Tobias Levy (l) was dominant during the championships
A confident Tobias Levy dominated the Jamaica Squash Association's national junior trials for the U19 and U17 age groups for girls and boys at the Liguanea Club in Kingston. The trials ran from Friday March 17 to 19 with 16 players vying for spots to represent Jamaica at the Caribbean Junior Squash Championship in July.
Competing in the U19 category, Levy, who also benefitted from a walkover, won three of his other four matches in straight sets but was taken the distance by Arjan Trehan, who eventually lost 5-2. At the end of it all, Levy won 15 of 17 games for a winning percentage of 88 per cent.
Alex Chin, meanwhile, was second with a 12-8 win-loss margin while Rhys Greenland was third with 11-9 margin.
Levy credits his dominance on the court to his work ethic.
"I have been playing squash since I was young. I have been dominant from I came on the scene,” he said. “I would say my racquet skills and how smart I am on court definitely puts me above everyone else. I think I understand the game very well. I have been training hard. It's not just talent, I have been training hard from when I was young so it helps me stay dominant,” said Levy, who said winning the U19 category was crucial.
"It means a lot, especially because I get to go represent my country as the best player in the junior age. It also feels good because I have a lot of competitors that are out for me and train hard to beat me but I keep training hard and play well so I stay dominant."
Thomas Overton won his three matches to top the Boys U17 ahead of the very competitive Lucas Thompson.
Savannah Thompson emerged top of the Girls U19 matches after beating Eleanor Hind in straight sets 3-0 before beating Katherine Risden 3-2.
Risden finished second overall.
Sanjana Nallapati did not drop a game to come out the victor in the Girls U17, despite being pushed by Mehar Trehan, who won half her six matches.
Nallapati said that it was tough to play her.
"Mehar and I go far back. It's always a tough battle because we are family and going against family is very tough because you don't want to whip them,” she said.
“With the two of us it’s always a five setter. It’s been that way for a really long time and its never really known who is going to win. This time Mehar played phenomenally. I thought I played well as well. We definitely played at a high intensity like we usually do.
"For the Caribbean Championship I hope to do extremely well."
Vice President of the Jamaica Squash Association expressed optimism about Jamaica’s chances of doing well at the Caribbean Championships.
"We have some strong players here in these categories, experienced players who have been to the Caribbean tournament before,” said Levy, who is also chairman of the selection committee.
“I think we have a good opportunity to win a couple of categories and hopefully also the team event. Hopefully we can bring home the Caribbean trophy this year for the team event and one or two of the individual events as well. It would be great."
The trials for the U15, U13 and possibly U11 players, will be held in June.
Ja's four-member male team brace for tough PanAm Squash qualifiers
Expectations are high that Jamaica’s four-member male squash team will secure qualification to the Pan American (PanAm) Games in Chile later this year, when they engage the PanAm Qualifiers in Cartagena, Colombia.
The team of reigning national champion Julian Morrison, Tahjia Lumley, Bruce Burrowes and Dane Schwier, is set to depart the island on Friday, for what is expected to be a highly competitive qualification tournament.
However, Morrison said the small team was ready to put their best foot forward.
“You can expect that we will be giving a hundred percent. We have put in a lot of work for the last two months to really prep ourselves for this.
“Initially we thought it would be an elevated court but finding out that it is very flat, so we are not necessarily at a disadvantage due to the altitude. It is hot over there, but we are coming from Jamaica, especially in this summer, we will be able to weather that storm,” Morrison said.
Burrowes concurred.
“We are going up against very, very big countries like America, Peru, these really big juggernauts of the western hemisphere. But we really think that we can take them on because ‘we little but we tallawah," Burrowes declared.
First-timer Lumley also believes the team is mentally and physically prepared to give a good account of themselves.
“We have been doing a lot of doubles training together. We have also started training as a team on the physical side in the gym with our trainer, so we have been doing a lot of team bonding which is really good for us, something new but it’s also something that we hope to continue in the future,” said Lumley.
“A lot of work has been done on the mental side as well. Hopefully we can all put it together on each day that we go out there with our flag on our back and make sure that we make Jamaica proud,” he added.
Meanwhile, Karen Anderson, president of the Jamaica Squash Association, is hopeful that the team will do well.
"It is going to be a very tough competition. Its fourteen teams vying for six spots and the main competitors, or the strongest contenders are from Mexico, USA, Canada, Colombia and Argentina,” Anderson said.
“Colombia, however, has already qualified along with Chile. But it is going to be extremely hard, but we feel that we have a chance, and the reality is, if you don't go, you don't get a chance to actually compete to qualify, so we made the decision to send our team and we are looking forward to seeing how they manage,” she noted.
Coach Rene Denis will meet up with the team in Colombia.
Three arrested in alleged USD$1million fraud racket at Jamaica's Institute of Sports (INSPORTS); more arrests expected, police say
Jamaican investigators said more arrests are to be expected following fraud charges laid against three employees of the country’s Institute of Sports (INSPORTS) involving more than USD$1 million on Wednesday.
The Major Organized Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) announced that they have arrested and charged three men in connection with a USD$1.45M (JMD$222m) fraud racket committed at the Institute of Sports (INSPORTS) between 2011 and 2017.
The three – Andrew Wright, Rudolph Barnes and O’Neil Hope - have been charged with a variety of offences including conspiracy to defraud, acquisition, use and possession of criminal property, engaging in transactions involving criminal property and larceny as a servant.
Wright is the promoter of the internationally popular Chug IT and French Connection parties.
All three, MOCA said, are alleged to have been part of a team of former employees of INSPORTS, who wrote, signed and cashed fraudulent cheques for payees who were neither employees nor contracted workers of the entity.
The suspected fraud and other irregularities were detected by INSPORTS in 2017 during an examination of their financial records. The matter was then reported to MOCA triggering an investigation.
Major Basil Jarrett, MOCA’s Director of Communication, expects that there will be additional arrests in connection with the case. “These arrests are the first set of arrests as MOCA currently has warrants out for several other individuals,” said Barrett, who in a statement praised MOCA’s partners, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) the Financial Investigations Division (FID) and Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ), for the critical role they played in the investigations.
“These types of investigations are complex undertakings requiring thoroughness and collaboration so it took a meticulous approach, led by MOCA’s investigative teams, to examine all the leads and uncover all the evidence required to make these arrests and bring these charges”.
Meanwhile, Jamaica’s Sports Minister Olivia Grange said the arrests are an indication of the efforts to regularize operations at INSPORTS since she assumed responsibility for the entity in 2016.
“I have noted the arrests and charges brought by the Major Organized Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency as part of a long-running investigation into serious irregularities that took place several years ago at the Institute of Sports. I await the outcome of the process,” she said.
“On my return to government in 2016, I received a Special Audit of the Institute of Sports by the Auditor General, which showed an organization that was continually breaking the law, badly managed and in need of urgent transformation.
I understand that the arrests and charges are linked to that period when INSPORTS was considered a rogue agency.
Under our watch, the Institute of Sports is a completely transformed agency with improved internal controls, is well-run and delivering its mandate of developing sports at the grassroots.”
AGI emerge champions of KPMG Squash League
AGI (Advantage General Insurance) defeated Almost Capable 2-1 in the final of the KPMG Squash League recently at the Liguanea Club in Kingston to be crowned league champion.
AGI’s Julian Morrison defeated Almost Capable's top player Adam Lee 3-1 (10-21, 21-18, 21-20, 21-20) to give his team an early lead. Tahjia Lumley secured the title when he beat Alan Roper 3-0 (21-18, 21-15, 21-18) in their best of five match-up.
With the title already lost, Daniel Chung clawed back some pride when he beat Stephan Morrison 2 -1 (21-18, 15-21, 21-18).
"Firstly the entire KPMG League was a successful league. I think it was a very good opportunity for everybody who’s playing to be able test their skills at deficit - playing better players,” said Morrison the AGI captain afterwards.
"I love it. I think it was great. I think that everybody played well throughout the entire thing because everybody has gotten through with three-game win.”
Cereal Killers, who lost to AGI in the semi-final, was third while Big Shot was the plate winner that was decided between the top two losing teams. AGI's Dave Morrison was named the Most Valuable Player.
President of the Jamaica Squash Association, Karen Anderson was pleased with how the tournament played out.
"It was fantastic. It brings out everything, the competitiveness, the sportsmanship, the cheering for the underdog, the underdog trying to bring down the big gun,” she said.
“The uniqueness of the event (the handicap system of play) is what makes it and what captures people's enjoyment with it and so we are very excited about the tournament."
Anderson said that the league was very important for the game locally, especially for the juniors who get to play against various types of players at different skill levels as they prepare for the upcoming Caribbean Championships.
According to Rajan Trehan, country managing partner of title sponsor KPMG, "We are thrilled with how the tournament went. I think the format of the game is so interesting. This along with the junior trials and the senior trials within the time period of this tournament, has really given the juniors a lot of practice and given them a basis to step up their game. I think the timing is just perfect for this tournament."
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