The Digicel Senior National Squash Championships concluded on Saturday evening with Alex Arjoon retaining his men’s title; Nicolette Fernandes dethroning defending champion Ashley Khalil, to again recapture the women’s title; and Joe Mekdeci winning both the Veterans 35-49 and Over-50 titles.
On a night wherein squash of the highest quality was displayed in all of the matches, Alex Arjoon and Richard Chin provided a men’s final of the highest standard, with both players pushing themselves to the limit. Alex won a long first game 12-10, and then won an even longer second game by the same score: 12-10. But with years of experience under his belt, Chin fought back to win the third game 11-6.
Although these three games had obviously taken their toll on both players, no quarter was conceded by either player. Arjoon progressed to an early 4-love lead in the fourth game; and at 8- 4, the proverbial fat lady had appeared ready to sing, but Chin was in no mood to listen to her music. He staged a remarkable comeback to get to 7-8; and when Arjoon reached match ball at 10-8, Chin again dug deeply into his experience to win the next two points and tie the score at 10-all. But Arjoon was not to be denied, and he closed out the match by winning the next two points and the game at 12-10.
In the ladies final, Nicolette Fernandes, who had not played in the last two national open tourneys, saw the first game of her final go back-and-forth, with Khalil holding her own against this world-rated player.
At 9-7, Khalil was two points away from taking the crucial first game when Fernandes dropped gear in a manner of speaking and won the next four points and the first game 11-9. The second game was also close, but Nicolette always seemed in control, and won by an 11-8 score.
The loss of these two games seemed to empty the fight from Ashley, and Nicolette easily won the third game at 11-1, losing just one point in the process.
In the men’s third-place playoff, Nyron Joseph and Kristian Jeffrey fought it out for five hard games before Nyron won the first game 13-11. But Kristian bounced back to take the second game 11-5, and the third at 12-10.
The win of this third game seemed to sap all of Kristian’s energy, and he lost the fourth game 0-11. And then, after leading 4-2 in the fifth game, lost the next nine points to concede victory to Nyron with the score at 11- 4.
The respective prize winners pose with their accolades after a gruelling 5-day competition
In the women’s third-place match, former national champion Mary Fung-A-Fat secured the victory against Caribbean Under-19 champion Taylor Fernandes. Taylor won the first game 11-8, and then had game ball 11-10 to take a two games-to-love lead; but she just could not win the next point, and Mary won the game 14-12.
The loss of this second game seemed to deflate Taylor, and Mary always seemed in control after that, winning the third game 11-4 and the fourth 11-5.
In the first classic plate playoff, Jason Ray Khalil was matched up against Nicolette Fernandes, who was playing in the men’s category for competition experience, but was not being ranked. Nicolette had just defeated Jason Ray’s sister, Ashley, in the ladies’ final in the previous match on court, and it looked like a case of revenge when Jason easily won the first game 11-4. But the very experienced Nicolette resurged to win the second game 12-10. Jason then won the third game 11-7, and then the match with an 11-6 win in the fourth game.
In the next classic plate playoff, Shomari Wiltshire was matched against Jean Claude Jeffrey. Jean Claude easily won the first game 11-4, but then dropped a close second game 8-11. Jean Claude again went one game up when he won the third game 11-5, but Shomari rebounded to win the fourth game 11-9. The fifth game went right down to the wire, with Shomari eventually winning the game 11-9.
In the Men’s Plate final, Ben Mekdeci had a straight-set win against Nicholas Narain. Scores were 11-4, 11-2, 11-2; while Steven Xavier beat Javed Rahaman 11-9, 11-7, 11-4 to finish third.
In the Veterans 35-49 game, Joe Mekdeci captured this category when he beat Allan Downes in straight games 11-4, 11-8, 11-8. A national team will now be selected for participation in the Caribbean Senior Championships, which will be held in St Vincent in August.
