Jamaican squash star Christopher Binnie believes the return of the Caribbean Senior Singles and Doubles Championships to Jamaican soil can serve as a catalyst for the sport’s growth on the island and is hoping that his performance at the Liguanea Club will fuel greater interest among local talent.

Binnie is hunting his 10th title and his first on local soil, which in itself is a great source of motivation for the 33-year-old top-ranked player, who is expected to go head-to-head with Barbadian standout Khamal Cumberbatch, who was scheduled to play Cayman Islands’ Julian Jervis in the semi-finals Monday night.

The Jamaican got the better of Alex Arjoon in his men’s singles semi-final last night, outclassing the Guyanese 11-2, 11-8, 11-4 and is now focused on hitting his title milestone in front of his home crowd in today’s final, which takes place at 7:40 pm.

“I think it’s huge having the championship here. We haven’t hosted an event like this in over 10 years. The last time we did, I was a junior so it’s very exciting to have it here finally and have home support behind me because all the titles I’ve won in the Caribbean have been elsewhere. I’m very excited to have the fan support because usually, they are shouting at me or against me, so it’s nice to have them behind me now,” said Binnie.

“It’s also exciting, I think, for squash here. We are having a ton of coverage and I think, following COVID, and there were obviously issues with a lot of sports, there were a lot of challenges for us. So this is hopefully a step in the right direction and we can get squash going again here,” he added.

Cumberbatch, a winner at every level in the junior ranks, is being touted as the heir to Binnie’s throne among the seniors. The Bajan was scheduled to play the Cayman Islands’ Julian Jervis in last night’s other semi-final.

“I haven’t played him in a long time and he is the new kid on the block in terms of the senior levels; he’s won a ton of junior titles. He’s now at one of the best colleges in the US playing, so he is definitely one to watch here. I’m glad that if I do make it to the finals, that’s where we’ll play if he also makes it and it’ll be an exciting show. So I’m very, very motivated for that kind of match. I’m looking forward to seeing where he’s at,” Binnie said.

Binnie, who advanced to the Round of 16 at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham recently, arrived at the championships in full confidence and made it clear that despite his consistency at this level, he has worked hard on his composure and mental approach to his game.

“I’ve done everything I can do to be in a good position for this and hopefully doing those small things as I’ve done over my entire career, all the little things that eventually add up, hopefully that again will lead into this and I’ll be able to be successful here,” Binnie said.

“Every time you play you deal with some kind of pressure or nervousness or anxiety and I think it’s just finding ways to control those and turn those into some kind of positive emotions for your match. And I think I’ve developed a good strategy over the years.”

In the women’s singles section, the Guyanese quartet of the top-ranked Ashley Khalil, Akeila Wiltshire, Taylor Fernandes, and Ashley Degroot showed their class to lock the semi-final spots, dropping just a single set among them on their way to the final four.

Khalil got the better of Wiltshire 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-7) to set up a clash with Fernandes, who defeated Degroot 11-6, 11-4, 11-4.

In the men’s doubles semi-final, the Jamaican pair of Bruce Burrowes and Julian Morrison, fell 10-11, 7-11 to Guyana’s Nyron Joseph and Jason Khalil.

Morrison had earlier lost 7-11, 11-9, 4-11, 7-11 to Julian Jervis in the men’s single quarter-finals.

In the other men’s doubles semi-final, Barbados’ Khamal Cumberbatch and Shawn Simpson teamed up to get the better of Cayman Islands’ Julian Jervis and Jake Kelly, 4-11, 11-8, 11-7.

Guyana will also have representation in the mixed doubles through Daniel Ince and Taylor Fernandes, who defeated Trinidad and Tobago’s Chayse McQuan and Marie Barcant 11-8, 11-10, setting up a clash against Cayman Islands’ Cameron Stafford and Marlene West who stopped Barbados’ Darien Benn and Jodi Smith-Padmore, 11-5, 11-4.

The Jamaican pair of Savannah Thomson and Mia Todd missed out on a spot in the women’s double final after losing 9-11, 6-11 to Cayman Islands’ Jade Pitcairn and Michaela Rensburg.

Degroot and Khalil powered Guyana into the final with a commanding 11-2, 11-4 victory over T&T’s Tessa Martin and Alexandria Yearwood.