Team Cayman held their own against the region’s best during the 2023 Senior Caribbean Squash Championships – collecting six medals for their efforts, including gold.
Cayman’s duo of Cameron Stafford and Julian Jervis won gold in their doubles final against Barbados on Tuesday, 22 Aug., at host venue the South Sound Squash Club.
They beat Shawn Simpson and Khamal Cumberbatch 2-1. Stafford and Jervis lost the first game 11-7, and came back to take the second game by an identical score. In the final game of the match, the Caymanians were losing 5-2 before they rallied to score nine straight points, eventually winning 11-5, backed by a supportive home crowd.
“It meant a lot to me personally,” Jervis told the Compass after his win. “This is probably the hardest I’ve ever trained. With all my people here in Cayman, I wanted to show that I can rise to the occasion.”
But he couldn’t have done it without Stafford, with whom he won a historic gold medal in the plate final at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“It’s been a joy ride,” Jervis said. “Cameron just has a skillset that’s matched by only three or four players in the world. So having him as a partner feels like a cheat code. Meanwhile, I’m always confident in my abilities.”
Those abilities proved enough to best the Bajans in a closely fought match.
“Every rally went on for four to five minutes, which is really long,” Jervis added. “It is a blessing to play with him and [I’m] very grateful.”
The pair then split up to fend for themselves in singles competition, and they delivered for their nation there as well. In the third- vs. fourth-place match, Jervis defeated Guyana’s Alex Arjoon 11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 11-8 (3-1) to take bronze.
Stafford reached the finals but fell short in an exciting match with Khamal Cumberbatch of Barbados, who he had beaten in the doubles finals, taking silver in the five-game battle, 11-6, 3-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-3 (3-2).
The tournament, in which 90 athletes from seven countries are competing, runs through Saturday, 26 Aug. It’s the first time since 2015 that Cayman has hosted the prestigious event.
Several other Cayman players made their mark, adding to the medal tally as of Thursday, 24 Aug, which included a silver, a bronze and a consolation medal.
Cayman’s women’s duo of Marlene West and Jade Pitcairn defeated Jamaicans Karen Anderson and Mia Todd to take silver in the women’s doubles in a match ending 11-9, 11-6 (2-0).
In the mixed doubles, Michaela Rensburg and Alex Frazer took bronze and Kali Maclean took home a consolation medal for her efforts.
Speaking with the Compass, Janet Sairsingh, president of the Cayman Islands National Squash Association noted that Cayman’s podium places were the result of hard work.
“I believe we’ve been working and training very hard,” she said, noting that she hopes Cayman wins the overall high point having coming so close at last year’s event where they finished second. “So, we’re hoping to maintain or win.”
She added that she was pleased that the tournament was back on the island after eight years.
“It’s good to bring this level of squash to the island and it encourages those who haven’t played in a while,” she said. “For the juniors that come out, it gives them encouragement to come play again and show where they need to move to in terms of attaining that level of play.”
Matches for the men’s, women’s and vets teams were still to be played as of press time.
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