The T&T men’s squash team had to settle for the silver medal in a competitive final against Jamaica at the Maples Senior Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) Championships in Cayman Islands, yesterday. Joshua Pinard and brothers Nku and Mandela Patrick were all leading two sets to one in their respective matches before losing in five sets. In the first match in the best-of-five series, Ashante Smith got past Pinard 7-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9 and 11-7.
Jamaica then jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the series after Lewis Walters outlasted Caribbean Under-19 champion Nku Patrick 7-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4 and 11-3. Chris Binnie then sealed the title for Jamaica with a straight win over Kale Wilson 11-4, 11-4 and 11-3. Don Lee grabbed a consolation win for T&T in match four, with an 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8 victory over Bruce Burrows. Julian Morrison then defeated Mandela Patrick 13-15, 11-3, 9-11, 12-10, 11-7 as Jamaica won the series 4-1.
The T&T women had to settle for a fourth place finish overall. After losing to Guyana 2-3 in the semifinal, T&T lost 0-5 in the third place playoff. Against Guyana, Marie Claire Barcant and Rhea Khan won matches for T&T, while Akeila Wiltshire, Ashley Khalil and Ashley Degroot all won matches for Guyana. Guyana went on to defeat Barbados 3-2 in the women’s final.
T&T snatched bronze behind Barbados (gold) and Cayman Islands (silver) in the round robin veteran’s team tournament. T&T played six series, winning four and losing two. Barbados and Cayman Islands both defeated T&T.