Kyme crushes best of the Caribbean
Bermuda's number one player Nick Kyme left no room for doubt in the minds of the rest of the Caribbean squash community that he's the player to beat as he clinched his second championship of the month over the weekend.
And he did so by thrashing the Caribbean's number one player, Luke Frazer of Guyana, in a lopsided final.
Having earlier won the Georgetown Open, on Saturday Kyme added the St. Lucia Open, a tournament that attracted not only the best in the Caribbean but also three players from France, two of whom were ranked in the top 15 of their nation.
The event was played in a similar format to soccer's World Cup with eight groups of four in the initial round and the top two advancing to the knockout phase.
Kyme entered the tournament seeded number four and defeated Gary Dodd of St. Lucia, Sven Gorne of France and Charles Johnston of Barbados all by a score of 3-0.
The Bermudian's quarter-final opponent was Paul DeVerteuil from Trinidad and Tobago and for the second time in as many weeks he dominated the Caribbean number five, winning by a score of 9-1, 9-3, 10-8.
Kyme's semi-final opponent was Caribbean number eight Sean Badranaugh of Guyana and again this was a rematch from the Georgetown Open with Kyme prevailing 10-8, 9-2, 9-3.
The final pitted Bermuda's number one against Frazer, the top ranked player in the Caribbean and going into the match the general feeling was reportedly that Kyme would be outclassed.
However, he proved the pundits totally wrong, playing an almost flawless game and very nearly coming up with a complete shut-out.
The final score was amazingly 9-0, 9-1, 9-1, a huge confident-booster for Kyme as he prepares for the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, next month.
Kyme has now moved on to Martinique to play in the week-long Martinique Open.
At the beginning of July he will return to Bermuda for a final two weeks of training and preparation before heading to Manchester.