THE curtains came down Saturday night in front of a full house at the 45th All Jamaica Senior Squash Championship at Liguanea Club in New Kingston.

The male and female champions battled their opponents during tension-filled, nail-biting finals but in the end, number one seeds Mary Mahfood and Lewis Walters stamped their class with fitness, superior ball placements, and being overall better regarding court decisions.

The matchup between Mahfood and number two seed Mehar Trehan gave the appreciative crowed a lot to cheer for as both players traded shot for shot as they battled to get the upper hand by winning the first game, but Mahfood’s trademark power game won out.

She won that game 13-11 but Trehan never game up as she opened the scoring in the second game and was up 5-4 at one point, lost the lead, but came back to equalise at 9-9, while winning some excellent rallies. The second game went to Mahfood 12-10. In the third and final game Trehan changed into a gold-coloured shirt but still the gold eluded her. Mahfood was in a no-nonsense mood as she quickly moved to 8-1, then 9-2, and 11-2 for the game. Mahfood defended her title in just under half-hour and is now the four-time female champion.

“You know, this one feels exciting. I came out here with the mindset of just to have fun and I think that’s exactly what I did. I’m so impressed, as I’ve said previously, by the sport and how many youngsters are out here playing and really putting their best foot forward. There’s so much potential so this one just felt like I was happy to be here” said Mahfood.

She praised Trehan for how well she played but was happy that her behind-the-scenes preparation and constant gym work helped her to be able to outlast all her opponents in the championship. Mahfood lost only one game, and won all her matches in straight sets.

Katherine Risden defeated Sanjana Nallapati in straight sets to grab third place with scores of 11-7, 11-7, 12-10.

The men’s final between top seed Lewis Walters and number two seed Bruce Burrowes had all the fireworks but less tension as Walters seemed to float quietly but as accurately as could be across the court, holding his own in almost all the long rallies.

Burrowes, who is known to outrun many opponents on the court, did not seem to have the legs to do so in the final. He might have been tired from having played a gruelling five-setter semi-final, which he was still recovering from.

The men’s final lasted 32 minutes, with Walters posting scores of 11-6, 11-3, 11-5 against Burrowes to win his first All Jamaica Senior Squash Championship. Burrowes, who has been in a number of finals, is still waiting to win his first.

“I played really well today. I think I probably got through my semi-final match a little bit more comfortably than Bruce did; he had a long five-setter so I think that played a part in tonight’s match. He was starting to get a feel of the heat and probably the effects of the match last night but yeah, overall really happy with the match I’ve played all week.”

Third place went to Jonathan Walker over Tahjia Lumley, in a long four-setter. The scores were 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8.

President of the Jamaica Squash Association, Karen Anderson, who is a 13-time All Jamaica winner, was pleased with the quality of this year’s championship.

“Squash is on the rebound. We have been on a good trajectory as it relates to the sport itself, the crowd support, and the level of play of our players, so we’re very excited for this All Jamaica championship. It was very exciting.”

She also said the year will be busy, with Jamaica hosting the Caribbean Championship in November.

The sponsors for this year’s All Jamaica Junior and Senior Squash Championships were GraceKennedy Capital Management, Boilerco, Blinds Designs and Wata.