Senior CASA: Guyanese pair Khalil and Fernandes to square off for Women’s title
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.