By Treiston Joseph
Nyron Joseph is the 2017 champion of the Lucozade Squash Handicap tournament that concluded on Sunday at the Georgetown Club Courts. With a -22 handicap, Joseph had to score a total of 37 points to win one set, while his opponent Jonathan Antczak with a +7 start had to score just eight points to win a set.
Nevertheless, Joseph won the final in three sets, displaying his skill and power in the first set, erasing the handicap with Antczak on 10 points before scoring 10 points straight to catch his opponent on 11 and went onto win the set 15-13.
Joseph however, showed a lack of focus in the second set and lost it 15-12 to Antczak. The third set was much different and despite Antczak scoring points at regular intervals, Joseph ran away with the set at 15-13 to win the final. Joseph highlighted to News Room Sport that it was a “tough” win and that it’s a lot of “work” to come from -22 in the tournament.
Daniel Islam (-5) placed third when he defeated Theron Mohabeer (+8) 2-1. Islam came from being down 7-14 to win a close first game 15-14. Mohabeer took the second set at 15-13, but Islam made little mistakes in the third set to win 15-12 as Mohabeer was out of gas by the end of the third set.
Meanwhile, in Category ‘A’, defending champion Abosaide Cadogan (0) lost her title to Michael Alphonso (-4) in three sets. Cadogan won the first set 15-12, while Alphonso rebounded with a 15-9 second set win.
The third set looked like a win for Cadogan as she led 12-8 at one point, but could not keep focused and did not score another point as Alphonso won 15-12.
In the Category ‘A’ third place game, Kirsten Gomes (0) finish third as she defeated Gianni Carpenter (-8) 2-0. Gomes used her handicap advantage well and won the first set 15-12, despite looking a bit shaky to close out against a tough Carpenter, who was playing well.
Carpenter, playing well in the second set and closing the gap to just a one point deficit at 12-13, could not finish off as her handicap proved too much to handle against Gomes who kept her head on despite making a few mistakes during the match.
The day ended with all the players receiving their prizes at a presentation ceremony immediately after the final.
