KINGSTON, Jamaica — The sixteen-team Jamaica Squash Association’s (JSA) KPMG Squash League opened with defending champions Blown blanking Racket Science three games to none Tuesday night at the Liguanea Club in Kingston.

Captain Jake Mahfood was the first player in the box and he got the better of Roland Lattery in straight sets after posting scores of 23/20, 23/22 and 21/19.

Andrew Bicknell then defeated Noelle Nicolas 21/16, 21/19 and 21/20 to put his team two nil up over Racket Science.

Fraser McConnell was pushed by Rohan Johnson but he proved to be the fitter player after winning his match with scores of 21/19, 21/18 and 21/17.

Mahfood was happy for the win but said that his team had work to do to stay fit and defend their title.

“It’s been great. A lot of fun. The quality of the squash has been fantastic. I’m happy that our team won the first two matches. Andrew played great. My opponent played great. It was all close and could have gone either way, so we definitely have to go back to the drawing board and put in some more training to see how we can win easier, but those were two tough matches which could have gone to the opponent,” he said.

Mahfood added that his team’s primary goal is to win again, “It’s something we’re going to try to do. I’ve never been on a team that’s done back-to-back or seen a team do back-to-back, so it will definitely be tough.”

Racketeers defeated newcomers Campionites three matches to none after winning all their matches in straight sets.

Lauren McClure posted scores of 21/12, 21/13 and 21/13 against Lauren Delisser. Matthew Levy drubbed Noah Levy 21/18, 21/19 and 23/20 while Adam Lee beat Isabelle Robinson 21/17, 21/18, 21/19.

Saints, who had a good run in the league last year, defeated Squashbucklers two to one on the back of wins by Jerry Bell and Leigh Dwyer who won in straight sets against Alexis Robinson and Robert Chin respectively. Squashbucklers’ Jamieson Daley won his match in straight sets against Saints’ Daren Latchman with scores of 21/11, 21/9, 21/17.

Last year’s runner-up, Fantastic Warriors started on a winning note after defeating Squash Scholars 2/1 but captain Stewart Maxwell lost his match in a gruelling five-setter against Kwame Emmanuel (20/21, 21/6, 21/12, 19/21 and 21/9). The other two matches went to Stephen Dear 21/18, 22/23, 21/15, 21/17 over John Lindo, and Yasir Anwar over Tamara Thompson 21/16/21/18, 21/16.

The next set of matches will get underway on Thursday, February 27 at the Liguanea Club starting at 6:00 pm.