BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):
GUYANA'S SHAWN Badrinath and Karen Meakins of Barbados justified their top seedings by capturing the main titles at the Playfair Limited/Federal Book-makers Barbados Squash Open on Saturday night.
Badrinath collected his fifth consecutive men's title when he defeated the No.2 seed from Barbados Gavin Cumberbatch in four games, and Meakins outplayed British junior champion Victoria Lust, the fourth seed, to win the Barbados Open women's crown for the seventh time.
Jamaican Steve Smith and Barbadian Jenny Armstrong emerged third-place finishers in the tournament played at the Barbados Squash Club.
Badrinath used a strong all-round game to defeat Cumber-batch 9-1, 9-2, 6-9, 9-3.
Up against England's Under-17 champion, Lust, Meakins endured a fairly competitive first game before logging a com-fortable victory 9-7, 9-2, 9-0 in a quick 33-minute women's final.
With the victory, Meakins reclaimed the title she had lost last year to the Jamaican Karen Anderson.
In the men's third-place play-off, Jamaican Smith, last year's beaten finalist, outlasted the Barbados national champion Shawn Simpson 9-1, 10-8, 8-10, 9-4 in 45 minutes.
