After another successful year where they completely dominated the Junior Caribbean Championships, by winning three individual titles as well as the Boys, Girls and Overall Team titles, the national junior squash team will once again match their skills against the best of the Pan American region.
Last year, Guyana made its first appearance at the Pan American championships in Jamaica where they performed exceedingly well. The girl’s team, which was made up of three fourteen year olds, Ashley Khalil, Keisha and Kayla Jeffrey, placed third in the under-19 event.
Khalil and Keisha Jeffrey also stunned regional power house Colombia on their way to a silver medal in the girl’s doubles competition.
This year’s team features six of the seven players that competed in last year’s championships as well as current Caribbean under-15 champion Mary Fung-A-Fat, which many feel is a strong unit that is expected to perform well.
The tournament is scheduled for Lima, Peru from the October 20 – 25, and will feature regional giants Canada, Colombia, Mexico and Argentina as well as a host of other teams from the Pan American region.
The team is currently undergoing intense preparation, supervised by national coach Carl Ince.
Mary-fung-a-Fat
Although coach Ince will not be able to travel to Peru for the tournament, the
Ashley Khalil
team will benefit tremendously from the experience of stand in coach, Nicolette Fernandes, who recently won the South American championships in Paraguay.
The GSA has had a challenging year raising funds to help offset the cost of sending a junior team to Bermuda as well as hosting the Southern Caribbean Championships.
They have approached several organizations in the hope of receiving financial support to make the trip to Peru possible.
Players selected are: Boys – Alexander Arjoon, Raphael DeGroot and Deje Dias: Girls – Ashley Khalil, Mary Fung-A-Fat, Keisha and Kayla Jeffrey.