Ashley with the trophies she won at the Caribbean Squash Championships and with her brother at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. She won her first singles title at the Caribbean Championships.
Ashley Khalil
After years of coming up short, an insatiable hunger drove Ashley Khalil to her first ever Caribbean Senior Squash Singles title in Jamaica last week.
The 29-year-old Khalil, who spreads her time between running two businesses and her squash career, came from a set down to defeat compatriot Taylor Fernandez 9-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-4 to win her first singles title.
She would later team up with Ashley DeGroot to win the Women’s Doubles as Guyana walked away with the Women’s team title and gave Ashley a hold on three trophies for the championships that concluded at the Liguanea Club in Kingston last Saturday, August 27.
She explained that after at least four previous failed attempts, her incredible desire to win helped her push to the title.
“I think what made this year different was the fact that squash had been off for such a long time due to Covid. Also, I was unable to play Caribbean Championships in 2019 due to injury and after therapy and recovery and Covid, I came back stronger and hungry for the title,” she said while revealing an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.
“I am over-joyed to have this title under my belt, especially with this being my first time to even make it into the finals of this competition,” she said.
Khalil headed into the championships more prepared than she had been in previous years. With Covid restrictions being relaxed across the globe, she had the opportunity to shake off the rust and get back to playing close to her best squash.
“I started back training at the beginning of this year after being off due to Covid. In April, I participated and won a bronze medal in the Women’s team event of the Pan Am Championships in Guatemala,” said.
“A few months later I got some experience at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where I secured a silver medal in the Mixed Doubles Consolation with my younger brother.
“With such high levels of squash and gaining experience and knowledge throughout each competition I was able to come out to the Caribbean Championships with a focused mindset.”
Still, having never won before her expectations were tempered by reality.
“Going into this tournament I was expecting to do well, especially having a few bronze medals from previous Caribbean Championships, but I don’t think it actually sunk in that I could possibly win it even though I was going in as the number-one seed,” she explained while revealing that among the toughest opponents she faced during the tournament was her own countrywomen.
“It is always difficult playing your country mates,” she said.
“We play so often at home that we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses so every match against a teammate is a tough one. I had to ensure I came out strong from the first point.”
She won her second title with DeGroot and said that the two share good chemistry.
“This is actually our second tournament playing doubles together. We previously won bronze at the CAC Games in 2014,” she said.
“Ashley and I have pretty good chemistry. We are very close friends off the court and that makes it a bit easier on court. We also know when to leave the shot for the other or to assist if need be.”
Ashley Khalil might have just won her first Caribbean singles title but she has had tremendous success at national and regional levels.
In her two decades playing the sport, after making her junior debut at 11, Khalil won her first Junior Caribbean title at age 14. She won a second Junior title at the U19 level when she was just 17.
She was a U15, U17 and U19 national champion in both squash and badminton and was Junior Sportswoman of the Year in 2007.
She also won silver and bronze medals at the Junior Pan Am Championships as well as bronze medals at the CAC Championships and South American Games.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Tahjia Lumley, Alyssa Mullings, the surprise winners at Jamaica senior squash trials
Tahjia Lumley and Alyssa Mullings were the surprise winners at the Jamaica Squash Association’s four-day national senior trials that concluded at the Liguanea Club in Kingston on Sunday.
Lumley won in a walk over after the number-one seed Chris Binnie, who had defeated him in the preliminary round, had to leave the island due to work commitments. Mullings, meanwhile, beat the number-three seed Savannah Thompson 3-1 to finish atop the women’s section.
Lumley, who defeated national champion Julian Morrison to reach Sunday’s final, was grateful just to get to the final.
"It was very hard. It was difficult. I thought I was probably in one of the hardest groups playing against Chris (Binnie) and Bruce (Burrowes) in the group stages,” he said.
“I lost out to Chris and I knew that the match against Bruce was very important for me to come out on top in order for me to make it into the top four. So I was a little bit edgy and a little bit nervous in that match but I was glad I was able to come out 3-1 the victor.
“My body aches, my body hurts but I think my hard work paid off."
At the end of the trials, the top four men were Lumley, Binnie, Morrison and Dane Schwier.
The unseeded Mullings had a similar journey, defeating the number-one seed Mia Todd to get to the semi-final and then beat the number three seed Savannah Thompson 3-1 to emerge victorious.
"It was a really tough match. I actually knew of Savannah before coming here and all the other girls. They played really well and I am really proud of what women's squash is becoming. So it’s really great to come back out here and play and get a win," she said.
"I came in unseeded because I really hadn't been playing for a very long time. The last competitive tournament was maybe seven years ago so I really had to fight and get ready for this so it felt good coming back and doing so well."
Mullings said Thompson "played extremely well and she is quite fit. It was hard. It showed, her fitness is a bit above mine. I really have to work on that. I am really at a loss for words. I am really proud of what I was able to come out and do."
The top four ladies were Mullings, Thompson, Todd and Melissa Lue Yen.
Chairman of the Selection Committee Joey Levy was impressed with the level of play during the trials and believes Jamaica’s squash is in a good place.
"We had good groups of seven men and eight women and we saw some really tough squash over a compressed time. Overall, it was just four days in all so most people were playing two games a day (and) it wears on you but really, really competitive stuff, (and) a couple of surprises. We are very happy, the association, we are very with what we have seen," he said.
"Alyssa won the All Jamaica Championships, the Senior All Jamaica Championships at 14 about ten years ago. She stopped playing squash. She hasn't played for a while and has now come back. This is her first tournament since coming back so she came in unseeded. She was very impressive."
Jamaica's teams to the Pan Am Games in June and the Senior Caribbean Squash Championship in August will be announced in the near future.
Guyana upset Dominican Republic 3-2 to advance to semis at CRTTF Regional Championships
Guyana produced a massive upset win over The Dominican Republic to advance to the semi-finals of the men’s team category at the 2023 Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Federation Championships in Georgetown on Saturday.
The team of Shemar Britton, Elishaba Johnson, Paul David and Jonathan Van Lange combined to defeat Dom Rep 3-2 and guarantee the hosts at least a bronze medal.
Earlier, the hosts finished second in their group behind Cuba, who will take on Barbados in semi-final two after Guyana battle Puerto Rico on Saturday.
Guyana also advanced to the Women’s semi-finals after Chelsea Edgehill, Natalie Cummings, Thuraia Thomas and Jasmin Billingy combined to beat Barbados 3-0 on Friday. Cummings and Billingy won the doubles before Edgehill and Cummings both secured 3-0 singles wins. They will face Trinidad & Tobago in the semis while Barbados and Dominican Republic will contest the other semi-final.
Top-seed Chris Binnie off to a winning start at Jamaica senior trials
Top seed Chris Binnie got off to a strong start at the Jamaica Squash Association's senior trials defeating the number-five seed Bruce Burrowes in straight sets 11-9, 11-9 and 11-8 at the Liguanea Club in Kingston on Thursday.
As the scores indicate, all three sets were competitive with Burrowes enjoying the lead over Binnie briefly in each set but was not able to convert any to a win.
"Good game. I think that shows, you come, you have to play and everyone is competitive and today he (Burrowes) took it to me and it was really close so I am happy to get a 3-0 win and I am looking forward to tomorrow (Friday)," said the nine-time Caribbean men’s singles champion.
"When you start playing events, you want to get that first win under your belt, you want to get that first match done with as well so little nerves to start getting used to the court. I am not based here so the courts I play on are a lot colder so getting used to all of that. I am super happy with how it ended. Hopefully tomorrow (Friday) I can be a little bit better and hopefully get another win."
Despite the loss, Burrowes was not unhappy with his play.
"Chris is a top notch player; Caribbean national player, Caribbean top player, top national player. He is definitely of a different level than the local boys that I am able to train with here but I was able to hold my own against him in the game with points 11-9, 11-9, 11-8,” he said.
“That's not bad even though it’s a 3-0 loss. (I) just have to move on to the next match. Wish Chris all the best in the rest of his matches and just hope that Jamaica can put together our strongest team of these trials."
The trials opened with number-four seed Dane Schwier defeating the number-six seed Stephan Morrison in straight sets.
Meanwhile, reigning national champion and number-two seed Julian Morrison beat the U19 champion and number-seven seed Tobias Levy 3-0.
The four-day trials to select Jamaica's team to the upcoming PanAm Games in June and the Senior Caribbean Squash Championship in August, continue on Friday with matches starting at 6:00 pm at the Liguanea Club.
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