DEACONS' Jabari Walcott (right) and All Stars' Patrick Chase trying to gain possession of the ball during their teams' match-up. All Stars won 3-1.

NOTHING HAS CHANGED in squash. Shawn Simpson and Karen Meakins still rule the way.

The two remained the dominant forces after capturing the men's and women's titles respectively at the 34th annual Barbados Olympic Association-sponsored Barbados National Squash Championships.

England-born Meakins was celebrating an eighth crown while the versatile Simpson, who is also a national volleyball player, now has five national titles.

Both top seeds claimed victory in a manner remarkably similar to the way they won last year.

In the ladies' championship final played at the Barbados Squash Club (BSC) over the past weekend, Meakins raised her game to comfortably defeat the best female junior player in the Caribbean, Barbados and Caribbean Under-19 champion Cheri-Ann Parris, for the loss of a mere six points, just as she did last year.

Parris is seeded No. 2 and reached her first national ladies' final last year where she lost 0-3 to Meakins. From 0-2 down in the first game, Meakins reeled off 25 out of the next 27 points to win the first two games 9-2, 9-2 and was 7-0 up in the third before Parris could attempt a comeback.

Try as she might, there was no way out of the hole she was in, and with a shriek of delight Meakins closed out the match after 24 minutes to win 9-2, 9-2, 9-2 to claim her eighth successive National Squash Championship final since 2001. She is now just three titles away from the overall record of 11 titles in 13 finals set by Natalie Webber between 1984 and 1996.

The men's championship final was also remarkably similar in nature to the one played last year. Back then the defending champion dropped the first game, fought back hard to win the next two games at seven and four and closed out the match with an easy fourth game to win by three games to one.

This year the lanky Simpson, left-handed top seed and four-time defending champion, was blown away in the first game by No. 2 seed and reigning 2006 Southern Caribbean and reigning 2007 Caribbean squash champion, Gavin Cumberbatch, who was playing in his third successive local final and fourth overall.

Cumberbatch began this year's final by hitting the ball at an incredible pace and moved all around the court with great speed and agility to retrieve almost all of Simpson's shots. Cumberbatch won the first game 9-0 in five minutes to leave the packed crowd in court No. 1 at the BSC buzzing in anticipation.

Simpson, however, had other ideas and in the second game slowed down his pace somewhat and concentrated on keeping the rallies longer by hitting the ball higher on the front wall to get better length.

After claiming the second game 9-7, he took the third 9-4 as Cumberbatch slowed and lost faith in his earlier front court game. By the start of the fourth game there could be only one winner and as errors began to flow from Cumberbatch's racquet it was soon over.

Simpson took an early 7-1 lead and although Cumberbatch mounted one last stand to pull back to 4-7 it was never going to be enough.

A lucky miss hit winning forehand boast on his first match ball was not the way he would have chosen to clinch it, but Simpson was a deserving winner 0-9, 9-7, 9-4, 9-4 and eminently deserves the label of No. 1 squash player in Barbados.

He is now only three titles away from the joint record holders, Rudy Goodridge and Mark Sealy, who won this tournament on eight occasions.

In other matches played, Lilianna White defeated Nadia McCarthy, who had her best ever tournament, for third place 9-0, 9-7, 10-9.

Mark Sealy had an easy walkover in his third place match against Gavin's younger brother Bryant Cumberbatch.

Carla Jackson easily claimed ladies' fifth place in straight games over Lea Solomon while the men's fifth place play-off was an epic 65-minute marathon in which Nigel Griffith just managed to overcome Marlon White in five games. (PR/MK)