The Jamaica Squash Association’s KPMG Squash League which began in late February, completed the preliminary round of matches and played the first set of quarter final matches on Tuesday with team Advantage General Insurance Company (AGI) getting the better of Rustlers in 3-0 straights sets. The match was played at the Liguanea Club in Kingston.
AGI has had a dominant season having won all their matches played to date in commanding fashion. The result in the first match against Sweet & Sour Curry was 3-0. It was the same score line in the second match against MADS while Squashbucklers met the same fate in the third and final match in the preliminary round.
The AGI team is stacked with some very good players in national Squash champion Julian Morrison, Tahjia Lumley, Dave Morison and Stephan Morrison but it means that they have had to play at a high level in all their matches against heavily handicapped players who have challenged them while making all the matches very competitive.
Julian Morrison said that in order to win his matches, it takes “a lot of consistency. It takes a lot cause we play to 21. I usually play to 11 so it takes a lot of fitness to play basically two games in one. That is the advantage I have because I have to train for tournaments generally while I am playing people who play just for recreation. If I get a national player that I am playing against usually they are either on my team or they start with the same low score and luckily recently I have been playing better than most so I use that to my advantage.”
He said that the secret to his game is the amount of solo work that he has been putting in on court which could be up to five hours at times, to figure out his shots and timing in order to get getter at his game. He has won all his matches to date while only dropping just one set in a 3-1 result against Bobby Vaughan (Sweet and Sour Curry) in his first match of the league. The results in the other two matches were 3-0 against Mehar Trehan of MADS and 3-0 over Otarto Carroll of Rustlers.
He is not new to the sport having been honing his skill for almost two decades. “I have been playing since I was nine and I am 27 now. A lot of it comes second nature that’s because I have to figure out the different body types, the different personalities on the court and the different strengths and weaknesses. So if someone is better with the racket I try play towards their fitness, if they are better towards the fitness then I play towards their racket.”
Even though the AGI team has been dominant in the league, the tournament director Nathlee Boreland said that the league was designed around a handicap system so that the matches can be competitive and give all the teams a chance at winning their matches. She said “as it is a handicap tournament any team should be able to win because its been handicapped so that all scores should be able to go to twenty all and not matter what your skill level is. Depending on your fitness level it might mean that the person with the lower handicap who is the more experienced person, might come through with the win (but) that does not have to happen at all times.”
Team Advantage General Insurance now looks forward to its semi final match which is scheduled for next Tuesday at the Liguanea Club.