BARBADOS, winners of three Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Squash medals, have failed to qualify for next year's Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In fact, there will be no Caribbean presence in squash competition at the 2007 games, after the region's top teams failed to make an impact at the Pan-American Championship in Medellin, Colombia, that ended last weekend.

Guyana's Caribbean champion Nicolette Fernandes was runner-up in the women's singles but her team finished outside of the top frame and like other Caribbean sides appearing at the tournament, did not make the grade for next summer's play in Brazil.

In the women's final, Fernandes lost to Mexico's world rated player, Samantha Teran, who avenged her defeat at the CAC Games in Cartagena in July.

Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago contested the women's qualifying series while Barbados and Jamaica were the Caribbean teams in men's play.

Barbados could do no better than 13th among the 14 teams while Guyana placed ninth after defeating Ecuador in a play-off to decide ninth and tenth spots.

The Jamaicans registered their only win with a 2-1 triumph over Barbados, who lost all their games – beaten also by Argentina and Colombia, who both won against Jamaica.

Mexico emerged men's champions over Canada, with Brazil placing third.

Three Caribbean players – all Barbadian – survived first round play in the men's singles – veteran Mark Sealy defeating Joe Chapman, of the British Virgin Islands 9-3, 9-4, 9-1; Southern Caribbean champion Gavin Cumberbatch getting past the Dominican Republic's Luis Franco 9-0, 9-1, 9-4; and Shawn Simpson winning 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 against Guatemala's Diego Asturias.

In Round Two, men's champion Jonathon Power dominated Sealy 9-0, 9-0, 9-0, American Chris Gordon beat Simpson 9-3, 9-4, 9-3, and Argentina's Robert Pezzota ousted Cumberbatch 9-1, 9-1, 9-1. (MK)