Going for gold
Barbados will be looking to strike gold in the 31st annual junior Caribbean Area Squash Association’s (CASA) championships starting tomorrow in Trinidad.
The 13-member team which will leave Barbados today includes seven boys – Zaki Williams, Stewart St John, Brandon Straker, Benjamin Griffith, Shemane Griffith, Rithew Saywack and Khamal Cumberbatch.
The girls are – Gylla Mackenzie, Amanda Haywood and Meagan Best.
Much is expected from Cumberbatch, the top seed in the Boys’ Under-13 competition as well Best, the top seed for the Under-13 girls, and Haywood, who is seeded No. 2 in the Under-15 girls.
The Barbadians will be up against players from the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Bermuda, The Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago in the week-long competition at the Cascadia Hotel in Port of Spain.
Coach Rhett Cumberbatch told SUNSPORT that the team had shown good form during practice and he felt it was a winning combination.
“We have a balanced team and based on current form, I expect them to do well,” Cumberbatch said.
“They have been working well and we rounded out preparation paying attention to attack and defence as we wound up work at the courts. . . .
“We are looking to strike gold or to be in the top three at the end of competition.”
The team manager is William “Monty” Cumberbatch and Michael Best is the assistant.