Wed, Aug 22, 2012

Jamaican star Chris Binnie was set to defend his title after advancing to the final of Caribbean Area Squash Association Senior Championships in Trinidad & Tobago last night.

Binnie, who entered the tournament with the No 1 ranking, was scheduled to take on No 2 seed Cameron Stafford of the Cayman Islands for his third regional crown.

The All-Jamaica Senior Men’s champion advanced to the final after beating Barbadian Shawn Simpson, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9. In his most competitive match since the start of the tournament, Binnie found himself down 0-3 in the third set after winning the first two.

However, Binnie prevailed and maintained his perfect record of straight set wins.

In contrast, Stafford fought an epic five-set battle in his semi-final against No 3 seed Micah Franklin of Bermuda. Stafford, who won the first set, then went down 2-1, dug deep to win, 11-5, 9-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7.

Winning his third Caribbean Senior title is a major goal for Binnie, who launched his pro career this year. The 23-year-old has not lost a match on Jamaican soil for more than two years and has already claimed a pro title at the British Virgin Islands Open in June.

“I’m very excited about playing in the final. I’m feeling confident and I’m ready to go. As long as I play my game and take control from the beginning, I think things should work out,” Binnie said.

The final of the event was held last night, but the tournament is set to continue with the team competition, which will run until August 26.

For more on this story go to: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sports/Binnie-into-CASA-Senior-Squash-final_12326618#ixzz24HqbBB5B

Cameron Stafford

Cameron Stafford, a former Caribbean Junior Champion, joined the PSA in 2011 and has been training in Australia for the past few months. He was crowned Caribbean U17 Champion in 2008 and U19 Champion in 2010, before deciding to embark on his professional squash career.

His highest ranking to date is #181, which he attained in July of this year. Something else of note is that Cameron has already accumulated 7 PSA main draw victories, which is the most of any Caribbean player on the PSA [Note: The PSA stats section does not count “qualifying round” victories or losses, just the outcomes within the main draw].

Cameron ended last year’s CASA Mens ranking at #7, but it’s important to note that two of the players ranked above him are not Caribbean-born and migrated to the islands as coaches. With his highest finish in the individuals event being 6th place in 2010, I am sure he will be determined to improve on that this year most likely wanting a spot in the final.