The top seeds in the Jamaica Squash Association’s inaugural Jamaica Invitational tournament continued their winning runs on Thursday’s second day of action on the courts at the Liguanea Club.

Number one seed on the female side, Mehar Trehan, recorded another straight sets win when she defeated Kerry-Gay Wright 11-2, 11-3, 11-4. On the male side, Ashante Smith got a bye in the first round, then in the second round he was challenged by Leonel Sorrillo of Trinidad and Tobago but was too good for him. Their match also ended in straight sets after Smith outscored Sorrillo 14-12, 11-5, 11-4.

Meanwhile, number two seed Sanjana Nallapati got a second win after defeating number three seed Tracey Binnie 11-6, 11-3, 11-2.

Number four seed Elle Wilson got her first win against unseeded Priya Stoddart in straight sets—11-6, 11-9, 11-4.

In the men’s draw, number two seed Bruce Burrowes defeated the number eight seed Fitzroy Smith 11-3, 11-3, 11-5.

Number three seed Jerazeno Bell went down to Jonathan Hope of the Bahamas in a four-setter 6-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-5. Hope has won the two matches he has played so far.

Number four seed Stephan Morrison defeated sixth seed Tobias Levy in an exciting five-setter with scores of 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 11-5.

The other match of the round saw Mario O’Connor defeating Andre Wright 11-4, 11-3, 11-9.

The men’s semifinals were played last night while the women continued their round-robin matches.

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.