The curtains came down on the 24th Pan American squash qualifiers yesterday and so too were Guyana squash players’ chances of advancing to the Pan American Games later this year in Santiago Chile.
The week long qualifiers in Cartagena, Colombia, was filled with mixed returns for the Guyanese after they were eliminated early in the singles and team competitions but bounced back in the doubles playoffs.
The lights finally went out at the quarterfinal stage on Friday evening when all three pairs were eliminated but local officials can see a ray of light for the Caribbean champions going forward in doubles competitions.
The more experienced pair of Nicolette Fernandes and Jason Ray Khalil bowed out to Argentina’s Antonella Falcione and Miguel Pujoi in straight sets 10-11 and 11-9.
Similarly, Ashley Khalil and Taylor Fernandes saw their semi-finals hope dismissed following a straight sets defeat to Pilar Etchechouri and Valentina Portieri 6-11, 6-11 while in the men’s doubles quarters, Alex Arjoon and Samuel Ince-Carvalhal fell to the United States of America opponents Spencer Lovejoy and Timothy Browell 7-11, 8-11.
Arjoon and Ince-Carvalhal had beaten Barbados Khamal Cumberbatch and Shawn Simpson 8-11, 11-6, 11-6 while Ashley Khalil and Taylor Fernandes defeated Natalia Arancibia and Vanessa Rios 11-3, 11-6 of Bolivia.
Barbados was also on the receiving end against their Guyanese counterparts in the mixed doubles with Nicolette Fernandes and Jason Ray Khalil teaming up to best Amanda Haywood and Darien Benn 11-8, 11-4.
Jason Ray Khalil had the best showing in the singles competition at the start of the tournament when he defeated Barbadian Darien Benn but found a more formidable opponent in Diego Elias of Peru the tournament’s top seed.
The team is expected to return home early this week and will now focus of several upcoming international tournaments including the Caribbean senior championships Senior championships from August 19-27 in the Cayman Islands and the South American championships from August 28- September 3 in neighbouring Brazil.
