The world’s largest individual squash tournament, the US Junior Open Squash Championships, held in Philadelphia from Dec. 16-19, proved to be a stage for Vincentian national junior athletes to test their talent.
The delegation, led by coach Amber Glasgow, comprised three athletes: Jayden George, Nadira Morgan and Jaydon Williams.
George emerged as a standout performer, capturing the attention of spectators and competitors when he secured runner-up in the plate round of the boys under-15 category.
George was knocked out of the main draw after falling in a closely contested match to David Martoma from USA 3-11, 8-11, 11-9, 7-11.
However, his series of wins in the plate category began when he defeated Anirudh Swaminathan, of the United States, 11-9, 11-9, 12-10.
He then went on to defeat Michael Zhang, of China, 11-7, 11-3, 11-4 and US athletes Rishi Pai 11-8, 11-2, 11-5, William B Lui 12-10, 11-7, 11-9 and Luke Velasco 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9.
His remarkable run through to finals was stopped by Joseph Suh of Canada, falling 9-11, 7- 11, 5-11.
Starting with the lowest ranking of 97-128, George climbed to 66th in his age group; boys under 15, with a rating of 4.78.
Williams and Morgan were both knocked out of the competition in the plate category by Hector Durbach, of South Africa, 4-11, 8-11, 7-11 and Ana Samal, of the United States, 10-12, 8-11, 1- 11, respectively.
“The performances of Jayden George, Jaydon Williams, and Nadira Morgan are a source of pride for St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Their journey inspires us to continue supporting and nurturing the talent that resides in our nation’s youth,” the Squash Association said in a press release.