Top seed Bruce Burrowes lived up to his billing by beating All Jamaica Under-19 boys champion Tahjia Lumley to win the 2017 Liguanea Club Open Squash Championships which wrapped up on Saturday night at the Liguanea Club in Kingston.

The tournament’s handicap format, which levels the field for players of varying abilities, meant that Lumley started each game of the match with a lead over Burrowes. To neutralise the advantage, Burrowes played patiently, keeping the rallies long and waiting for his less-experienced opponent to make mistakes.

For his part, Lumley put up a fight, but Burrowes’ superior skill and legendary stamina proved too much for the teenager. Burrowes, who first claimed the title in 2015, won 21-11, 21-18, 21-15 to lift the trophy for the second time.

Reflecting on the match, Burrowes said, “Coming into this tournament I knew every match would be challenging because of the handicap format, and Tahjia has improved so much that it’s getting harder to play him, but my game plan was to not make as many mistakes as him. So I stuck to that and it worked well for me, and winning is always a good feeling.”

In the thrilling third place play-off, the unpredictable Jemel Sterling defeated Mario O’Connor. O’Connor fought hard, but Sterling’s double-handed style made it difficult for him to anticipate his play Sterling prevailed 21-10, 21-13, 21-16.

The Donald Williams Award for Sportsmanship went to veteran Douglas Beckford.

Liguanea Club’s General Manager Rory Shepherd said, “On a whole it was a very exciting tournament with a lot of thrilling matches that were great for both the players and the spectators, and we look forward to doing it again next year.”

The 2017 Liguanea Club Squash Championships was part of the Liguanea Club Racquet Championships Series which also included a tennis tournament that ran from September 13-16 and a table tennis tournament which was held on September 23. The Series was sponsored by Avis, Western Sports, KLAS ESPN Sports FM 89, Jambisco and Lifespan.