Last year’s runners-up in the KPMG Squash League, Saints, and newcomers Bad Man Fu defeated their opponents during Tuesday’s semi-finals at the Liguanea Club in Kingston, to book their spots in today’s final at the same venue.
In the first semi-final Bad Man Fu clipped the wings of previous finalists Boast Warriors 2-1 in three very competitive matches with one of them going all the way to five sets while testing the fitness and skill of the players.
“We had a very competitive semi-final match and it was a very fun night of squash,” said Kyle Chin captain of Bad Man Fu.
Chin was very positive about the upcoming final against the experienced Saints who are looking for their first hold on the KPMG League trophy.
“All the matches, any way we match it up, it’s going to be very competitive but really I think what everybody is looking forward to kind of close out the night, people really want to see myself versus Jerry Bell and I think it’s going to be a long match.
“We start at basically the same score and this will be the first time I’ll be given points so I’ll start with two points and we’re going to 21 points per game so it’s going to be a long night. Jerry’s a very fit guy, he loves to run and I’m hoping that my fitness will stand up but I’m going to be going for my shots. I’m going to be making it exciting and I’m going to make him work for it so it’s going to be a great night of squash and I’m looking forward to winning the league.”
The Saints captain Mario O’Connor was also optimistic about his team’s chances following their 3-0 win over Rocket Science in the second semi-final.
“This is our third time in the finals. I’m still hopeful that on the night we can bring it home and we just have to see how it goes. It’s the second year in a row but the third time overall making it to the finals and we’ve never won KPMG League before, so, I’m really hopeful we can get that under our belts.”
O’Connor said that he was pleased with his team’s semi-final against Rocket Science even though it gave them some jitters during the matches.
“Happy with the results for the semi-finals. We played Rocket Science and we beat them 3-0,” the Saints captain said.
Today’s final will be the culmination of many weeks of tense competition (for the 15-team league) from late February, which was only paused for one week in March for the All Jamaica Squash championship which saw the best squash players on display. It is expected to be played in front of a full house at the Liguanea Club beginning at 6 p.m. when the top two teams in the KPMG League battle for supremacy.
