On the first weekend of December, two of the most successful Caribbean islands Jamaica (All-Jamaica Squash Championship) and Guyana (All-Guyana Squash Championship) hosted and concluded their respective senior all-nation Squash tournaments both of which are showcase competitions for their talented Squash players.
Just like the yearly CASA tournament that takes place in August, these tournaments have proven to be the platform for boosting squash participation in both Jamaica and Guyana – from which the winners of the respective categories have gone on to become major stars in the sport in their country.
Ironically, if you were to compare the tournaments in Europe it could be described as the national British National Open Squash tournament, but for both Jamaica and Guyana, there has been a strong and respective rivalry between the two in form of who is going to do well at the next CASA.
As a business, we see these tournaments are a brilliant way to showcase Squash from the respective islands, plus given our lineage to both Jamaican and Guyanese these tournaments are a brilliant way of promoting the sport to key audiences that want to know more about the sport.
The importance of national tournaments in the Caribbean
Like any senior Squash tournament, the All-Jamaica Squash Championship is a tournament that helps inspire the grassroots program to gain interest in Squash and showcase to younger players that they can accomplish more if they continue to play past the age of 16. The same applies to the Guyana All-Squash Championships.
In terms of the most successful player in the All-Jamaica Squash Championship, it is none other than Chris Binnie, who has won the tournament on nine occasions – but did not compete in the 2022 tournament. As for the women’s category, Karen Anderson is a previous winner with 3 titles to her name.
Chris Binnie (10x Senior CASA Champion)
In terms of CASA titles and national titles – ironically, both Karen and Chris have won CASA titles also, but Chris he is now the all-time record holder of the CASA men’s senior titles.
Karen Anderson – Trailblazer
With the All-Guyana Squash championships, previous winners have included Nicolette Fernandes.
Nicolette Fernandes (Image credit Squashsite via Squash Mad)
Triumph, come back, and historical first in 2022 Edition
For 2022, Julian Morrison won his first All-Jamaica Squash title; following years of trying to win it finally he won his first senior national title, while Mary Mahfood bounced back from a hiatus to add a second crown to her tally at the 2022 All-Jamaica Senior Squash Championships, which was held recently at the Liguanea Club in New Kingston.
Champs: Julian Morrison and Mary Mahfood (Credit: SportsMax)
With the All- Guyana Squash Championship, which took place at the Georgetown Club; history was made with two siblings winning singles titles.
Current CASA women’s champion, Ashley Khalil won the women’s National Squash championship and her brother Jason-Ray was crowned the country’s national men’s title.
Champs: Jason-Ray and Ashley Khalil with coach Carl Ince (credit: Staborek)
Ashley defeated Taylor Fernandes 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 11-8), in the women’s finals meanwhile brother Jason-Ray had a hard-fought encounter against Alex Arjoon where he prevailed 3-2.
For the Khalil siblings, 2022 has been an interesting year for them both – not only did Ashley become the 2022 CASA Women’s champion, but she also won a bronze medal in the Women’s Team category at the Pan Am Games in April and a silver medal in Mixed Doubles competition with her brother at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Overall, Ashley is definitely on the cusp of becoming a major global star of Squash from Guyana along with her brother Jason-Ray; nevertheless, their successes will help grow the sport in Guyana, along with being great role models for the next generation of Squash talent.
As for Julian Morrison, well his success will help motivate him to play more tournaments, especially international tournaments come 2023.
Final Thoughts
Both All-Jamaica Squash and All-Guyana Squash championships, highlight the continued growth of Squash in the Caribbean, along the lines of hosting potential international tournaments, whether it be in Guyana, Jamaica, or perhaps both along another Caribbean nation, such as Barbados.
The only drawback was that neither of these events wasn’t televised but seeing the launch of Worldsquash.tv could help bring more attention to Squash talent showcasing the sport to audiences who have a vested interest in the Caribbean, along with attracting more sponsors to make the tournaments more global too.
As for the players, both Ashley and Jason-Ray Khalil are doing extremely well, and potentially either one of them or both have the ability to compete in an international Squash tournament such as the British Open or the prestigious PSA World Tour Series. With Julian Morrison, he has the makings of entering the top 100 squash players following his win in the All-Jamaica Squash Championship – also Mary Mahfood could too.
To sum up, come 2023 it would be good to see televised coverage of national squash tournaments – not only UK ones but international ones whether it be highlights packages, it would help generate more participation amongst children who have lineage to either Guyana or Jamaica.
It needs to happen, as building upon the 2022 Commonwealth Games legacy is important for the sport.
