Another amazing evening of squash and the gallery was full to take it all in. On Friday evening, the 19th St Lucia Squash Open partly sponsored by the the Cap Maison, The Blu Hotel, St Lucia Electricity Services Ltd and IGY Rodney Bay Marina saw some really fantastic and exciting matches in the semi finals of all divisions – the Main mens tournament, the Plate division and the Bowl division.
In the bowl division semi finals for 5th place:-
- Cameron Moffat of St Lucia defeated Megan Piper also of St Lucia in three straight games 11/5 11/8 11/8 and
- St Lucian Tahrick Hippolyte defeated Chris Thakur also of St Lucia in five games. Hippolyte took the first game 11/6 but Thakur won the next two games 13/11 12/10. Hippolyte levelled the games to two all by winning the fourth game 12/10 and also sealed the match by winning the fifth game 13/11. All games were very close, very exciting and long games
In the bowl division semi finals:
- St Lucian Lily Bergasse won her match against Chris Defreitas also of St Lucia 12/10 11/9 11/7
- In another long and exciting match for the evening Wissam Chreiki defeated Derek Mogal in five games. Chreiki won the first and third games 12/10 11/7 while Mogal won the second and fourth games 11/4 11/7 to level the game to 2 all. The fifth game was close but Chreiki won the match on his second match point call 11/9
In the plate semi finals for fifth place:-
- St Lucian Habib Chreiki defeated Jude Vandyke also of St Lucia 11/7 11/5 9/11 11/9
- Monique Lovell was defeated by Randolph Khan both of St Lucia 8/11 3/11 7/11
In the plate semi finals:-
- Mark Accosta of Antigua defeated Callum Samuel of St Lucia in four 10/12 11/9 11/7 11/7
- Tournament Director David Piper and Richard Johnson both of St Lucia had another five set game. Johnson lost the first and third game 9/11 8/11 while Piper took the first and third games 11/9 11/8. Johnson came back to take the fifth game quickly 11/3 to win the match
In the mens main draw semi finals for 5th place:-
- St Lucian Oliver Gobat went down to Vincentian Jules Snagg 4/11 12/14 13/15 while
- Charlie Sonson of St Lucia defeated his St Lucian opponent Ben Gilmore 11/8 11/7 11/8
In the mens main draw semi finals:-
- #1 seed Colin Ramasra took the match against Vincentian James Bentick in three straight games 11/7 11/8 11/4
- #2 seed Matthew Schonfrucht did not have such an easy match against his Vincentian opponent Kevin bailey. Each player was spot on with knicks, drop shots and rallies were very long. Schonfrucht won the first game 11/6 Bailey took the second game 11/8. Unfortunately Bailey was unable to keep up with Schonfrucht who won the other two games 11/6 and 14/12
Final matches in each division along with play offs for 5th and 7th place in each division will be played Saturday from 4.00 pm. The mens main draw 3rd place playoff is scheduled for 6.15 between Vincentians James ?Bentick and Kevin Bailey while the finals between Matthew Schonfrucht of the UK and Colin Ramasra of Trinidad will be held at 7..00.
Prize giving will take place immediately after at 8.00 pm at the St Lucia Yacht Clubwhere Minister of Sports and Tourism have been invited to address the player.
