The Virgin Islands recently competed in the Junior OECS Squash Championships in St. Lucia. Some of the players won their division, while others placed in the top three.

The St. Lucia Squash Association hosted the annual Junior OECS Squash Championships last week  at the St. Lucia Yacht Club.

The Virgin Islands recently competed in the Junior OECS Squash Championships in St. Lucia. Some of the players won their division, while others placed in the top three.
Thirty-five players from around the region, including St Vincent, the Virgin Islands and St. Lucia played matches in male and female categories featuring under-11 through under-19 age groups.

 All matches were round robin with the under-15 category being the most competitive.

In the under-11 category there were only two girls who were competing for the first time in the OECS tournament. Brianna Findlay, of the VI, took second place, while St Lucia’s Isabella Segovia won the division.

In the under-11 boys division, also playing in their first OECS tournament, Joshua Devaux of St. Lucia placed third and Jlan McMaster of St. Vincent took second.  Luca Reich of the VI came in first place.

For the under-13 girls, third place went to Isabella Segovia, of St. Lucia, who played two divisions.  Second place went to Natalie Fay of the VI, and first place went to Giovanna Miller Alexander of St Vincent.

In the boys under-13 division, third place went to Samuel Childs of the VI, second place went to Rashid Constance of St. Vincent, while first place went to Kai Bentick also of St Vincent.

For the under-15 girls, there was a clear winner, however, the technical team had to break the game results down to select a second and third place winner since three girls tied in both matches. Third place went to Lauryn Doyle of St. Vincent, while second place went to Emily Abrehart of the VI, and first place went to Thandi Myers of St. Vincent.

In the under-15 boys division, third place went to Tyler Segovia of St. Lucia, while second place went to Leo Forte of the VI, and first place went to Kai Bentick, 12, of St. Vincent, who played two divisions, but won both divisions.

In the under-17 girls division, there was also a tie for third place, but the winner was Abayomi Maddox of the VI.  Second place went to Derai Myers of St. Vincent and first place went to Thandi Myers, who played two divisions and won both.

The top three spots in the boys under-17 division went to players from St. Vincent.

 There were no under-19 female players, and in the male under-19 division, third place went to Omari Wilson, second place went to Andre Segovia, of St. Lucia, and first place went to 16 year old Jason Doyle, who played two divisions and won both.

The Junior OECS team was selected from the participants of the Junior OECS squash tournament.  In July, the team will play in the Caribbean Squash Championships in Bermuda.

OECS Squash Association President David Piper recently announced the team. 

The boys will be represented by Kai Bentick and Jason Doyle of St. Vincent, Leo Forte of the VI and Andre Segovia of St. Lucia. 

The girls will be represented by St. Vincent sisters Thandi and Derai Myers, and Abayomi Maddox and Kirsten Gordon, both of the VI.

The tournament finished with an award ceremony, which started with a moment of silence in remembrance of the association’s Vice President Oliver Gobat, who went missing over the weekend and is presumed to be dead. Mr. Gobat was the island’s number-two ranked player and was training for several upcoming tournaments, including the May OECS tournament in St. Vincent.

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