Barbados celebrated a historic one-two finish in the women’s singles squash competition at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games on Monday, with Margot Prow claiming gold and Meagan Best taking silver in Santo Domingo.
Top seed Prow booked her place in the final with a 13-11, 11-9, 11-9 semifinal victory over Colombia’s Laura Tovar, becoming only the second Barbadian to reach a CAC Games singles squash final after Karen Meakins in 2010.
Best meanwhile battled past Columbian Lucia Bautista 11-8, 1-11, 11-4, 11-9.
When the two Barbadians met in the final, it was Prow who prevailed 11-9, 11-8, 11-8 to take the top honours.
Speaking to Barbados TODAY from the Dominican Republic, Chef De Mission, Dr Adrian Lorde described the double medal winning performance as an exciting night for the delegation.
Chef de Mission Dr Adrian Lorde. (Photo Credit: BOA/246bfit)
“ Yes we got our first gold medal here and they (squash players) have been
doing pretty good at this level, but we never got to this stage before where we had two Barbadians in a gold medal medal match.
“Both Barbadians did very well all the way to the final which was also competitive. They didn’t give up, they fought each other and the better person on the night won,” Dr Lorde explained.
“We were grateful to have everybody there and to hear the national anthem, because we are not always able to hear the national anthem at these international competitions, so it was a proud moment for us all.”
Barbados has now won one gold and five silver medals during the games and Dr Lorde is hopeful of more hardware, with several other disciplines still to be contested.
“We have mixed doubles in squash, the track and field segment will get going and there is also boxing and netball. The two medals will be especially significant for squash because as a sport they have challenges with training facilities in Barbados, and we hope that this will help them to be more recognised.”
He said the delegation has had a few challenges health-wise, but generally, everyone is in high spirits.
(KH)
