Jamaican Jonathan Walker lost to the number one seed Josiah Griffiths of Barbados in the boys’ Under-19 final of the 2018 JN General Insurance Caribbean Area Squash Association’s Junior Championships on Tuesday night at the Liguanea Club in New Kingston.

In spite of a determined effort, Walker was outlasted by his nemesis Griffiths, who played excellent technical squash at a high tempo to wear the Jamaican down and post an 11-7, 11-8, 11-3 win to take the title.

In the Under-17 girls’ competition, regional star Meagan Best of Barbados beat Jade Pitcairn of the Cayman Islands 11-0, 11-4, 11-6. Best, who is also the reigning Caribbean Women’s Champion, won her sixth consecutive junior title.

Barbadian hot shot Khamal Cumberbatch schooled Taylor Carrick of Bermuda, beating him 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 to win the boys’ Under-17 title.

In the girls’ Under-19 competition, top seed Amanda Haywood of Barbados got the better of second seed Alexandria Yearwood of Trinidad and Tobago, beating her arch-rival 11-5, 11-7, 11-3.

The competitors will now move on to the team competition which kicks off today July and will run until Saturday. Players from seven countries — Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Guyana, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica will compete for the boys’ and girls’ team titles.

Rising regional power Barbados are tipped to have the edge in the competition but former perennial champions Guyana will be seeking to reclaim the top spot after losing to Barbados last year. Jamaica will be hoping to crash the party, no doubt boosted by wins from Lukas and Savannah Thomson, who took the Under-11 boys’ and Under-13 girls’ titles, respectively, on Tuesday.

The Jamaican boys will play Trinidad & Tobago at 9:00 am, while the girls will take on their Trinidadian counterparts at 1:00 pm. The Jamaican boys will be in action again today playing the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States at 5:00 pm.