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As the 2008 Cellink Southern Caribbean Squash Championships came to a close on August
23 in Guyana, the 8-player OECS team was all smiles after a commendable performance in the
5-nation event. After many withdrawals left the team shorthanded (unable to field either a
women's team or a full men's team), 7 Vincentians and 1 player from the British Virgin Islands
eventually made the trip to take on the best from Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and
Venezuela.
In the individual event, 4 OECS players entered the Men's competition (James Bentick,
Shane Slater, Kevin Hannaway and Kevin Bailey) with Bentick and Slater seeded in the 5-8
and 9-16 brackets respectively. Unfortunately one of them had to be eliminated in the first
round, as Slater defeated Hannaway 9/3, 9/2, 9/2 to join Bentick (a 9/2, 9/0, 9/1 victor over
Trinidad's Peter Pirtheesingh) in the Round of 16, while Bailey fell to Guyana's Kristian Jeffrey
3/9, 2/9, 5/9. Slater was then halted by Trinidad's Josh Pinard 4/9, 2/9, 0/9 to join Hannaway
and Bailey in the Plate. Slater lived up to his top 16 seeding with a 9/5, 9/7, 10/8 win over
Venezuela’s Alejandro Lopez before going down in an exhausting 2/9, 9/1, 9/10, 9/3, 3/9
battle with another Venezuelan Diego Becerra. Hannaway and Bailey were also eliminated in
straight games by Venezuelans Juan Pablo Sanchez and Becerra respectively. Meanwhile,
Bentick followed up a win over Guyana’s Alex Arjoon 9/4, 9/2, 9/4 with a remarkable upset of
the #1 seed Gavin Cumberbatch of Barbados in the quarterfinals. After losing the first 2 games
2/9, 3/9, Bentick stormed back to triumph 2/9, 3/9, 9/1, 9/0, 10/8 over the reigning Caribbean
and Southern Caribbean Champion. The Bajan contingent gained some measure of revenge as
Bentick succumbed to Bajans Shawn Simpson (7/9, 1/9, 3/9) in the semi-finals and Gavin’s
younger brother Bryant (6/9, 10/9, 8/9, 3/9) in the 3rd place play-off.
After fending off opponents as much as 24 years younger in the individual tournament, the 40-
year old Bentick joined Keith Boyea, Sherian Slater, Vonnie Roudette and Jon Osman (the
lone non-Vincentian) on the Veterans squad for the team event. Meanwhile, the young trio of
Shane Slater, Kevin Hannaway and Kevin Bailey faced the uphill task of competing against full
5-person squads from the other men’s teams. Led by Slater (who picked up 3-1 wins against
individual finalist Colin Ramasra and Robert Fernandes against Trinidad and Guyana
respectively) in the #1 position, the trio stepped up to the challenge as “southerns” debutantes
Hannaway and Bailey pushed their higher-ranked opponents to 4 and 5-game matches. While
the men’s team finished in 5th place, the strong OECS veterans team came within 2 points of
clinching the veterans team title, as Jon Osman (Men’s 60+) squandered a 7-3 lead in the 5th
game in a crucial match in the Guyana-OECS tie to lose 5/9, 9/4, 5/9, 9/7, 8/10 to Louis
Narain. This meant a 2-3 loss to Guyana, who claimed the Veterans team title. Paced by
eventual Men’s 40+ champion Bentick and runners-up Sherian Slater, Vonnie Roudette and
Jon Osman in the Women’s 40+, 50+ and Men’s 60+ categories, OECS claimed 4-1 and 3-2
victories over Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago to finish in 2nd place. In the Overall Team
Standings, OECS earned 12 points to edge Trinidad and Tobago by 1 point for 3rd place. In
the final individual rankings, James Bentick finished as #7 while Shane Slater was ranked in the
13-16 bracket to claim his first Caribbean Senior Ranking. Team OECS hopes for continued
success in the next edition of the biennial tournament when St. Vincent hosts in 2010.
Full Results
23 in Guyana, the 8-player OECS team was all smiles after a commendable performance in the
5-nation event. After many withdrawals left the team shorthanded (unable to field either a
women's team or a full men's team), 7 Vincentians and 1 player from the British Virgin Islands
eventually made the trip to take on the best from Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and
Venezuela.
In the individual event, 4 OECS players entered the Men's competition (James Bentick,
Shane Slater, Kevin Hannaway and Kevin Bailey) with Bentick and Slater seeded in the 5-8
and 9-16 brackets respectively. Unfortunately one of them had to be eliminated in the first
round, as Slater defeated Hannaway 9/3, 9/2, 9/2 to join Bentick (a 9/2, 9/0, 9/1 victor over
Trinidad's Peter Pirtheesingh) in the Round of 16, while Bailey fell to Guyana's Kristian Jeffrey
3/9, 2/9, 5/9. Slater was then halted by Trinidad's Josh Pinard 4/9, 2/9, 0/9 to join Hannaway
and Bailey in the Plate. Slater lived up to his top 16 seeding with a 9/5, 9/7, 10/8 win over
Venezuela’s Alejandro Lopez before going down in an exhausting 2/9, 9/1, 9/10, 9/3, 3/9
battle with another Venezuelan Diego Becerra. Hannaway and Bailey were also eliminated in
straight games by Venezuelans Juan Pablo Sanchez and Becerra respectively. Meanwhile,
Bentick followed up a win over Guyana’s Alex Arjoon 9/4, 9/2, 9/4 with a remarkable upset of
the #1 seed Gavin Cumberbatch of Barbados in the quarterfinals. After losing the first 2 games
2/9, 3/9, Bentick stormed back to triumph 2/9, 3/9, 9/1, 9/0, 10/8 over the reigning Caribbean
and Southern Caribbean Champion. The Bajan contingent gained some measure of revenge as
Bentick succumbed to Bajans Shawn Simpson (7/9, 1/9, 3/9) in the semi-finals and Gavin’s
younger brother Bryant (6/9, 10/9, 8/9, 3/9) in the 3rd place play-off.
After fending off opponents as much as 24 years younger in the individual tournament, the 40-
year old Bentick joined Keith Boyea, Sherian Slater, Vonnie Roudette and Jon Osman (the
lone non-Vincentian) on the Veterans squad for the team event. Meanwhile, the young trio of
Shane Slater, Kevin Hannaway and Kevin Bailey faced the uphill task of competing against full
5-person squads from the other men’s teams. Led by Slater (who picked up 3-1 wins against
individual finalist Colin Ramasra and Robert Fernandes against Trinidad and Guyana
respectively) in the #1 position, the trio stepped up to the challenge as “southerns” debutantes
Hannaway and Bailey pushed their higher-ranked opponents to 4 and 5-game matches. While
the men’s team finished in 5th place, the strong OECS veterans team came within 2 points of
clinching the veterans team title, as Jon Osman (Men’s 60+) squandered a 7-3 lead in the 5th
game in a crucial match in the Guyana-OECS tie to lose 5/9, 9/4, 5/9, 9/7, 8/10 to Louis
Narain. This meant a 2-3 loss to Guyana, who claimed the Veterans team title. Paced by
eventual Men’s 40+ champion Bentick and runners-up Sherian Slater, Vonnie Roudette and
Jon Osman in the Women’s 40+, 50+ and Men’s 60+ categories, OECS claimed 4-1 and 3-2
victories over Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago to finish in 2nd place. In the Overall Team
Standings, OECS earned 12 points to edge Trinidad and Tobago by 1 point for 3rd place. In
the final individual rankings, James Bentick finished as #7 while Shane Slater was ranked in the
13-16 bracket to claim his first Caribbean Senior Ranking. Team OECS hopes for continued
success in the next edition of the biennial tournament when St. Vincent hosts in 2010.
Full Results
VINCY SQUASHERS RISE TO THE CHALLENGE IN THE GUYANA
HANNAWAY DOMINATES CARIBBEAN JUNIOR SQUASH
The 2008 Caribbean Junior Squash Championships came to a close on July 19th after 9 days
of thrilling competition. The event saw the future stars from 7 countries (Barbados, Bermuda,
Cayman Islands, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the O.E.C.S) fighting for glory in
their respective individual and team events.
In the individual event, 14-year old Vincentian Kevin Hannaway seemed to be a level above
the rest of the Boys Under 15 field, as he cruised to the title without dropping a single game.
The top-seeded Hannaway marched into his expected showdown with rival Noah Browne
(BER) with wins over Bermuda’s Laird Simmons (9/2, 9/0, 9/0) and Guyana’s Abishek Singh
(9/1, 9/0, 9/5). In a rematch of their Under 13 final in 2006 (which Browne won in thrilling 5-
game battle), Hannaway showed his tremendous improvement since that first Caribbean
tournament, emerging a 9/4, 9/4, 9/2 victor, much to the disappointment of the local fans. The
other Vincentians found reasonable success, with Kalina Browne finishing 8th in the Girls Under
15, while Jules Snagg finished in the top 12 in the highly competitive Boys Under 17 division.
For the team event, the Vincentian trio joined their BVI counterparts to compete for the Boys
and Girls team titles as the O.E.C.S team. The 3-person girls’ team (short by 2 players) found
the goings tough, as they entered each match 0-2 down. BVI’s Erika Sorrentino proved to be
up to the challenge however, as she won 3 of her 4 matches in the Girls Under 13. Erika’s
teammates (Browne and sister Zoe) were less fortunate however, as they were unable to
capture the 2 extra wins needed and hence, finished in 7th place.
Like the girls’ team, the boys were expected to be heavy underdogs, as evidenced by their #7
seeding. However, lead by a pair of finalists in Hannaway and BVI’s Joe Chapman (Under 19
Runner-up) and strong support form Snagg and BVI’s Stefan Joseph and Rory Thornton, the
O.E.C.S Boys team posed a serious threat to claim the Boys Team title. In the Pool Stage, they
were placed with #2 Guyana, #3 Cayman Islands and #6 Jamaica. In their first match against
eventual champions Guyana , Hannaway and Chapman claimed 3-0 victories in the Under 15
and Under 19 #1 positions, but their wins were not enough, as Snagg (Under 19 #2), Joseph
(Under 17) and Thornton (Under 13) all fell in straight games. Later that day, the team picked
up their first upset with a 3-2 triumph over Cayman Islands, as 15-year old Snagg triumphed in
5 games over 18-year old Ryan McConvey (who finished 6th in the Boys Under 19 event) to
join Hannaway and Thornton in winners’ row. The team followed up their Cayman win with a
dominating 4-1 victory over Jamaica, due to wins from Hannaway, Joseph, Chapman and
Snagg. In the semi-final stage, team O.E.C.S was pitted against hosts Bermuda, which saw the
repeat of 2 individual finals. Hannaway once again reigned supreme over Browne while
Chapman avenged his 0-3 loss in the Under 19 final to claim his own 3-0 victory over Robert
Maycock. Once again, their wins weren’t enough, as Bermuda eventually triumphed 3-2 to
advance to the final. In the 3rd place play-off, O.E.C.S faced defending champions Trinidad
and Tobago and once again Hannaway and Chapman wasted no time in claiming 3-0 victories
for the team. Their teammates were unable to overcome their tough opponents however,
leaving O.E.C.S to settle for 4th place. With their 4th and 7th place finishes in the Boys and
Girls team events respectively, O.E.C.S placed 6th in the Overall Team Standings. In addition,
Hannaway was awarded as Most Outstanding Male Player, while Erika Sorrentino was also
given an award for Best Sportsmanship.
Event Website
of thrilling competition. The event saw the future stars from 7 countries (Barbados, Bermuda,
Cayman Islands, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the O.E.C.S) fighting for glory in
their respective individual and team events.
In the individual event, 14-year old Vincentian Kevin Hannaway seemed to be a level above
the rest of the Boys Under 15 field, as he cruised to the title without dropping a single game.
The top-seeded Hannaway marched into his expected showdown with rival Noah Browne
(BER) with wins over Bermuda’s Laird Simmons (9/2, 9/0, 9/0) and Guyana’s Abishek Singh
(9/1, 9/0, 9/5). In a rematch of their Under 13 final in 2006 (which Browne won in thrilling 5-
game battle), Hannaway showed his tremendous improvement since that first Caribbean
tournament, emerging a 9/4, 9/4, 9/2 victor, much to the disappointment of the local fans. The
other Vincentians found reasonable success, with Kalina Browne finishing 8th in the Girls Under
15, while Jules Snagg finished in the top 12 in the highly competitive Boys Under 17 division.
For the team event, the Vincentian trio joined their BVI counterparts to compete for the Boys
and Girls team titles as the O.E.C.S team. The 3-person girls’ team (short by 2 players) found
the goings tough, as they entered each match 0-2 down. BVI’s Erika Sorrentino proved to be
up to the challenge however, as she won 3 of her 4 matches in the Girls Under 13. Erika’s
teammates (Browne and sister Zoe) were less fortunate however, as they were unable to
capture the 2 extra wins needed and hence, finished in 7th place.
Like the girls’ team, the boys were expected to be heavy underdogs, as evidenced by their #7
seeding. However, lead by a pair of finalists in Hannaway and BVI’s Joe Chapman (Under 19
Runner-up) and strong support form Snagg and BVI’s Stefan Joseph and Rory Thornton, the
O.E.C.S Boys team posed a serious threat to claim the Boys Team title. In the Pool Stage, they
were placed with #2 Guyana, #3 Cayman Islands and #6 Jamaica. In their first match against
eventual champions Guyana , Hannaway and Chapman claimed 3-0 victories in the Under 15
and Under 19 #1 positions, but their wins were not enough, as Snagg (Under 19 #2), Joseph
(Under 17) and Thornton (Under 13) all fell in straight games. Later that day, the team picked
up their first upset with a 3-2 triumph over Cayman Islands, as 15-year old Snagg triumphed in
5 games over 18-year old Ryan McConvey (who finished 6th in the Boys Under 19 event) to
join Hannaway and Thornton in winners’ row. The team followed up their Cayman win with a
dominating 4-1 victory over Jamaica, due to wins from Hannaway, Joseph, Chapman and
Snagg. In the semi-final stage, team O.E.C.S was pitted against hosts Bermuda, which saw the
repeat of 2 individual finals. Hannaway once again reigned supreme over Browne while
Chapman avenged his 0-3 loss in the Under 19 final to claim his own 3-0 victory over Robert
Maycock. Once again, their wins weren’t enough, as Bermuda eventually triumphed 3-2 to
advance to the final. In the 3rd place play-off, O.E.C.S faced defending champions Trinidad
and Tobago and once again Hannaway and Chapman wasted no time in claiming 3-0 victories
for the team. Their teammates were unable to overcome their tough opponents however,
leaving O.E.C.S to settle for 4th place. With their 4th and 7th place finishes in the Boys and
Girls team events respectively, O.E.C.S placed 6th in the Overall Team Standings. In addition,
Hannaway was awarded as Most Outstanding Male Player, while Erika Sorrentino was also
given an award for Best Sportsmanship.
Event Website
Four young Vincentians recently competed in 2 legs of the competitive Caribbean
Squash Circuit (the 3rd leg being the Ligueanea Open in Jamaica) and emerged with
two 3rd place finishes over the 2-week period. In the St. Lucia Open from June 30-
July 5, Shane Slater, Kevin Bailey, Bradley Glasgow and Amber Glasgow faced
opponents from Barbados, Guadeloupe, Guyana, St. Lucia, Trinidad and
Martinique. In the 16-man Men's Open, Slater and Bailey finished in 2nd place in
their round-robin boxes to advance to the quarter-finals. In Box 1, Slater accounted
for Thierry Verson (Martinique) 9/2, 9/0, 9/0 and Randolph Khan (St. Lucia) 9/2,
9/1, 9/0 before falling to #1 seed Josh Pinard (Trinidad) 6/9, 3/9, 0/9. In Box 4,
Bailey similarly defeated St. Lucians Peter Byrne and David Piper in straight games
before falling 2/9, 0/9, 2/9 to #4 seed Jocelyn Martin. Meanwhile in Box 2, Bradley
Glasgow fell to #2 seed Kristian Jeffrey and Guadeloupe's Pierric Girou in straight
games before triumphing in a 9/7, 3/9, 9/1, 3/9, 9/3 battle with St. Lucia’s Chris
Gardiner to take 3rd to advance to the plate competition (positions 9-16). In the
quarter-final stage, Bailey also fell victim to eventual champion Jeffrey, going down
2/9, 1/9, 2/9 while Slater fell short in a 7/9, 6/9, 6/9 loss to #3 seed Charlie Sonson
(St. Lucia). In the 5th-8th place play-offs, Slater followed up a 9/7, 9/2, 9/3 win
over Bailey with a 9/2, 9/2, 9/7 victory over Girou for 5th place, while Bailey
finished in 7th after a walkover against Steven Miller (Barbados). In the plate
competition, Glasgow finished in 12th overall, after beating Byrne 3-0 in the first
round and losing a pair of 1-3 matches to St. Lucians Randolph Khan and
Dominique Rivers. On the distaff side, Bradley’s sister Amber finished in 3rd place
in the Women’s Open after straight-game losses to Nicolette Fernandes (Guyana)
and Karen Meakins (Barbados). A week earlier, Bailey had also copped a 3rd
place finish in the Men’s B division of the Barbados Open (June 23-28), repeating
his performance in the 2007 event. The quartet (who have only recently completed
their junior careers) hope to use the experience gained to improve their performance
in future senior tournaments.
Squash Circuit (the 3rd leg being the Ligueanea Open in Jamaica) and emerged with
two 3rd place finishes over the 2-week period. In the St. Lucia Open from June 30-
July 5, Shane Slater, Kevin Bailey, Bradley Glasgow and Amber Glasgow faced
opponents from Barbados, Guadeloupe, Guyana, St. Lucia, Trinidad and
Martinique. In the 16-man Men's Open, Slater and Bailey finished in 2nd place in
their round-robin boxes to advance to the quarter-finals. In Box 1, Slater accounted
for Thierry Verson (Martinique) 9/2, 9/0, 9/0 and Randolph Khan (St. Lucia) 9/2,
9/1, 9/0 before falling to #1 seed Josh Pinard (Trinidad) 6/9, 3/9, 0/9. In Box 4,
Bailey similarly defeated St. Lucians Peter Byrne and David Piper in straight games
before falling 2/9, 0/9, 2/9 to #4 seed Jocelyn Martin. Meanwhile in Box 2, Bradley
Glasgow fell to #2 seed Kristian Jeffrey and Guadeloupe's Pierric Girou in straight
games before triumphing in a 9/7, 3/9, 9/1, 3/9, 9/3 battle with St. Lucia’s Chris
Gardiner to take 3rd to advance to the plate competition (positions 9-16). In the
quarter-final stage, Bailey also fell victim to eventual champion Jeffrey, going down
2/9, 1/9, 2/9 while Slater fell short in a 7/9, 6/9, 6/9 loss to #3 seed Charlie Sonson
(St. Lucia). In the 5th-8th place play-offs, Slater followed up a 9/7, 9/2, 9/3 win
over Bailey with a 9/2, 9/2, 9/7 victory over Girou for 5th place, while Bailey
finished in 7th after a walkover against Steven Miller (Barbados). In the plate
competition, Glasgow finished in 12th overall, after beating Byrne 3-0 in the first
round and losing a pair of 1-3 matches to St. Lucians Randolph Khan and
Dominique Rivers. On the distaff side, Bradley’s sister Amber finished in 3rd place
in the Women’s Open after straight-game losses to Nicolette Fernandes (Guyana)
and Karen Meakins (Barbados). A week earlier, Bailey had also copped a 3rd
place finish in the Men’s B division of the Barbados Open (June 23-28), repeating
his performance in the 2007 event. The quartet (who have only recently completed
their junior careers) hope to use the experience gained to improve their performance
in future senior tournaments.
VINCENTIANS COMPETE WELL ON CARIBBEAN SQUASH CIRCUIT
