon and Fernandes before pledging Digicel’s continued support for the sport.
