Women march into Pan-Am squash quarter-finals

Barbados’ women are through to the quarter-finals of the 27th Pan-American Senior Squash Championships after defeating Caribbean rivals Guyana 2-0 in Asuncion, Paraguay.

Fresh from their success at the CAC Championships in the Dominican Republic, the Barbadians continued their strong international form on Thursday.

Eboni Atherley got Barbados off to a winning start, dispatching Guyana’s Kirsten Gomes 11-8, 11-5, 11-4.

Recent CAC champion Margot Prow then sealed the tie with a straight-games victory over Ashley Khalil, prevailing 11-9, 11-9, 12-10.

With the tie already decided, the scheduled third match between Barbados’ Meagan Best and Guyana’s Mary Fung-A-Fat was not played.

The Barbados men, meanwhile, advanced to the round of 16 with a 2-1 victory over the Dominican Republic.

Shawn Simpson powered past Jesus Pena 11-2, 11-6, 11-8 before Barbados’ top player Khamal Cumberbatch went down in a five-game battle with Christopher Fernandez, 7-11, 11-3, 7-11, 12-10, 11-13, in 51 minutes.

With the tie level at 1-1, Darien Benn secured Barbados’ passage with an 11-5, 11-4, 11-8 victory over Amado Hernandez.

The men then faced a strong Peru side later in the day but were beaten 2-0.

Alex Stewart lost 3-11, 5-11, 1-11 to Thiago Cabrejos, while Cumberbatch was defeated 8-11, 4-11, 6-11 by Alonso Escudero.

(KH/PR)