16^th Senior CASA Championships

Results from August 13, 2007 

Cumberbatch and Anderson win their 1^st Titles 

The evening began with the ladies third and fourth place playoff between, junior Cheri-Ann Parris of Barbados and experienced Rhea Khan of Trinidad & Tobago. Parris got out to an early lead and never relinquished the lead in the first game. She used her power and size to dominate the slighter built Khan. Parris won easily 9/1. However in the third, Khan using every bit of her guile and craft, with the drop shot and low drives to race ahead and claim the 2^nd, 9/1. However, it appeared that the 2^nd game took its toll on Khan and she was unable to respond to any of the shots Parris played and went down 9/2. The fourth was replay of the third and Parris used her strong and powerful straight drives to set-up her drops to close out the match 9/2. 

The men’s 3^rd/4^th place playoff was also a tight affair between, Chris Binnie, Caribbean U19 Champion and Shawn Simpson of Barbados. Binnie started off very well and took a 4/1 lead in the first game. However, Simpson settled himself and reeled off 7 straight points to go ahead 8/4. Binnie was able to get a change of serve and a point to go 5/7 but it was not enough as Simpson got back the serve and the game to win 9/5. The second game however, was more about tactics and attrition. There were 22 service changes with neither player getting more than 3 points ahead of the other. It was a back and forth affair with Binnie going up 7/4 but Simpson using pace and effective drives and drops forced his way to 8/7. Binnie seemed to dig in his heels though and got the change of serve and won the next 4 points to claim the 10/8 victory. The 4^th game was a no contest with Binnie dominating the game and winning 9/0. The fourth game was more intense and had more rallies and Simpson took a 6/4 lead before Binnie determined to secure his #3 ranking took the match 9/6. 

The Ladies final was a battle between friendly rivals, Karen Meakins of Barbados (#1) and Karen Anderson of Jamaica (#2), playing in her first Caribbean Senior Championship match. Anderson started off making a lot of mistakes in the first game and Meakins playing very aggressively. Meakins took an early 5/0 lead before Anderson was able to get some points on the board, but Meakins again capitalized on the loose shots and closed out the game 9/2. However in the second game Anderson obviously had a plan and stuck to it. She was determined to move Meakins laterally and then use the mid-court boast or low cross courts or straight drives to attack. Anderson won the 2^nd, 9/3. The second game was more about patience. Anderson played down the backhand side consistently with mid-pace straight drives and waited for Meakins to make the mistake. In the 4^th Anderson, went up 5/1 using the same tactics from the 3^rd, but seemed to tire at 5/4 and lost her length on the drives and lost the next 6 points straight for Meakins to equalize at 2 games a piece. In the final game, Anderson jumped out to a 5/0 lead, by going back to the patient straight mid-pace drives down the backhand side. But Meakins ever the fighter, got up to 4/5 when the match was interrupted when Anderson went sliding across the floor on her knees which had to then be bandaged. When play resumed Anderson started off very shakily, but recovered and went back to the patient, backhand drives and threw in the cross court once or twice to wrong foot her opponent and won the match in the 5^th, 9/4. 

Gavin Cumberbatch of Barbados and Colin Ramasra (T&T) everyone anticipated was going to be an epic showdown, however, from early in the first Cumberbatch who is deceptively quick and light on his feet got to every shot that Ramasra put his way. Ramasra looked like the man to beat coming into the Final, but he was totally outplayed by Cumberbatch. The Bajan took the first game 9/4. The second game was more of what the audience expected long, intense and some amazing gets by both players. And again Ramasra went up early in the 2^nd but after a series of handouts, Cumberbatch broke Ramasra down and won the 2^nd game, 9/7. The third game was a no-contest as Ramasra did not get a serve in the 3^rd and served out the match 9/0 to win his first Senior CASA Title. 

Ladies Consolation

5/6^th Place

Jennifer Armstrong def Anita Bicknell                          3/2                   10/8, 9/2, 7/9, 8/10, 9/7

7/8^th Place

Kimberly Farah def. Nadia McCarthy                         3/1                   4/9, 9/1, 9/5, 9/1 

Men’s Consolation

5/6^th Place

Nicholas Kyme def Josh Pinard                                    3/1                   9/5, 9/6, 9/7

7/8^th Place

Charlie SonSon w/o Paul Deverteuil                              w/o 

Ladies

3/4^th Place

Cheri-Ann Parris def. Rhea Khan                                  3/1                   9/1, 2/9, 9/2, 9/2 

Men

3/4^th Place

Chris Binnie def Shawn Simpson                                   3/1                   5/9, 10/8, 9/0, 9/6 

Ladies Final

Karen Anderson def Karen Meakins                             3/2                   2/9, 9/3, 9/6 5/9, 9/4 

Men’s Final

Gavin Cumberbatch def Colin Ramasra             3/0                   9/4, 9/7, 9/0