Bank of Bermuda Foundation CASA Junior Championships Day 2
Posted by Pat Foster on 11-Jul-2008Categories: News Add Trackback
First round matches began at 9am yesterday morning featuring lot’s of Bermuda’s top players. Play has just begun for todays schedule and Full results/draws can be found on the Junior CASA 2008 page
Rogers Report….
Bermuda’s Junior Minister of Sports, Senator Marc Bean, officially opened the Bank of Bermuda Foundation Junior CASA (Caribbean) Squash Championships 2008, on the first day of competition between more than 120 young squash enthusiasts from 7 Caribbean countries – Barbados, Cayman, Guyana, Jamaica, OECS, Trinidad & Tobago, and host country Bermuda
There were no major surprises in the early matches, but Bermuda fans cheered enthusiastically when unseeded son-of-the-soil, Laird Simmons, in Boys Under 15, pulled off an upset win against 5-8 seed Alex McCallum (Cay) in the closest match of the day (9-6,10-8,2-9,6-9,9-3).
Boys Under 17 promises to be the toughest division. #1 seed Cameron Stafford of Cayman, the smallest Island competing in Junior CASA cruised through his first match dropping just one point, while #2 seed Alexander Arjoon (Guy) comfortably won his first match against Bermuda’s Korin Knights. Arjoon was joined in the quarterfinal by Guyana teammates Deje Dias and Oliver Kear-Downs. Other winners included Kale Wilson (T&T), and Bermudian trio Kristian Muldoon, Chris Stout and Micah Franklin.
In Boys Under 13, #1 seed Nku Patrick (T&T) received a bye and plays Julian Morrison (Jam) in the Quarters. The other seeded players all progressed to the Quarters, with Bermuda’s hopes resting on #3-4 seed Beckett Simmons and #5-8 seed D’Vario Thompson.
Boys Under 15 saw two OECS players through to the Quarters – #1 seed Kevin Hannaway with a bye, and unseeded Stefan Joseph who won in 4 games against #5-8 seed Nicholas Cameron (Cay). #5-8 seed Mathew Mackenzie (Bar) defeated Cody Stafford (Cay) without dropping a point and he meets #2 seed Noah Browne (Ber) in the next round.
Bermuda’s #1 seed in Boys Under 19, Robbie Maycock, who has previously won in every other age division, received a bye into the Quarters, while #2 seed Joe Chapman (OECS) had a comfortable win over Elijah Simmons (Ber). Chapman was making his second appearance in Bermuda after being invited to compete as a wildcard entry in last year’s PSA World Championship held on the Island.
Meanwhile, In Girls competition, the #1 seed in Under 17, Keisha Jeffrey (Guy) cruised through to the Quarters without dropping a point, as did her sister, #2 seed Kayla Jeffrey. The Barnes sisters from Bermuda, #3-4 seed Kelly, and #5-8 seed Rachel, also progressed, as did Lauren Mahfood & Brooke Burrowes of Jamaica, and Emily Bones & Jessica Scott of Trinidad and Tobago.
Guyana certainly have an impressive Girls Team in which Mary Fung-a-fat, in Girls Under 15 is the second of their three top seeds. She and #2 seed Asha Gibbs (Bar) received byes into the Quarters, with Fung-a-fat facing surprise winner Talia Abdool (T&T) who pulled off a marathon 3-2 win against #5-8 seed Eilidh Bridgeman of Cayman.
There was no action on the first day in either Girls Under 13 or Girls Under 19. In Girls Under 13, Guyana have another outstanding youngster in #1 seed Victoria Arjoon who is slated to meet Bermuda’s Emma Keane in the final if this division goes according to seeding. In Girls Under 19, all eyes will be on Barbadian star player, Cheri-Ann Parris, when she steps out on court. Cheri-Ann, who has been training in Egypt is one of the most outstanding juniors in the Caribbean and is strongly expected to take the Under 19 title.
Hovering some 200 miles off Bermuda is Hurricane Bertha which is losing strength and is expected to pass about 120 miles to the east of the Island on Sunday morning, but all of the action this weekend will be concentrated at the Devonshire Squash Courts as singles competition draws to a climax in the Bank of Bermuda Foundation Junior CASA Squash Championships 2008.
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