Winner of the Senior Men’s National title, Khamal Cumberbatch, collecting his trophy from Cameron Burke of the BOA.
Jada Smith-Padmore is all smiles as she collects her trophy.
Khamal Cumberbatch wins national title
THE agility and youth of Khamal Cumberbatch saw him win the Senior National Squash title in straight sets over Mark Sealy over the weekend at the Barbados Squash Club.
Cumberbatch, who was born on the same day that Sealy played his last senior finals before this one, proved to be too much during the match as he read plays and even moved around the court with such speed and agility that Sealy found it hard to win any points.
Such was the case in the first set and Cumberbatch also showcased his tactical skills with some impressive depth touches and then using the angles to place the ball in some unreachable areas.
Sealy tried to outfox the younger player, but this only saw a long rally ensue which more often than not went the way of Cumberbatch, who was unrelenting in his pursuit of the point.
In the end it was never a close contest, with Cumberbatch winning the Senior Men’s Quash title with an 11-2, 11-3, 11-5 victory.
Afterwards Sealy, who also won the Over-50 Masters title, said the future of Squash is in good hands as he mentioned a few of the upcoming players including Cumberbatch.
The third-place finisher was Zaki Williams while the consolation plate winner was Zechariah Naitram.
The battle for the Senior Ladies’ title was a much closer one than that of the men.
Jada Smith-Padmore, seeded at number one, battled the number two seed in Sumairaa Suleman in the final.
The game was kept close but as it came down to the end, it was Smith-Padmore with the edge each time as she won 11-8, 11-9, 11-6.
Jodi Smith-Padmore was third while the consolation winner was Joanna Atkins.
The Over-50 winner was Mark Sealy while Marlon White was second and Tony MacKenzie third.
The Ladies’ Masters Over-50 champion was Lynn De Cambra McLeod while second place went to Cyla Seale and third was Josephine Haywood.
The Men’s Over-40 winner was Mark Gilkes while Don Benn was second and Martin Bryan third.
The Ladies’ Over-40 champion was Karen Meakins while second place went to Lilliana White and Hazel-Anne Sandy. (CG)