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Bermuda's boys finished top of their pool with an
upset victory over top seeds Barbados at the Caribbean Junior Squash
Championships.
The Barbados boys have been crowned Caribbean boys team champions the last four
years but Bermuda dethroned them.
The order of play was the Under-15s, Under-17s, Under-19 No.1, Under-19 No.2 and
finally the Under-13 age group.
On paper Bermuda were expected to lose the Under-15s and 17s but win the two
Under-19 matches, with it all coming down to the Under-13 match, where Barbados
had a slight edge.
Everything appeared to be going to plan as individual champion Bryant
Cumberbatch dispatched Bermuda's Robert Maycock 9-0, 9-2, 9-1 to give Barbados
the first rubber.
The next match was a rematch of the third and fourth playoff in the individual
title where Bajan Rhett Cumberbatch defeated Michael Shrubb in five games.
It was the first time Shrubb had ever got a game off Cumberbatch and this had
obviously helped his confidence for their team tie.
Cumberbatch started strongly winning the first game 9-5 and looked to have the
measure of Shrubb who was fighting hard but was having trouble staying in the
rallies.
The next game saw Shrubb settle down and execute his gameplan much better to
pressure Cumberbatch into making errors by taking the ball earlier and
controlling the middle of the court.
The Bermuda team roared when Shrubb won that game 9-5 and word quickly spread
around the club that there was an exciting match ensuing on the show court,
which lead to a packed gallery for the final games.
The next game went back and forth with neither player being able to gain
control, but Shrubb was visibly pumped thanks to some inspirational words from
his captain James Stout and toughed it out to win the game 9-6.
It was a scenario that had played out before as Shrubb had a two game to one
lead in their playoff match and was unable to put Cumberbatch away.
Shrubb was visibly tiring in the fourth game and with the deafening screams of
support coming from both teams it was very difficult for him to keep his
composure.
At 8-6 and game ball to Cumberbatch everyone was thinking 'here we go again'.
Not Michael Shrubb, however, who dug deep to save one game ball and then another
and then slowly clawed his way back to eight-all. He then forced another error
from Cumberbatch to give him his first match point.
Throughout the whole of the fourth game the crowd was screaming support for both
players and if it was possible they were now screaming louder.
Shrubb was a little anxious to close out the match and made an error trying to
force an opening. He quickly recovered, however, winning the next rally to
secure his second match point.
When Shrubb played a forehand drop-shot winner at the front of the court the
whole Bermuda team erupted, jumping into the air with both fists pumped
responding to their screaming team-mate on the court.
It was an extremely emotional victory for the team who had just witnessed Shrubb
play his heart out for his team and his country. This gave the team the upset
win that they needed.
James Stout then took the court to beat Steven Miller 9-0, 9-2, 9-3, followed by
Andrew Robinson who closed out Alex Garcia 9-1, 9-7, 9-2 to give Bermuda an
unbeatable 3–1 lead in matches.
Akil Ross restored some pride for Barbados and made the score more respectable
by defeating Robert Forbes 10-9, 9-2, 6-9, 9-0.
The boys now play Jamaica tonight in the semi-finals for a spot in tomorrow's
final.
OFFICIAL SITE:
www.caribbeansquash.org
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