DEFENDING champions the UTech Knights continued their charge towards a second consecutive title as they made short work of Lemons: Black & Tan in the KPMG Squash League at the Liguanea Club in Kingston Friday night.

Reigning Caribbean Under-19 Boys champion Ashante Smith trounced Paul Munroe 21/13, 21/16, 21/16; then All Jamaica Under-19 boys’ champion Julian Morrison followed up by defeating Anthony Auyub 21/15, 21/18, 21/17.

It then fell to Shawn Wallace to save the Lemons from a three-game defeat, but in spite of a courageous fight he went down 19/21, 21/17, 21/10, 21/14 to UTech’s Yasser Wright.

Former champions the Millsborians got off to a rocky start but settled down to beat JDF 2/1. At first, things appeared to be going JDF’s way when Rohan Samuels got past the crafty veteran William Mahfood 21/13, 18/21, 21//15, 19/21, 21/1. However, Fraser McConnell then prevailed in a five-game battle, holding off Syldon Thompson 18/21, 21/13, 16/21, 21/13, 21/12.

With the scored tied it fell to Stephanie McConnell to secure the win for the Millsborians, which she did by beating Demar Pinnock 21/18, 21/17, 21/15.

Similarly, the Screaming Eagles broke a 1-1 tie to beat Lemons Mafia 2/1. Former senior national player Douglas Beckford put Lemons Mafia ahead by beating Jeremy Whyte 21/15, 21/18, 21/19. The lead was short-lived as Stuart Murray then defeated Andrew Levy 21/19, 21/10, 21/16 to pull the series even. Screaming Eagles captain David Thomas settled the issue by posting a 3/0 win over Shane Murray.

In other action, Ice Ice Baby beat the Conquistadors 2/1 on a technicality. Joseph Lubin struck the first blow for the Conquistadors when he beat Charles Chambers 15/21, 21/19, 11/21, 10/21; but then team captain Damian Chin beat David Garrel 19/21, 21/18, 21/14, 21/16 to keep Ice Ice Baby in contention. The victory came when Ice Ice Baby’s Gerry Wight was granted a walkover after Larry Henriques withdrew due to illness.

“We’re very impressed with the standard of play so far and the highly competitive nature of the matches,” said Raymond Donaldson, tournament director.

“The UTech Knights look particularly impressive; and while their high level of fitness combined with their solid on-court skills will be tough to beat, several teams are gunning for them,” he added.

The KPMG League continues on Tuesday at the Liguanea Club in Kingston. The tournament, which kicked off on February 6, is scheduled to run until the end of March.