Cayman 3rd at Caribbean Jr Squash Championships

By Cayman Sports Buzz
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Updated: 17 July 2017

The Cayman Islands national junior squash team returned home this week after placing third at the 35th Caribbean Area Junior Squash Championships in Guyana earlier in July.

Among the highlights of the 2017 tournament was the individual success of Jace Jervis, who won the Boys U13 division, and Jade Pitcairn, who was runner-up in the Girls U17 division.

Jervis, the younger brother of former junior standout and 2016 Caribbean U19 champion Julian, was solid throughout the tournament. The 12-year-old beat opposition from Jamaica, Guyana and Barbados on the way to the U13 title. He defeated Barbadian Aiden Parris 11-5, 11-5, 7-11, 11-8 in the championship match.

Jace Jervis U13 champion

Pitcairn, 15, defeated players from Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana to set up a final against Meagan Best of Barbados. The Barbadian was too much to handle and won in straight sets: 11-7, 11-4, 11-1.

Despite the result in the final, coach Mark Chaloner said Pitcairn played arguably her best match in her semi-final against Mekeda Harding of Guyana. “Last year she beat her at home 3/1, but this year she won in three games and played the most structured game I have seen her play yet! [She] dominated the centre of the court, moved her opponent round the court to force weaker shots and punished them when they came, making few mistakes along the way,” he said in an email to CaymanSportsBuzz.com.

Other individual results for the Cayman Islands were: Brodey McComb Boys U11 4th Place; Olivia Kluyver Girls U13 5th Place; Emma Turnbull Girls U19 5th Place; Kali Maclean Girls U19 7/8th place; Shaelah Parchment Henry Girls U15 7/8th Place; Pierce Terry Boys U15 7/8th Place; Isaiah Robinson Boys U19 7/8th Place; Christian Dube Boys U19 9/14th Place; Neil McComb Boys U13 9/13th Place.

Jade Pitcairn U17 Runner Up

“The team event threw up some better performance than the individual event for a few players, perhaps getting used to the courts, but also playing in a team environment can be helpful for some to find their best form,” Chaloner said.

“Unfortunately, Pierce Terry got injured in one of the first team matches, so we replaced him with one of our reserves, Neil McComb, who was thrown into the deep end as he was up against the top three finishers in the Under 15 event and he is only 12. Nevertheless, he tried so hard against all of them and was very strong to chase the ball all over the court whilst very much up against it. I was extremely pleased with his faith and determination in this situation,” he added.

Jace Jervis managed to keep a clean sheet throughout the team event. Against Guyana’s Michael Alphonso (who he beat 3-1 in the individual semi-final), he found himself 2-1 down and really up against it. Chaloner said the home crowd was alive and his opponent was playing the game of his life. “It was a true testament to Jace to keep his cool and literally sneak out the win 11-9 in the 5th game!”

In the overall team standings, Barbados placed 1^st with 20 points; Guyana was 2^nd (16 pts.); Cayman 3^rd (10 pts.); Trinidad & Tobago 4^th (9 pts.); Jamaica 5^th (6 pts.); Bermuda 6^th (4 pts.).