Defending champions Alex Arjoon and Mary Fung – A – Fat retained their individual male and female titles when the Guyana Squash Association (GSA) Banks DIH – Rainforest Waters Senior National Championships concluded at the Georgetown Club Squash Courts, yesterday.
The men’s final saw a scrap between two highly tactical players, Arjoon and Richard Chin.
The defending champion, Arjoon, drew first blood by controlling the tempo of the game to win the first set, 11 – 7.Chin, however, who sported his usual white headband, remarkably won the second set 11 – 8 after trailing 2-8.
However, he surrendered the third 7-11 and the fourth 4-11 after Arjoon resisted and executed well.
The lady’s final saw Guyana’s two leading ladies in the sport in Fung – A – Fat and Taylor Fernandes, displaying their contrasting range of skills in front of a crowd that was locked into the contest.
Fung – A – Fat, in a robust mental exhibition, came from a set down to better the younger Fernandes.
It was Fernandes, however, who came out with more intent and led as much as 9 -3, but allowed Fung A – Fat to work her way back into the first set which the former eventually won 17 – 15 in a hard-fought opening exchange.
The second set saw both players continuing to test each other but it was Fung-A-Fat, the smaller in stature of the two, coming up with a big-hearted effort to even the score with a 12 – 10 second set win.
She came out cheekily in the third, leading 5-1, executing a few drop shots to counter Fernandes’ power to take the third set, another close one, 12 – 10.
Fernandes, who was suddenly down 1-2, was unable to mount a recovery against the number one seed and in the process, gifted Fung – A – Fat the fourth set and the match 8-11.
In other results, Jonathan Antczak won the men’s plate final while Kirsten Gomes captured the women’s classic plate final and Shomari Wiltshire, the men’s equivalent.