Big names coming for senior CASA tournament

Several big names will be competing in the XXV Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) senior championships, to be hosted here in St Vincent and the Grenadines, August 13 to 19.

Heading up the men’s seeding is Jamaican and Caribbean number one, Chris Binnie, who is ranked 76th on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) list.  Meanwhile, Cameron Stafford of the Cayman Islands is listed at number two. Listed as the third seed is OECS’ Joe Chapman, with Micah Franklin of Bermuda and Julian Jervis of the Cayman Islands in fourth and fifth spots, respectively.

On the women’s side, Megan Best of Barbados is the number one seed, with Karen Meakins, also of Barbados, at number two. The Guyanese trio of Mary Fung-A-Fat, Ashley Khalil and Victoria Arjoon are the third, fourth and fifth seeds, in that order.

Over 100 players from Barbados, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and the OECS will be seeking honours in the individual men’s and women’s singles, veterans and teams.

The National Squash Centre, located in Paul’s Avenue and the Dr Cecil Cyrus Squash Courts at New Montrose are the venues to be used.

The individual competitions take place from Sunday to Tuesday, with the team competition set for Wednesday to Saturday.

Tuesday afternoon, from 3 p.m., will see the formal opening ceremony at the Bishop’s College’s Kingstown hard court.

Tournament director Kevin Hannaway said that St Vincent and the Grenadines will be putting in that extra effort to ensure the excellent hosting of senior CASA.

Hannaway revealed that the tournament will be streamed live, with the junior members of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Squash Association engaging the use of all social media platforms to publicize the tournament, as well as maximizing the association’s website.

When senior CASA was staged in 2016, host Trinidad and Tobago were the overall champions. Bermuda won the men’s team title, with Barbados taking the men’s and veterans.

Last year, Chris Binnie was the singles champion and Megan Best, the women’s champion.