Talented local squash player, Taylor Fernandes has her eyes set on an illustrious achievement, as she seeks to be ranked in the top 30 in the world.
Speaking to Guyana Times Sport, the squash player confidently revealed that her ambition is to win the Caribbean Junior Title before advancing to the senior division.
“This is my last year as junior competitor so I’m looking forward to seeing what I do next but for this year my aim is to win the Caribbean title and by next year when I’m 19, I hope to finish in the top 30 in the world.”
Taylor is not the only player in her family who has been able to gain stupendous achievement throughout her career, as her cousin Nicolette Fernandes, is currently ranked 26 in the world according to the Professional Squash Association.
Proud moment! Taylor Fernandes (far right) and Larissa Wiltshire stand at the podium with their Bronze medals at the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2015
The 2013 National Champion revealed that it was her cousin who inspired her to play the sport.
“My cousin Nicolette, she was the first person to put a squash racket in my hand, so I guess it just kind of happened and then I made the team,” Fernandes said.
On that note, she was quizzed on playing her cousin in the senior and hopefully being able to surpass her achievement.
She jovially responded saying, “That’s kind of a hard one because she is really good but I hope to get as far as I possibly can”.
Fernandes, who recently received an award from the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) for her outstanding achievement in sport by winning a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Youth Games last year in Samoa, said it “was a strange feeling as she has never been recognised before but she is excited”.
At the youth games, she paired with Larissa Wiltshire to play doubles and defeated their Australian counterparts 11-2, 11-5, to cop the bronze medal.
In speaking of those achievements, she said “well me and Larissa [Wiltshire] have never played doubles before, so the experience was great, getting to know other people there and seeing how doubles is actually played was great; we didn’t think we could go this far but we actually made it”.
Fernandes, who constantly plays with a “never-say-die attitude” is certainly one can be become hard to defeat and those ambitions would certainly become more and more a reality in the coming years. ([email protected])
