Bermuda Excels At Caribbean Jr Squash Champs
Noah Browne was crowned Caribbean Junior Champion this week at the 2012 Caribbean Junior Squash Championships in Jamaica. Noah defeated Kevin Hannaway of OECS in the final in a dramatic 6-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-3 win to lift the Caribbean title, the pinnacle of Junior squash in the Caribbean.
Noah was joined by 12 year Dylan Pratt who won the Boys under 13 title beating Khamal Cumberbatch of Barbados 11-9, 11-3, 11-8. D’Vario Thompson very nearly took a third title for Bermuda only just losing out in the Boys under 17 final to Nyron Joseph of Guyana 11-9, 11-6, 7-11, 6-11, 8-11.
In the team event Bank of Bermuda Foundation sponsored Team Bermuda went from strength to strength with the girls’ team notching up wins against Cayman and home favourites Jamaica whilst the boys took out Bahamas, Trinidad, Jamaica & Guyana.
In the final stages of the event Bermuda girls lost to a strong Guyana team before beating Barbados 4-1 for a third place finish. The boys’ team continued to dominate beating Guyana comfortably in the semi-finals and then finishing off a fantastic week by crushing OECS 4-1 in the final to lift the Boys team title.
The Bermuda squad lost out on the combined overall title on games count back to Guyana with both countries having a 1st & 3rd finish. It couldn’t have been any closer and came down to just a handful of points.
The players have been receiving messages of congratulation from around the world including a tweet from former World #1 John White who was recently in Bermuda working with the juniors. He congratulates Dylan Pratt and tips him to be World Junior Champion in years to come.
Bermuda’s Minister for Youth, Families & Sport Glenn Blakeney said: ”Congratulations to Dylan Pratt and Noah Browne on the magnificent accomplishment of being crowned Junior Caribbean Squash Champions in the under-13 and under-19 divisions respectively.
“Dylan and Noah have consistently performed at a high competitive level and they both demonstrate great potential, while continuing to significantly improve their prowess on the squash courts.
“It was a stellar all-around performance by the entire Bermuda team during the Junior Caribbean Championship Tournament, which was recently held in Jamaica. Although Bermuda narrowly missed-out on winning the overall title, when our girls earned a very credible 3rd place finish, Dylan and Noah succeeded in anchoring an impressive team victory for the boys.
“These dedicated members of our Junior boys and girls Squash team have all certainly put Bermuda on the map and as Minister responsible for sports, on behalf of the entire island, I am honored to wish them every continued success in advance of the 2020 Olympics when ‘Squash’ will be hopefully be introduced for the first time and these young Bermudian athletes could very well be among the inaugural qualifying group. Congratulations, you have all truly done yourselves and Bermuda very proud indeed.”
The Bermuda Junior National Squad, sponsored by Bank of Bermuda Foundation now looks forward to the next international competition which will be the Canadian Junior Open in December. A squad of 15 players will travel to one of the biggest junior squash events in the world to test themselves against the best.
Congratulations Team Bermuda – wonderful results