TEN-TIME BARBADOS CHAMP and Caribbean squash queen Karen Meakins returned home yesterday from Cologne, Germany, proudly displaying the coveted silver medal which she won at the Tenth Biennial World Squash Federation World Masters Championships.
Playing against 28 of the world’s best over-35 years squash players, Meakins capped three medals at the Caribbean Championships as well as a silver at Central America and Caribbean (CAC) Games with the best performance by any squash player from this region.
The Bahamas were the only other Caribbean country to send competitors to the World Masters, with four of their players taking part.
Unfazed
The eight-hour journey from London, and then a delay of over 90 minutes due to missing luggage, did not faze the smiling Meakins as she emerged from the Arrival Hall at the Grantley Adams International Airport to be given a big hug from president of the Barbados Squash Association, Craig Archer.
“I feel very good about my achievement. Of course I wanted to win the finals and the gold but my opponent Sabine Schoene was a former world No. 6 and as a former 17-time German national champion she had the home support.
“In addition, Sabine played a very tough match although I was able to push her harder than any other opponent,” Meakins said.
Meakins became the first person from the Caribbean to win a medal at the championship and she believes that hard work and the push from newly installed squash director, Jonathon Gallacher had helped her to reach such a goal.
“I have not been coached as hard as Gallacher has been pushing me during the past couple of months,” she pointed out.
According to Archer: “When Gallacher looked at the entrants for the World Championships, he assessed Karen’s performance and ability and he pushed for her to take part as he was confident that she would do well.
Paid off
“Karen was able to use some of her funding as one of the National Sports Council’s elite athletes to pay her way to Germany and it paid off well.”
Meakins pointed out that she also received a number of lucky breaks in the draws as she was able to avoid her eventual conqueror until the finals.
“As a coach and a player, I am confident that my achievement in Germany will provide motivation for the players in my age range as well as some of the younger players that I coach or play against,” Meakins said.
That sentiment was supported by Archer who admitted that many of the younger players already have high respect for Meakins and that respect has grown tremendously where Meakins has won four of the six medals which squash has won at CAC.
Without a coach, manager or a friendly face in the crowd, Meakins’ accomplishment must be considered superlative. Even so, the local and Caribbean queen indicated that she received tremendous support and comfort from countless Barbadians during the tournament via texts, Twitter, facebook and telephone calls.
Meakins plans to continue working at her game under Gallacher as she has her sights trained on the upcoming Pan Am and Commonwealth Games.
“I definitely want to return to the World Championships. I know that my performance will move me from anunknown entity to a marked opponent, but with an expected ranking I will also get favourable draws,” Meakins predicted.
