Guyana cemented their dominance of Caribbean squash by winning the team title on July 14 in the Caribbean Areas Squash Association and Digicel sponsored Junior Squash Championships 2011. This is the seventh consecutive year the local side has won the competition. The impressive performance in the singles stage of the championships was carried over into the team segment and the result was Guyana being declared the overall winners in the weeklong competition.
In the male team finals it appeared that a competitive afternoon of squash was expected since heading into the third match of the afternoon the scoreline read 1-1. Alex Arjoon however shifted the balance in favour of the hosts and dispatched his Trinidadian counterpart in a hard fought 5 set match. After that there was no turning back and the remainder of the male team marched on to a convincing 4-1 victory over their island neighbours.
Earlier in the day the female side sealed the team title in similar style suffering only one match loss to Jamaica. The most exciting match in the female team finals was between Guyana’s Akeila Wiltshire and Jamaica’s Mary Jo Mahfood. Wiltshire was tested by a mixture of aggressive strokes and soft touches by the talented Jamaican. After dropping the second and fourth game the tenacious Wiltshire bounced back in impressive fashion to win 11/6 9/11 11/6 6/11 11/9.
The senior squad will be keen on taking some of the confidence drawn from their junior colleagues when they compete in the CASA senior tournament to be hosted by the Cayman Islands in August. Next year looks to be challenging since five players from the victorious side will be elevated to the senior platform. That development will mean that new players without regional exposure will have to take over. The coaching staff is nonetheless confident of going 8-straight in 2012. For now the team is relishing in their hard fought victory.