By Avenash Ramzan
Guyanese Alex Arjoon and Mary Fung-A-Fat had to settle for silver in the Mixed Doubles at the ENet Senior Caribbean Squash Championship as Khamal Cumberbatch and Margot Prow won gold on Wednesday evening at the National Racquet Centre, Woolford Avenue, Georgetown.
In a hotly contested championship game, Cumberbatch and Prow, who won the Men’s Open and Women’s Open titles respectively on Tuesday night, took the doubles title with a 2-1 scoreline.
They won the opening set 11-6, and Arjoon and Fung-A-Fat regrouped to level the game with a 11-10 set.
In the decider, Cumberbatch and Prow produced an 11-5 set to close out the contest.
Both players were ecstatic with the victory, especially since it was the first time they played together as doubles partner.
“Super, super happy with the victory,” Prow said.
“Been a long time coming for us to get a Mixed Doubles medal. We had a game plan and we stuck to it.”
Despite coming into the match on the back of their Singles success the previous night, Cumberbatch felt they still had a point to prove.
“Playing in Guyana against the Guyanese team in the final obviously you need to back it up and really show what you’re worth,” Cumberbatch related.
Mixed Doubles silver medallist Alex Arjoon (left) and Mary Fung-A-Fat of Guyana (Photo: News Room/Jeremy Jagroop/August 21, 2024)
Arjoon and Fung-A-Fat were playing their first final as a Mixed Doubles team, and the latter felt they feared well, especially against the backdrop of little to no training as a pair.
“I think our chemistry is obvious. We complement each other well. I’m proud of our performance, even if we didn’t get the gold this time, now that we have the (doubles) facility up and running, we’re coming for it next year,” Fung-A-Fat declared.
Arjoon added: “We were playing the two CASA champions on a team, I think we went in there and had a slow start. I think you really have to start strong- even if you don’t win, it has to be competitive. So they did hit a big lead before we clawed out way back and by the end it was a bit too late.”
“We took the second, which we really played well, and I think the difference was just a few unforced errors we made.”
Men’s Doubles champion Julian Jervis (left) and Cameron Stafford of the Cayman Islands (Photo: News Room/Jeremy Jagroop/August 21, 2024)
Jervis and Stafford make successful defence of Men’s Open title
Cayman Islands’ Julian Jervis and Cameron Stafford made a successful defence of the Men’s Open title they won at home in 2023.
The pair defeated Shawn Simpson and Darien Bess of Barbados in a highly competitive final, winning in straight sets 11-10, 11-7.
“It awesome to defend the title- elated and massively emotional about it,” Jervis said after the win.
It was a comeback of sorts for Stafford, who picked up a groin injury earlier in the week and had to miss the third place game against Guyanese Alex Arjoon in the Men’s Open.
He pointed out that beating the Bajan pair in straight sets “is actually quite an accomplishment” after they were taken to a three-set finish by the same opponents in the 2023 final.
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