Micah Franklin achieved his highest position at the Caribbean Area Squash Association Senior Championships when finishing second in Guyana on Tuesday.

Franklin, the Bermuda second seed, was bested 3-1 by the tournament’s No 1 seed, Khamal Cumberbatch, from Barbados, in the final.

Cumberbatch took the first game 11-5, but the Bermudian fought back to take the second game 11-7. The Barbadian maintained his grip on the encounter by conquering in the next two games, 11-4, 11-4, to claim the gold.

Prior to reaching the final, Franklin, who has been representing Bermuda at senior level since 2012, had third as his best finish.

“I have never won this competition before,” Franklin told The Royal Gazette.

“My best position was third and I have already surpassed that by reaching the final.”

To book a spot in the final, Franklin defeated the island’s top male player Taylor Carrick 3-0 in the semi-finals. He recorded scores of 11-9, 11-3, 11-1.

“It’s always difficult playing your own team-mate in an international competition,” Franklin said.

“Both of us just went out there and tried to play as good as we could. I think yesterday's battles really took a lot out of our legs.

“It went down to who had the faster recovery and more tenacity to get through the line.

“I’m always relieved and happy to play after a match like I did last night, to then back it up and play again in the morning.

“For me to get a win against Taylor, who beat me at our national championships early this year, feels great. It goes down as one of my best performances, for sure.”

While disheartened that things did not go his way, Carrick took solace in having his compatriot playing for the top prize. The Toronto-based player clinched bronze by beating Daniel Ince, from Guyana, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6, in the third-place play-off.

“I’m pretty disappointed,” the 24-year-old said.

“I didn’t play the way I wanted to and my body gave up on me. Micah played well, took advantage of that and I’m happy we have a Bermudian in the finals.”

The Bermudians were engaged in gruelling encounters in the quarter-finals. Franklin needed 72 minutes to get past Darien Benn, of Barbados, 11-9, 9-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-13, while Carrick took 52 minutes to triumph 4-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-9, 11-3, against No 2 seed Julian Jervis, from Cayman Islands.