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.

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.

Former junior champion, Julian Morrison broke through to win his first senior national title at the recent 2022 All-Jamaica Senior Squash Championships held at the Liguanea Club in New Kingston. Meanwhile, Mary Mahfood returned from her hiatus to win a second women’s singles crown.

The absence of nine-time national champion, Chris Binnie, made it a more open contest in the men’s draw with Morrison, a former Junior Caribbean champion, Jonathan Walker, along with Tahjia Lumley and 2009 Champion, Dane Schwier, among others all in contention for the title.

Morrison dispatched Schwier 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 in the semi-finals where Walker toppled long-time rival, Lumley 8-11, 11-1, 11-3, 7-11, 11-6 as the respective winners earned a place in the championship final for the first time their individual careers.

With everything to play for, the in-form Morrison held off Walker in a no-holds barred battle of skill and will. No sooner had Morrison taken the first game 11-9 than Walker came roaring back to even the score, winning the second 11-9.

 The younger Walker then looked set to secure the lead in the third but Morrison dug deep and rallied for another 11-9 win. The hard-fought third game tipped the scales in Morrison’s favour and after a number of unforced errors from his opponent, he claimed the fourth game 11-6 to win his first All-Jamaica Senior title.

The competition among the women was equally competitive.

Returning to competitive action for the first time since winning the Women’s title in 2015, Mary Mahfood fought off the challenge of promising junior player, Katherine Risden, 11-9, 11-2, 11-7 in the quarterfinals before toppling the number-one seed and reigning All-Jamaica Under 19 girls champion, Savannah Thomson 7-11, 11-2, 3-11, 12-10, 11-7 in a bruising semi-final to book her spot in the finals. 

In the title match, Mahfood went head-to-head with the number two seed, rising star, Mia Todd, who had a more straightforward route to the final. She did not drop a set as she dispatched Nathlee Boreland 11-4, 11-3, 11-3 in the quarterfinals and then Melissa Lue Yen 11-5, 11-4, 11-6 in the semi-finals. Mahfood, however proved to be a much greater challenge and although Todd took the first game, the former champion recovered form to win 7-11, 11-6, 14-12, 11-8.

Other category winners included Kyle Gregg who beat young Aman Dhiman, 11-8, 15-13, 8-11, 11-8, to take the Men’s B title, and Nabeel Jawad who prevailed in a round robin fixture to win the Men’s C draw.

In the Men’s Over 40 category, Jerazeno Bell beat Mark Haddad 11-2, 11-2, 11-5 while Brian Yong turned back Warren Burrowes 7-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-4, 11-5 to win the Over-50 title.

Tahjia Lumley and Melissa Lue Yen placed third in the Men and Ladies main draws, respectively, with Lue Yen beating Thompson 11-4, 12-10, 8-11, 10-12, 11-2 and Lumley winning 11-5, 12-10, 7-3 after Schwier retired injured in the third set.

Additionally, Mia Todd won the David Bicknell Award for exemplary performance and sportsmanship in the Ladies Competition while Allan Roper won the Tony Burrowes Award, the corresponding honour for the men.

When Chris Binnie won his 10^th Caribbean Senior Squash singles title last week, it felt a little more special than the nine others he had won. When the 33-year-old Jamaican dispatched Khamal Cumberbatch of Barbados 14-12, 11-5, 11-5 to win the 2022 title, it was the first time he was winning a singles title on home soil.

It is a feeling he will not forget.

“This is definitely up there for me because I haven’t won a title in Jamaica at the Caribbean level. I have always been winning them abroad,” he told Sportsmax.TV following his record-extending victory.

“All those times I had crowds cheering against me, my followers have just been watching through screens, so it’s great to actually win one here and to have the home support not matter what else was going on, they were so loud and getting behind me. It was great.

“I was super-excited about winning this 10^th title. I am just grateful to everyone and this great support system I’ve had throughout the years to actually get 10 titles. It’s been a long journey. When you start, you just think about winning one at a time and then all of a sudden as the years have gone on they have just accumulated so being able to show up every year, play at a high level still I am just thankful for all of that.”

That said, Binnie revealed that playing at home did not make it any easier as the quality of his opponents has been consistent over the years.

“Every year it’s difficult. I don’t think this was any different. You have players who come through always ready to challenge you, ready to keep you on your toes and so,” he said.

 “I was always ready. I was getting ready to play, getting ready to win and treat every game as if it was difficult and as a result, I was prepared and ready to get some good results.”

His opponents were tough from the get-go and it speaks to the depth of talent across the region.

“From the quarter-finals on, there were always difficult matches. Playing Chase McQuan from Trinidad and Tobago, a very good player; Alex Arjoon from Guyana in the semis and Khamal Cumberbatch from Barbados in the final, it shows that there is talent all over the Caribbean,” he said.

“In each of those matches, I had to do different things to win. I was happy to get through them.

“This is a strong region. We missed a couple of players this year due to different things but this was like a stronger semis of players that you would get. We continue to see young players come through like Khamal. He is one to watch for the future. I just hope I can hold him off for another year.”

Jamaica’s Chris Binnie won a record10^th singles title at the Caribbean Senior Squash Championships being held in Jamaica on Tuesday, August 23.

The 37th running of the Caribbean Senior Squash Championship will take place in Jamaica, August 21 - 27 at the Liguanea Club in Kingston.

Multiple Jamaican and Caribbean squash champion Chris Binnie has extended his sponsorship agreement with JN Fund Managers. The agreement was officially signed recently at JN Fund Managers, on Belmont Road in Kingston.

Caribbean squash champion Chris Binnie says he is “happy” to be back playing competitively again after a 15-month layoff.