Fernandes wins World Masters Squash 40+ title
Back-to-Back! Nicolette Fernandes showing off her World Masters Squash Championship gold medal in Amsterdam.
By Rawle Toney
Kaieteur Sports – Another international title for Guyana’s racquet queen, Nicolette Fernandes, this time winning the Women’s +40 title at the World Masters Squash Championship in Amsterdam.
Undefeated throughout the tournament, Fernandes faced Samantha Teran in the finals, where the former World top-ranked squash player dominated her Mexican opponent in straight sets: 11-6, 11-4, 11-10.
The former World #19 player has not lost a single set/match at this year’s championships.
In her opening match against Siobhan Parker, Fernandes, who entered the tournament as the top seed, secured a dominant 11-4, 11-2, 11-2 victory.
Facing the fifth seed, Milja Dorenbos of the Netherlands, the Guyanese star cruised to another straight-sets win: 11-3, 11-4, 11-2.
In the semi-finals, South Africa’s Karen Blom posed a challenge, but Fernandes proved why she was the top seed, winning comfortably 11-2, 11-5, 11-3.
Fernandes also won the Women’s +35 title in 2022 when the tournament was held in Poland.
Nicolette Fernandes won gold at the 2022 tournament.
The former national basketball and hockey player is the only Guyanese to win not just one, but two World Masters Squash Championship titles.
Fernandes, during the tournament, the championship made her fell in love with squash all over again, adding, “I have to admit, when I saw the player list it did drive a little bit of dread and fear into me!”
“I was like, ‘Oh no, we’re gonna do this again!’ But they are two of the ladies I considered my friends when I was on tour, so to play them again is just a treat for me,” Fernandes said.
Fernandes added she “had to have her arm twisted” to play at the 2022 World Masters in Wroclaw, but after winning the 35+ title there she “fell back in love” with squash after a period where she barely stepped on to a court following her retirement from the Tour and then the pandemic.
“I thought I wasn’t going to enjoy it, but I fell in love with the whole atmosphere, and here in Amsterdam it’s no different,” she said. “I played at this venue when I was growing up, so to come back and play with less pressure and more enjoyment, amongst friends that I haven’t seen in decades, has been a real treat. I’m just loving it.”
