Defending champions Blown may have started their Jamaica Squash Association’s (JSA) KPMG Squash League campaign with a convincing victory, but captain Jake Mahfood insists that his team still has more work to do if they hope to retain their title.
The 16-team league got underway on Tuesday evening at the Liguanea Club in Kingston, where Blown blanked Racket Science 3-0 to make a strong opening statement.
Mahfood led by example, as he secured the first win for his team in a hard-fought battle against Roland Lattery. The match proved to be a test of resilience, but Mahfood edged out his opponent in straight sets with scores of 23-20, 23-22, and 21-19.
Andrew Bicknell then extended Blown’s lead with a solid performance against Noelle Nicolas, as he secured a 21-16, 21-19, 21-20 victory. Fraser McConnell then completed the sweep with a commanding 21-19, 21-18, and 21-17 win over Rohan Johnson.
Despite the strong start, Mahfood remains cautious about the challenges ahead and highlighted the need for continued improvement.
“It's been great. A lot of fun. The quality of the squash has been fantastic. I'm happy that our team won the first two matches. Andrew played great. My opponent played great.
“It was all close and could have gone either way, so we definitely have to go back to the drawing board and put in some more training to see how we can win easier. Those were two tough matches which could have gone to the opponent,” Mahfood said.
Looking ahead, Mahfood acknowledged the difficulty of defending a championship title and the target now placed on his team's back.
“It's something we're going to try to do. I've never been on a team that's done back-to-back or seen a team do back-to-back, so it will definitely be tough. But everyone wants to knock out the former champions, and we're going to push all the way to stay in the league as long as we can. Our primary goal is to win again,” he declared.
Elsewhere in the league, Racketeers dominated newcomers Campionites, winning all their matches in straight sets. Lauren McClure triumphed over Lauren Delisser 21-12, 21-13, 21-13, while Matthew Levy defeated Noah Levy 21-18, 21-19, 23-20. Adam Lee wrapped up the victory with a 21-17, 21-18, 21-19 win over Isabelle Robinson.
Saints, who had a strong run last year, continued their good form with a 2-1 victory over Squashbucklers. Jerry Bell and Leigh Dwyer both secured straight-set wins against Alexis Robinson and Robert Chin, respectively. Squashbucklers' lone victory came from Jamieson Daley, who bested Saints' Daren Latchman 21-11, 21-9, 21-17.
Last year’s runner-up, Fantastic Warriors, also started their campaign with a win, defeating Squash Scholars 2-1. However, captain Stewart Maxwell suffered a grueling five-set loss to Kwame Emmanuel (20-21, 21-6, 21-12, 19-21, 21-9).
The team secured their victory through Stephen Dear, who edged past John Lindo 21-18, 22-23, 21-15, 21-17, and Yasir Anwar, who defeated Tamara Thompson 21-16, 21-18, 21-16.
Action continues on Thursday, February 27, with another round of intense matches scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm.