Barbados’ Best at Squash championship
By George Alleyne
The effort of Meagan Best in
defending her Barbados Senior
National Squash Champion
title was light in comparison
to the struggle her veteran
male counterpart, Shawn
Simpson, had to endure before
retaining his crown in the 2019
championships.
The Barbados Senior National
Squash Championship, played
Sunday at the Barbados Squash
Club, Marine Garden, Christ
Church saw Best wining her
fourth consecutive national title
by beating Amanda Haywood
13-11, 11-2, 8-11 and 11-7.
Simpson won the crown for
a record 11th time by defeating
Khamal Cumberbatch 7-11,
11-5, 11-5, 7-11 and 11-6.
While it was not exactly an
easy defence for 19-year-old
Best, the reigning three-time
Caribbean squash champion, her
familiarity with Haywood, of the
same age, took the champion
over the top.
As the final score shows
Haywood fought back to win the
third set pushing the women’s
encounter to a fourth.
“It was getting a bit scary
when she came back in the third
game but I was able to counter
what she did and bring it home
in the fourth,” Best conceded
afterwards.
“This is the third time playing
Amanda in the final and we have
a great idea of how each other
plays and I knew it would have
been tougher this time… I knew
it was going to be a strong battle
this time around.”
For 35-year-old Simpson
it was more than a scare as
Cumberbatch, 17, jumped ahead
winning the first set and despite
the veteran taking the second
and third sets the youngster kept
coming and forced match-up to
a decider in the fifth encounter.
“This feels just as good as
the first one. Every time I win
it feels like the first title …
people were cheering for young
Cumberbatch who is the number
one boy in the Caribbean and as
the defending champion a lot of
pressure was on me. But I just
made sure I went out there and
tried to execute my game as well
as possible and not give him
too many opportunities,” said
Simpson of the testing defence
against Cumberbatch who is
ranked top eight in the Pan
American region. Meagan Best (L) taking on Amanda Haywood. Photo by George Alleyne
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