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By Isaiah
Chappelle of the Guyana Chronicle
STANLEY Marcus Jr finished the third game with an
amazing point to give Guyana the Boys team title and the overall champions’
crown of the Western Union/Supligen Caribbean Junior Squash Championships at the
Georgetown Club yesterday.
Earlier, Guyana beat Barbados a second straight year to retain the Girls team
title, with a 4-1 victory.
But the Boys team produced the tension, as Guyana aimed to regain the male
supremacy they last held in 1997, and at the same time clinch the overall title
a tenth time. With the eventual 4-1 victory over Bermuda, Guyana won both titles
a second time, having won the first in 1984 in Jamaica. The only other country
to hold both titles was Barbados in 2001 at home. Kristian Jeffrey opened the
title hunt, beating Robert Maycock in straight games 9-4, 9-7, 10-8 in the
Under-15 encounter, then Damien Da Silva disposed of Michael Shrubb, also in
straight games 9-3, 9-2, 9-3, in the Under-17 match.
As expected Bermuda won in the Under-19 (1) with James Stout beating Ryan Farnum
9-0, 9-5, 9-0.
Guyana led 2-1 and 15-year-old Marcus took to the court to face Andrew Robinson
in the Under-19 (2) match, which clinched the title. Marcus was the reserve,
meaning he could be injected in either the Under-17 or Under-19 where he was
required most.
He responded with 9-7, 9-3 wins in the first two games. He seemed set to take
the title easily as he led 2-0. But Robinson bounced back and was ahead 7-4,
then 8-6, facing match point. After several service changes, Marcus tied the
score at 8-8, and went on to win 10-8 to effectively give Guyana both titles and
the overall crown. “I couldn’t believe I did it. It was a better match than
most. I knew I had to win and I just played on,” Marcus told Chronicle Sport.
Raphael De Groot put the icing on the cake when he won the academic Under-13
encounter against Robert Forbes after dropping the first game 1-9, 9-5, 9-5,
10-8.
Guyana had already won the Girls team title over Barbados 4-1. Tiffany Solomon
stepped in for the injured Andrea King in the Under-19 (1) match, beating
Sherice MacDonald 9-5, 9-4, 9-2. Reserve Chantelle Fernandes entered the
Under-19 (2) slot and only conceded one point to defeat Maia Blackman 9-1, 9-0,
9-0, while Kristina King disposed of Nadia McCarthy 9-0, 10-9, 9-3, in the
Under-17 match.
Expectedly, Bo Harris gave Barbados the only win, putting away Dominique Dias in
the Under-15 match 9-1, 9-1, 9-0, but Daina King fought for five matches to
eventually defeat Cheri-Ann Parris 9-10, 10-8, 10-8, 7-9, 9-0. Coach Carl Ince
told Chronicle Sport: “Overall, the performance was more than satisfactory.
Everyone involved was quite pleased. We admired even the ones who did not win
because they showed improvement. It showed that we are going in the right
direction.”
Guyana had gained revenge over Barbados in the semifinals, marching to the final
with a 4-1, while Bermuda took care of Jamaica, also, 4-1.
In the Boys’ third place play-off, Barbados edged out Jamaica 3-2.
The presentation ceremony was held last evening at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC).
OFFICIAL SITE:
www.caribbeansquash.org
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