Squash star Meagan Best gave herself enviable Christmas gifts of gold at the Junior US Open and silver at the Junior Canadian Open. But, come 2018, the 15-year-old student of The St Michael School will be looking to shine even brighter in the squash world.
Best made the bold declaration yesterday after returning from the scene of her latest exploits where she went up a year to the Under-17 division, but also went up a gear to improve on her showing in the 2016 editions. The beaming star was greeted on her arrival back home by proud family members, coach Shawn Simpson and president of the Barbados Squash Club David Leacock.
“I was surprised that I did so well in my down year [first year going up] in the Under-17s, since there were 16-year-olds who were supposed to be better, stronger and more experienced than me,” she said.
“However, I had used the Canadian as a warm-up for the US and when I met [Maria] Lopez, who had beaten me in the Canadian finals, I wanted revenge. I felt that she had my gold medal, so I wanted to beat her badly.”
The local and regional No. 1 player crushed Lopez of Ecuador in straight sets, 11-5, 11-6, 11-9, and then defeated Ashraf Kamal of Egypt in the final 4-11, 11-3, 11-5, 5-11, 11-9. In doing so, Best became the first player from the Caribbean to win a US Open title.
“I was a bit sore going into the final, as I had played some tough matches. However, I was able to get massage therapy, which helped. I had trained hard and I had put in the work, so I just went and did my best,” she said.
“I guess that these achievements do put a target on my back whenever I go to tournaments, but that is a little bit of good and bad. While I will be targeted by the coaches and top players, I want to be known, as I want to gain a squash scholarship.
“Coming from a small country like Barbados I have a bigger battle with players from the more known countries like Canada and the States and therefore I have to keep training and continue winning to capture the attention of persons that can gain me a scholarship.”
With the Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast in April being her first playing assignment in the New Year, Best will be targeting a golden pre-birthday present for when she turns 16 on April 26. However, her primary focus in 2018 will be on academic matters such as her CXC exams.
Barbados were also represented at the Canadian and US Opens by Khamal Cumberbatch, Sumairaa Suleman, Chelsie Samuel, Alex Steward, twin sisters Jada and Jodi Smith-Padmore, Kemar Lord and Aidan Parris. The Junior US Open, which was held in Connecticut, attracted a record 930 players from 41 countries across five age divisions. (KB)
