Stafford wins silver in Tobago

(CINSA): Cameron Stafford, 20, claimed a silver medal in the 20th Annual Caribbean Squash Championships in Trinidad, which ended Saturday. Part of a delegation of two representatives from the Cayman Islands, Stafford, who was ranked 5/8, dispatched the number 2 seed, Richard Chin of Guyana, in the quarterfinals. Having reached the semis, Stafford had already made a personal best at these games, advancing past the quarterfinals stage. In a nail-biting semi-final match against close friend Micah Franklin of Bermuda, Stafford, who was down by 2 games, roared back to triumph over the Bermudian in 5 games, winning 3-2.

In the finals, however, Stafford's ‘seeding busting’ came to an end as the tournament’s defending champion, Chris Binnie from Jamaica, overpowered Stafford in straight games to claim his gold medal for the third time. Stafford lost 11/7, 11/6, 11/4 but achieved his all-time highest Caribbean ranking in his career at #2.

Stafford is set to play in his next professional event in Caracas, Venezuela, in September against World #27 of Colombia, Miguel Angel Rodriguez. Stafford also hopes to step up his game by commencing an altitude training programme in Cartagena, Colombia, with former Caribbean and Canadian Squash National Champion, Maxim Weithers from Guyana. 

2012 proved to be a successful year for Caymanian Squash. Julian Jervis claimed the first of many Caribbean Junior Championship titles in Kingston, Jamaica. And formidable Caymanian squash players, Eilidh Bridgeman and Kristina Myren rank at #3 and #4 respectively in the Caribbean Junior Rankings for U19.