Guyana squash teams qualify for 2015 Pan Am Games

Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) President Craig Archer Saturday night said that Guyana has earned an automatic qualification for the 2015 Pan Am Games to be held in Toronto, Canada.

Addressing the gathering at the tournament’s closing ceremony hosted at Grand Coastal Inn on the East Coast Demerara on Saturday Archer said Guyana’s qualification was as a result of the teams’ performances at the just concluded Caribbean Squash Championships which was held at the Georgetown Club.

Senior CASA 2013 – Final Team Results

Final team results are as follows:

Mens Team :  Winner Guyana, Second Cayman Islands, Third Jamaica, Fourth Trinidad & Tobago, Fifth Barbados, Sixth OECS

Womens Team:   Winner Guyana, Second Barbados, Third Jamaica,

Vets Team:   Winner Barbados, Second Guyana, Third OECS, Fourth Trinidad & Tobago

Overall Team:   Winner Guyana, Second Barbados, Third Jamaica, Fourth trinidad & Tobago, Fifth OECS, Sixth Cayman Islands

2013/14 CASA Directors

The new President of CASA is Mr. Ronald Burch-Smith, the former CASA Secretary, who replaced Mr. Craig Archer, who had served the maximum permissible two consecutive 2-year terms as President. Mr. Burch-Smith is a seasoned administrator and is a former President of the Guyana Squash Association. Outside of squash he is an Attorney-at-Law, practicing in Guyana and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. He is currently also President of the Guyana Bar Association and the President Elect of the Rotary Club of Georgetown.

The CASA Directors will serve for a period of two years beginning August 16, 2013. They are as follows:

2013/15 Directors

The previous CASA Directors served from August 2013-15 and were reappointed unopposed to serve for a further two year period beginning August 16, 2013
CASA TitleNameE-MailTerritory
PresidentMr. Ronald Burch-Smithrburchsmith@hotmail.comGuyana
Vice-PresidentMr. Douglas Beckfordsquashmanja@hotmail.comJamaica
SecretaryMr. Craig Archercraig.archer59@gmail.comBarbados
TreasurerMr. Ian Patrickpatrick1@candw.kyCayman
DirectorMr. Adrian Burrowsaburrows@jbrbuild.comThe Bahamas
DirectorMr. Patrick Fosterpatrickf@bermudasquash.comBermuda
DirectorMr. David Piperdavidpiper@candw.lcOECS (St. Lucia)
DirectorMr. John Holleyjcholley@tstt.net.ttTrinidad & Tobago
DirectorMr. Francisco Paradisisquashvenezuela@gmail.comVenezuela

Mr. Burch-Smith claims to be an occasionally able-bodied squash player, cyclist and infrequent jogger. He is married to a non-squash player, but suggests that this is being remedied: “…the non-squash playing part, not the marriage!”

The outgoing CASA President, Mr. Craig Archer, who has been on the CASA Executive Committee continuously since 1999 was elected as the new CASA Secretary and is from Barbados. He continues as the current Caribbean Director on the Executive Committee of the Pan American Squash Federation (FPS).

There are currently nine (9) member associations of CASA: 1) the Bahamas 2) Barbados 3) Bermuda 4) Cayman Islands 5) Guyana 6) Jamaica 7) the O.E.C.S. 8) Trinidad and Tobago 9) Venezuela. It was agreed at the AGM in 2009 that each member will be entitled to have one representative (also known as a “CASA Director”) on the Executive Committee of CASA, It was also agreed that the Senior CASA Squash Championships (which had been held biennially since 1977) would become an annual event from 2010. As a result the biennial Southern Caribbean Squash Championships (last held in 2008 in Guyana) were discontinued.

General Meetings of CASA used to be held every two years to coincide with the staging of the senior CASA Championships but have been held annually from 2009. The next CASA AGM will be held during the Senior CASA XXII which will be hosted by the BSA in Barbados in August, 2014. The most recent CASA General Meeting was held on August 16, 2013 during the 21st Senior Caribbean Squash Championships that were successfully hosted by the GSA at the Georgetown Club in Guyana from August 11-17, 2013.

Team Guyana are Junior CASA Champs!

See tournament website for details.

Guyana made a clean sweep of the team titles when the 31st Junior Caribbean Squash Championships concluded at the Cascadia Courts in Trinidad on Sunday.

junior 2013 champsGuyana Girls’ team won its eighth consecutive team title and the country won its ninth consecutive overall team title.  In the Girls’ team final, Rebecca Low went up against Alyssa Mullings, the Caribbean Under-15 champion. Low was no match for Mullings and went down in straight sets. In match two, Makeda Harding came up against Mira Handa. Harding had lost to Handa in the individual tournament three games to love, but on this occasion she was all fired up.  Harding won the first game before Handa took the second, with Guyanese taking the third. However, Handa dug deep and won the fourth and fifth games. With Harding leading nine points to eight, the victory was still within her grasp, but Handa won the next three points and the match 3-2.  Guyana Girls’ captain, Victoria Arjoon defeated Jessica Perkins 3-0. Gabby Fraser also defeated Michelle-Ann Denton 3-0.   It eventually came down to the Under-17 Girls’ to decide who would win the title and Guyanese Akeila Wiltshire blew out Ashley Lynch 3-0.

In the Boys’ team final, Ben Mekdeci, the best U-15 player at the tournament, comfortably disposed of Tahjia Lumley in straight sets. Guyana’s Shomari Wiltshire then beat Adam Ardito 3-1. Further, Jean Claude Jeffrey won a hard-fought game against Caribbean Under-19 champion Ashante Smith, beating him 3-2 to secure the title for Guyana. Guyanese Steven Xavier beat Julian Morrison 3-0 while his compatriot Nyron Joseph defeated Jake Mahfood 2-0.

In an invited comment after the victory, president of the Guyana Squash Association (GSA), David Fernandes, said he was extremely proud of the players’ performance.

“I’m extremely proud of the young players. Before every match we spoke of them giving 110 percent and they did just that. They never gave up, they did very well. It’s really an amazing and proud feeling,” Fernandes stated.

Fernandes said the success of the team did not come as a surprise since the players had put in a lot of training prior to the championship. He lauded the youngsters for their discipline and work ethic, noting that the Guyanese are “unmatched in the Caribbean” when it comes to those areas of their game.

While he heaped praises on all the players, Fernandes was particularly impressed with the performance of nine year-old Shomari Wiltshire, who placed third in the individual competition and won all his team matches.

(Article by Guyana Times)

Junior CASA 2012 – Team Event

The Bermuda squad lost out on the combined overall title on games count back to Guyana with both countries having a 1st & 3rd finish. It couldn’t have been any closer and came down to just a handful of points.  Congrats to Team Guyana.

Guyana won the girls event. Bermuda girls beat Barbados 4-1 for a third place finish. The Bermuda boys’ team continued to dominate beating Guyana comfortably in the semi-finals and then finishing off a fantastic week by crushing OECS 4-1 in the final to lift the Boys team title.

Junior CASA 2012 – Individual Placings

JUNIOR CASA 2012 INDIVIDUAL PLACINGS

BOYS U19
1  NOAH BROWNE (BER)
2  KEVIN HANNAWAY (OECS)
3  JASON RAY KHALIL (GUY)
4  ASHANTE SMITH (JAM)
5  MANDELA PATRICK (TT)
6  STEPHEN XAVIER (GUY)
7/8         JOSH MAHFOOD (JAM)
7/8         BEAU ORCHARD (BER)

BOYS U17
1  NYRON JOSEPH (GUY)
2   D’VARIO THOMPSON (BER)
3   J Jeffrey (GUY)
4   NKU Patrick
5   DANIEL MURPHY (CAY)
6   JULIAN MORRISON (JAM)
7/8        JAKE MAHFOOD
7/8        DAVID MULLINGS

BOYS U15
1  JULIAN JERVIS (CAY)
2  JASON DOYLE (OECS)
3  BENJAMIN MEKDECI (GUY)
4  PATRICK FRASER (GUY)
5  CHAD SALANDY (TT)
6  STEPHAN MORRISON (JAM)
7/8         CAMERON ANDERSON (JAM)
7/8         JONATHAN BLANC (TT)

BOYS U13
1  DYLAN PRATT (BER)
2  KHAMAL CUMBERBATCH (BAR)
3  JONATHAN WALKER (JAM)
4  RITHEW SAYWACK (BAR)
5  SHEMANE GRIFFITH (BAR)
6  JOSH NEWMAN (JAM)
7/8         SHOMARI WILTSHIRE (GUY)
7/8         ISAIAH ROBINSON (CAY)

GIRLS U19
1  MARY FUNG A FAT (GUY)
2  ASHLEY DEGROOT(GUY)
3  ELIDH BRIDGEMAN (CAY)
4  KRISTINA MYREN (CAY)
5  ALEX MARSHALL (BER)
6  TALIA ABDOOL (TT)
7/8         ALYSSA BREWER (BER)
7/8         JESSICA PERKINS (JAM)

GIRLS U17
1 CHARLOTTE KNAGGS (TT)
2 VICTORIA ARJOON (GUY)
3 AKEILA WILTSHIRE (GUY)
4 MARY MAHFOOD (JAM)
5 GABRIELLE FRASER (GUY)
6 EMMA KEANE (BER)
7/8         LARA CONOLLY (CAY)
7/8         DANA SAULTER (JAM) 

GIRLS U15 
1 ALYSSA MULLINGS (JAM)
2 LARISSA WILTSIHIRE (GUY)
3 MARION FAITH GILLEZEAU (TT)
4 TAYLOR FERNANDES (GUY)
5 JAMIE LEIGH EDGHILL (TT)
6 ASHLEY LYNCH (JAM)
7/8         ALLY ARTUCH (CAY)
7/8         TIYE WILLIAMS (BER) 

GIRLS U13 
1 AMANDA HAYWOOD (BAR)
2 MEAGAN BEST (BAR)
3 MIA MAHFOOD (JAM)
4 REBECCA LOW (GUY)
5 MARIE CLAIRE BARCANT (TT)
6 OLIVIA LINDSAY (BER)
7/8         ALEXANDRIA YEARWOOD (TT)
7/8         TAYLA ZAIDIE (JAM)

2004 Junior Girls win Girl’s Squash Crown, Jamaica wins Boy’s

The 22nd annual Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) Junior Caribbean Squash Championships concluded this evening (Friday) in the Cayman Islands with Jamaica winning the boy’s team title 3-1 in the finals against Barbados, while in the girl’s team final Barbados won its twelfth girl’s team title by overcoming a plucky Trinidad and Tobago team by three matches to two. At the time of writing the third place finishers were not known but by virtue of its 1st and 2nd place finishes Barbados claimed the overall team title for the fourth time in six years with 18 out of a maximum 20 points. Jamaica placed second overall.

After Barbados eased into the girl’s final with a 3-2 victory over Jamaica in the first semi-final on Thursday, Trinidad and Tobago followed suit with a similar victory over the defending champions Guyana in the other semi-final. The Barbados team would have started the girl’s team final full of confidence since they defeated T&T by four matches to one when they met in an earlier round robin encounter. First on court for Barbados was the Bajan star of the tournament, Cheri-Ann Parris, who earlier in the week had played unbeaten in her age group in the individuals to become the new Caribbean under-15 champion. Cheri-Ann had also won all four of her previous team matches and wasted no time with Trinidad’s Tessa Martin and won in straight games 3-0. After the next two matches in the under-19 age group were split with 14-year old Bo Harris of Barbados winning at #1 and Maia Blackman losing at #2 to Jamie Galt and Nakita Poon Kong respectively, the Barbadian under-13 champion, Tanya Marshall, sealed victory for Barbados with a confident 3-1 victory over Trinidad’s E. Bones.

In the final dead rubber, Barbadian Nadia McCarthy was forced to concede her match against Trinidadian, Joanna Scoon, the new Caribbean under-17 champion due to illness, but this did not affect the overall result with Barbados reclaiming the girl’s team title that they have held more often than all the other Caribbean teams combined since these junior championships began in 1981.

In the boy’s team finals the confident Jamaica team swept the first three matches against Barbados making the final two matches merely academic. At under-15 the Jamaican, B. Burrowes defeated Nkosi Ross, while at under-19 #1 David Patterson defeated Rhett Cumberbatch and at under-19 #2 Brad Lowe defeated Alex Garcia to clinch Jamaica’s first boy’s team title since 1983. In the final two dead rubbers, Barbados’ under-13 Liu Ross defeated S. Reynolds of Jamaica while the final under-17 match between arch rivals Bryant Cumberbatch of Barbados and the new Caribbean under-17 champion, Chris Binnie of Jamaica, was not completed due to time constraints.

Girls final results: Barbados won 3-2
Cheri-Ann Parris (B’dos) beat Tessa Martin (T&T) 9-4, 9-5, 9-7
Nakita Poon Kong (T&T) beat Maia Blackman (B’dos) 9-2, 9-4, 9-0
Bo Harris (B’dos) beat Jamie Galt (T&T) 9-7, 9-6, 9-7
Tanya Marshall (B’dos) beat Emily Barnes (T&T) 6-9, 9-6, 9-4, 9-7
Joanna Scoon (T&T) beat Nadia McCarthy (B’dos) 9-6, 9-5, 1-1

Boys final results: Jamaica won 4-1
Bruce Burrowes (J’ca) beat Nkosi Ross (B’dos) 9-7, 9-4, 9-4
Brad Lowe (J’ca) beat Alex Garcia (B’dos) 9-0, 9-0, 9-2
David Patterson (J’ca) beat Rhett Cumberbatch (B’dos) 6-9, 9-3, 9-7, 9-4
Liu Ross (B’dos) beat Sean Reynolds (J’ca) 9-0, 9-0 (retired)
Chris Binnie (J’ca) beat Bryant Cumberbatch (B’dos) 9-5 (retired)

FINAL STANDINGS:

OVERALL
1 Barbados
2 Jamaica
3 Guyana
4 Trinidad & Tobago
5 Bermuda
6 Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
7 Cayman Islands
8 Venezuela
9 Bahamas

GIRLS
1 Barbados
2 Trinidad & Tobago
3 Guyana
4 Jamaica
5 OECS
6 Cayman Islands
7 Bermuda

BOYS
1 Jamaica
2 Barbados
3 Guyana
4 Bermuda
5 Venezuela
6 Trinidad & Tobago
7 OECS
8 Cayman Islands
9 Bahamas

Guyana cart off Boys and Girls Junior CASA 2003 Team titles

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).
(Article by Isaiah Chappelle of the Guyana Chronicle)

Senior CASA 2003 Tournament – Final Results

Tournament_shirt_back_SPOT

Individual Event

Ladies Plate Runner up: Gen Shim (TRI)
Plate Winner Ladies: Joanna Scoon (TRI)
8th Ladies: Jenny Armstrong (BAR)
7th Rhea Khan (TRI)
6th Sonia Perkins (BAR)
5th Seraphina Johnson (BAH)
4th Karen Anderson (JAM)
3rd Karen Meakins (BAR)
Runner up Nicolette Fernandes (GUY)
Ladies Individual Champion: Marlene West (JAM) [TRIDENT TROPHY]

Men’s Plate Runner up: Julian Chin (GUY)
Plate Winner Men: James Stout (BER)
8th Men: Wayne Burrowes (JAM)
7th James Bullock (JAM)
6th Gavin Cumberbatch (BAR)
5th Max Weithers (GUY)
4th Paul DeVerteuil (TRI)
3rd Shawn Badrinath (GUY)
Runner up Nick Kyme (BER)
Men’s Individual Champion: Gary Plumstead (BER) [ILLUMINAT TROPHY]

Runner Up: Ladies Over 40: Sherian Slater (OECS)
Ladies Over 40 Champion: Gill Binnie (JAM)

Runner Up Men’s Over 40: John Holly (TRI)
Men’s: Over 40 Champion: Nigel Griffith (BAR)

Runner up Men’s Over 50: Leon Truss (BAR)
Men’s Over 50 Champion: Patrick Chin (JAM)

Team Competition

VETERANS TEAM
Fifth Place: Guyana (2.4 points)
Fourth Place: OECS (3.0 points)
Third Place: Trinidad (3.6 points)
Runner up: Barbados (4.8 points)
VETERAN’S TEAM CHAMPIONS: [SMIRNOFF ICE TROPHY]: JAMAICA (6.0 points)

LADIES TEAM
Fourth Place: Trinidad (5 points)
Third Place: Guyana (6 points)
Runner Up: Barbados (8 points)
LADIES TEAM WINNER: [SAGICOR TROPHY]: JAMAICA (10 points)

MEN’S TEAM
7th – Venezuela (2 points); 6th – Trinidad (3 points); 5th – OECS (4 points); 4th – Jamaica (5 points)
Third Place: Barbados (6 points)
Second Place: Guyana (8 points)
MEN’S TEAM WINNER: [BANKS BEER TROPHY]: BERMUDA (10 points)

OVERALL STANDINGS

7th – Venezuela (2 points)
6th – OECS (7 points)
5th – Bermuda (10 points)
4th – Trinidad (11.6 points);
Third Place: Guyana (16.4 points)
Second Place: BARBADOS (18.8 points)
Overall Team Champions: JAMAICA (21 points)