Ashley Khalil and Taylor Fernandes will compete in the Women’s final of the Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) Senior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica, after dominating their all-Guyanese semi-finals on Monday evening.
The Guyanese duo, who both are in their first Senior CASA final, will face off on Tuesday (August 23) from 20:00h.
Twenty-nine-year-old Khalil, who is fresh off some commendable performances at the recently-concluded Commonwealth Games in England, defeated compatriot Akeila Wiltshire 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 in the first semi-final.
Fernandes, who was a semi-finalist when Guyana hosted the tournament in 2019, then coasted to victory by defeating compatriot and number-two seed Ashley DeGroot 11-6, 11-4, 11-4.
The two finalists, who grew up playing together and even compete in Doubles, are tipped to produce a closely contested match.
The phenomenal Nicolette Fernandes won the title in 2019 when she defeated Barbadian Megan Best.
Meanwhile, Alex Arjoon went down to nine-time champion and tournament’s number-one seed, Chris Binnie 2-11, 8-11, 4-11.
Additionally, Guyana has qualified for all three of the doubles finals with Jason-Ray and Nryon Joseph beating Jamaicans Bruce Burrowes and Julian Morrison 2-0 (11-10, 11-7) to secure a place in Tuesday’s final from 11:20h.
The combination of DeGroot and Khalil will compete for the Women’s Doubles title against the Jade Pitcairn and Michaela Rensburg of Cayman Islands from 10:00h, while Fernandes and Daniel Ince topped Trinidadians Chayse Mcquan and Claire Barcant 11-8, 11-10 to secure their spot in the final from 10:40h on Tuesday.