TRINIDAD and Tobago’s John Holley finished in the top ten and Don Lee placed in the top 16 in their respective categories of the recent World Masters Squash Championships in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Lee, one of this country’s best-ever players, was seeded 24th in the over-50 category, but ended up 15th in the draw which comprised over 100 players. The Canada-based player stunned No. 6 seed David Ayerst of Ireland 11-8, 12-10, 7-11, 11-8 to reach the round of 16.
But then the Trinidad and Tobago Squash Association 2023 nominee for Sportsman of the Year was beaten 11-1, 11-2, 11-4 in the battle for a place in the quarter-finals by unseeded American Alexander, who eventually ended up winning the fifth playoff series after losing to the No. 2 seed from South Africa.
Lee than lost his first match in ninth-place playoff series 11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 11-5 to the No. 16 seed from France, and then ended up 15th after being whipped 11-2, 11-4, 11-4 by tenth-seeded two-time Caribbean champ Richard Chin of Guyana.
Lee had begun his campaign by trouncing a Canadian 11-4, 11-2, 11-3, and he then cruised past a player from India 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 to reach the last 32. Peter Pirtheesingh was also in the draw, but the two-time national over-40 champ was edged in five sets in the first round.
The over-65 event was also a 128-draw and Holley, crowned national over-60 champion last month, ended up placing ninth. After going down 11-2, 11-9, 11-8 to sixth-seeded Dermot Hurford of England in the “round of 16”, the No. 11 seed won two matches and then the final by default in the playoff series for ninth place.
Hurford lost the top seed and eventual champ from Australia in the quarters and then won twice to finish fifth.
After receiving a bye in the first round of the main draw, Holley, a former national open as well as over-40 and 50 champ, crushed Gino Kribben of the Netherlands 11-2, 11-2, 11-3 and then brushed aside Chilean Fernando Brito 11-3, 11-7, 11-4 to reach the last 16.
Barbadian Mark Sealy lived up to his seeding and placed sixth in the over-60 division.