Mahfood, Morrison retain titles at AJ squash champs
Published:Saturday | December 2, 2023 | 12:10 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
THE duo of Mary Mahfood and Julian Morrison retained their singles titles at the recently concluded All Jamaica (AJ) Senior and Junior Open Squash Championships held at the Liguanea Club.
In the men’s final, Julian Morrison, playing against long-time rival Ashante Smith, lost the first set 11-6 but would eventually turn the screws and rally to a 11-4, 11-8 and 11-7 victory. Speaking after his dominant performance, Morrison shared that he started off nervously, as he was well aware of the threat that Smith could pose to him retaining his title.
“It was a very tough match, both mentally and physically. I started off a little nervous because I played one of my close friends and I’m in a final trying to defend a title against someone who I know could take it from me. I had to regroup and then I came out and did what I had to do to get the trophy,” Morrison explained.
Despite the defeat, Ashante Smith was pleased with his overall performance, as he revealed that, over the past seasons, his training had falling off a bit.
“I can say that I’m pleased, as I was training on and off. As I wanted to win, it was great playing against Julian (Morrison). It was close but he had the upper hand as I became very tired,” Smith stated.
Over on the senior female side, Mary Mahfood won in commanding fashion as she got by Lauren Mahfood 11-3, 11-5, 11-5 en route to winning her third national title.
Mary Mahfood, in her post-game assessment, revealed that defeating her cousin en route to another title wasn’t easy, but she has grown accustomed to facing Lauren since the junior level.
“It feels good to come home and perform at the top level that I’m capable of doing, as all the pieces came together. We’ve been playing each other since juniors and it’s something that I have to get over as, when the court door closes, it doesn’t matter who your opponent is, as you just have to get in there and be a competitor and play to the best of your ability,” Mary Mahfood said.
Lauren Mahfood said entering the tournament as an unseeded player and getting to the final was an achievement for her.
“I came in as an unseeded player and it was an incredible tournament. I came in with no expectations but made it to the final. So I was proud to be there. It was such a great match against Mary, and I tried to slow down the game a bit to throw her game off, but it didn’t work,” Lauren Mahfood said.
Also lifting titles were Jerazeno Bell (Men’s B), Yasir Anwar (Men’s C), Bruce Levy (Men’s over-50), Tobias Levy (Boys’ Under-19), Tobias Levy (Boys’ Under-17), Cole Brown (Boys’ Under-15), Cole Brown (Boys’ Under-15), Jaden Emery (Boys’ Under-11) Savannah Thomson (Girls’ Under-19), Savannah Thomson (Girls’ Under-17) Priya Stoddart (Girls’ Under-15), Marley Pryce ( Girls’ Under-13), Marley Pryce (Girls’ Under-11).