Margot Prow (right) of Barbados in action against Guyana's Nicolette Fernandes during the women's singles final at the Caribbean Senior Squash Championships in Cayman Islands on Tuesday. (Inset) Male singles champion Khamal Cumberbatch also of Barbados.
It was always expected to be two hard-fought encounters to decide the Men’s and Women’s Singles titles at the 28th edition of the Senior Caribbean Championships, and both lived up to billing, as the Barbados pair of Khamal Cumberbatch and Margot Prow claimed top honours in Cayman Islands on Tuesday.
Cumberbatch and Cameron Stafford of the hosts nation entered the one-week tournament as top seeds in the men’s draw and, so it was no surprise that they locked horns in a keenly contested best-of-five final, which the former won 3-2.
The ding-dong battle which lasted 47 minutes, saw Stafford winning the first game 11-6, before Cumberbatch rallied to win the second 11-3. The Cayman Islands top man again found himself in front winning the third game 11-9, but Cumberbatch asserted authority in the last two games to win 11-9, 11-3.
Predictions were that the women’s showpiece would have been an all-Guyana battle between Nicolette Fernandes and Ashley Khalil, but Prow had other ideas, as she bettered Khalil in the semi-final to set up the gold medal battle with Fernandes.
And the Bajan proved superior to her Guyanese counterpart in the Best-of-five final, registering a 3-1 win. She won the first set 11-7, before Fernandes rallied to take the second 11-9, but Prow, like her compatriot Cumberbatch, showed class at the backend to win the next two games 11-9 and 11-7.
Earlier, Julian Jervis and Stafford, handed Cayman Islands the Men’s Doubles gold medal, as they battled to a come-from-behind 11-7, 11-5 win over the Barbadian pair of Cumberbatch and Shawn Simpson in an entertaining finale. Cumberbatch and Simpson won the first set 7-11.
To get to the finals, both pairs had to endure almost hour-long battles in their respective semi-final encounters, Cumberbatch and Simpson moreso, as they had to come from behind to better the Jamaican pair of Bruce Burrowes and Julian Morrison 11-9, 11-8, after losing the first set 9-11.
While the Cayman duo’s battle against Guyana’s Daniel Ince and Jason-Ray Khalil lasted 48 minutes, they won 2-0 with scores of 11-9, 11-10.
In the Women’s Doubles, Guyana secured gold courtesy of top seeded Ashley Khalil and Ashley De Groot, who justified favouritism with a come-from-behind 11-5, 11-9 win over the second seeded Cayman Islands pair of Jade Pitcarin and Marlene West, who won the opening set 11-4.
Khalil and De Groot had earlier bettered Barbadians Karen Meakins and Margot Prow 11-5, 5-11, 11-5 in a competitive three-set battle lasting just over half-hour, while Pitcarin and West got by the Jamaican duo of Karen Anderson and Mia Todd, 11-9, 11-6.
Jamaica’s Tahjia Lumley and Jessica Davis copped the Mixed Doubles title by virtue of a walkover. The reason for such an outcome remains unclear, as the Jamaicans were expected to face the number two seeded Guyanese pair of Jason-Ray Khalil and Nicolette Fernandes in the showpiece event.
After entering the event as the number five seed, the Jamaicans registered an 11-5, 11-2 win over the Trinidad and Tobago pair of Anthony Allum and Faith Gillezeau, and later scored a two-set 11-5, 11-5 win over top seeded pair of Alex Frazer and Michaela Rensburg of the host nation, on their way to the final.
Meanwhile, Khalil and Fernandes bettered the Barbadian pair of Darien Benn and Jada Smith-Padmore 11-5, 11-8, on their way to the final.
The tournament continues with team action on Wednesday.
Sherdon Cowan is a five-time award-winning journalist with 10 years' experience covering sports.
Excelsior headlines finalists for Boys Championships of America 4x100m final at Penn Relays
A host of Jamaican schools will line up in the final of the High School Boys Championships of America 4x100m final, as they successfully navigated the qualifiers on day two of the 128th Penn Relays at the Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Friday.
Leading the qualifiers was the Excelsior quartet of Ryeem Walker, Damor Miller, Malike Nugent and Lennon Green, which clocked a brisk 40.62 seconds to top their heat.
They will be joined by local rivals Kingston College (41.30s), St Jago (41.35s), St George’s College (41.42s), Calabar High (41.70s) and Jamaica College (41.73s), and Wolmer’s Boys (41.84s). The other two lanes in the medal event will be occupied by Washington DC-based Archbishop John Carroll (41.49s) and Virginia-based West Springfield (41.77s).
Meanwhile, the High School Boys International final, also scheduled for Saturday, will see six Jamaican schools going up against those from Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines and The Bahamas, respectively.
St Elizabeth Technical (STETHS) headlines that field, after they posted the fastest qualifying time of 42.26s, followed by Cornwall College (42.53s) and the Bahamian school Queens College (42.61s). St Benedict’s, of out the twin island republic, and Munro College, both clocked 42.83s, while St Vincent Grammar (43.11s), Petersfield (43.14s), St Catherine (43.26s) and Vere Technical (43.55s), are the other qualifiers.
Frazsiers Whip to represent Jamaica in inaugural Concacaf Women's Champions Cup
As expected, Frazsiers Whip will be Jamaica’s representative in the inaugural Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup, a new annual tournament that includes the best clubs from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean and crowns the region’s women’s club champion.
The tournament is also the sole path through which clubs in Concacaf can qualify for the new FIFA Women’s Club World Cup, which FIFA has committed to launching in the near future.
By virtue of winning the 2022/23 Jamaica Women’s Premier League, Frazsiers Whip booked their spot for the first edition of the competition, which will feature 11 clubs from seven Member Associations.
The other confirmed participants are Canada’s 2023 League One Women’s Inter-Provincial Championship winners Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Costa Rica’s LD Alajuelense, Mexico’s Tigres UANL Femenil, as well as the United States trio of Gotham FC, San Diego Wave FC and Portland Thorns FC.
El Salvador and Panama are yet to confirm their representatives for their solitary spots, while Mexico’s two other representatives will be known at the conclusion of the Liga MX Clausura.
Interim Reggae Girlz Head coach Xavier Gilbert, who guided Frazsiers Whip to league honours, welcomed the move by Concacaf, which he believes will offer some exposure for local players, despite the gulf in class between other leagues around the region and Jamaica's Women's League.
"It's important for local football, however, I don't think any of our local teams will be able to match up with the teams from Mexico or United States. Those clubs are professional clubs playing in a fully professional leagues, while ours is nowhere close to their standard," Gilbert told SportsMax.TV in a recent interview.
"But it is good, it is more football and more exposure for our local players. At the same time, I think it sends a signal of how important it is for us to look at what we are doing in terms of resources and surfaces for our local teams. So, it is good move by Concacaf, and I think it's for us now here in Jamaica to look at what we are doing and try to improve the quality of our league," he added.
The official draw for the tournament is scheduled for June 6.
Action in the Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup is expected to get underway in August, with a Preliminary Round, followed by Group and Knockout Stage play. The Preliminary Round Play-in will be a single-leg match between two clubs, with the winner advancing to the Group Stage.
The Group Stage will feature 10 clubs divided into two groups of five clubs each. Each club will play every club in its group once, for a total of four matches per club (two at home and two away). At the conclusion of Group Stage play, the group winners and runners-up (four clubs) will progress to the competition’s final four.
The semifinals, third-place encounter, and final, where the first-ever Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup winners will be crowned, will be centralized in a venue to be announced.
Hughes targets Olympic glory; expects Racers Grand Prix to offer taste of potential Paris test
Winning a first global individual medal at last year’s World Championships whetted Zharnel Hughes’s appetite for more success, and so it comes as no surprise that the Anguillan-born Great Britain sprint sensation is strongly optimistic about clinching a medal at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
In fact, if Hughes’s confidence to top his performances from last year is anything to go by, then he could very well accomplish the feat, provided he maintains a clean bill of health throughout the season.
During last year’s electrifying campaign, which ended with his World Championships bronze in the men’s 100m final, Hughes broke Olympic champion Linford Christie’s 100m British national record when he clocked a personal best 9.83 seconds at the New York Grand Prix, in June.
A month later, at the UK Athletics Championship, Hughes ran a brisk 19.77s, which is faster than John Regis’s national 200m record, but the time was wind-aided and, as such, was recognised as a record. However, Hughes, with his superb form, inevitably established a new record when he clocked a wind-legal 19.73s at the London Diamond League.
With that in mind, coupled with his relentless work ethic and resolute pursuit of excellence, Hughes is poised to make another significant impact on the world stage this year. Whether or not it will be an Olympic gold medal triumph is left to be seen.
“It's the Olympic year, so obviously you want to better what you did last year. I'm happy with how last year turned out for me, and this year is very much more exciting. I'm preparing myself nicely. I'm feeling fit and ready to go. Obviously as an athlete, you want to lower your personal best every year, but unfortunately, sometimes it doesn't work out like that. But I'm definitely aiming to lower my personal best both in the 100m and 200m,” Hughes declared.
“I'm in good shape and I’m excited. I've definitely counted myself as one of them (athletes) to be reckoned with (for an Olympic gold medal). I'm never going to count myself out now because you've seen what happened last year, and I'm excited to top my performance from last year,” he added.
Though he 48.25s in a 400m run in February, followed by a 20.40s-clocking in March, the 28-year-old pointed out that he is yet to really hit top gear in preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games, but is aiming to do so at the sixth edition of the Racers Grand Prix, on June 1, at Jamaica's National Stadium.
At the Racers Grand Prix, Hughes will line up alongside Racers Track Club teammate Oblique Seville and American World champion Noah Lyles in the 100m, which he considers a good prelude for what could come at the Paris Games.
“I'm looking forward to it, I was listening for who was going to be there; Oblique and I have been training pretty good and I know both of us representing coach Glen Mills, will be bringing it on the day. So, I look forward to who's in the field, especially with Lyles being there,” Hughes said.
“This race is to get you prepared for what's to come later in the summer. So, to have great competition like that at the Racers Grand Prix is just a great indicator to see where we're at, and what we can tweak going into our national trials, because my trials will be the latter part of June. So, for me, I'm looking forward to this race and the following week I'll have the European Championships as well. So, it'll be a great indicator for me,” he shared.
Working tirelessly under the watchful eyes of decorated coach Mills, Hughes, a four-time European Champion, has upped the ante in the gym to improve his strength, as he is leaving no stone unturned in his quest for Olympic glory.
“My training has been going tremendously well. I'm excited to open up properly (at Racers Grand Prix) because my first race wasn't so good because I had a little niggle, but I've overcome that now and I'm very excited to see what's there. I've worked on my strength a lot, physically, I'm a lot stronger and I just want to keep on top of my mental health as well,” Hughes revealed.
“Those things are very crucial going into an Olympic year, so you have to be very focused. You have to ensure that your body is properly fit as well in order to go there to give the best that you're looking for. So, I'm pretty sharp on keeping my mental focus up and ensuring that I'm properly recovered,” he ended.
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