Fernandes on the mend and targets return

By Lance Whittaker

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Guyana’s squash star Nicolette Fernandes is on the mend from knee trouble that has sidelined her for over a year and she is hoping to return to competition later this year.

Fernandes, who -- while based in England -- attained unprecedented heights for a Caribbean player on the international circuit before her knee problem early last year, is enjoying a period of rehab at home in Guyana and playing squash again.

“It’s coming along slowly but it’s exciting for me because I am playing squash again, I am training,” Fernandes told CMC Sport in a telephone interview on Wednesday.

Her last competitive tournament was in April last year at the Qatar Classic and the 24-year-old is not ruling out an appearance at the Southern Caribbean Championship in Guyana beginning in mid-August.

Fernandes is cautious about the timing of her return to competitive squash but the Southern Caribbean event, set for August 17 to 24, is a possibility.

“I would love to play the Southern Caribbean Championship because it is in Guyana, but I am just going to see how it goes, I am not putting any pressure on myself,” she said.

“I am doing it in stages, slow and gradual and I am not rushing it or anything,” she added.

Fernandes is also contemplating a return to competitive squash through some domestic tournaments in Guyana this summer.

“The local tournaments could be a small test for me, because the upcoming girls are very motivated and I could use that as a small stepping stone,” she said.

The problem plaguing Fernandes’ career surrounds her left knee. The patella (knee cap) was frequently shifting out of place and caused pain.

Now wearing a special knee brace while she trains, Fernandes is able to play without pain.

“It’s been a very exciting time for me the last few weeks, my knee has been feeling the best so far since surgery and whole injury,” she said.

Fernandes is the highest rated English-speaking Caribbean player ever in world squash.

In 2006, she won the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games gold medal and was runner-up at the Pan American Championship.

She had enjoyed a 21-place jump in the world rankings during 2006 – from 50th at the end of the 2005 season – and her upset victory over Britain’s World No.8 Jenny Duncalf at the 2006 World Open in Belfast was among the high points of her impressive 2006 campaign.

The multiple Guyana Sportswoman of the Year had knee surgery in April 2007, just four months after being named the world’s most improved women’s player for 2006 at the World Squash Awards at the RAC Club London.

Fernandes, who turns 25 years old next month (June 19), attained an all-time personal best world ranking of 27th in May last year but she has plunged down the rankings in the past year -- especially in recent months -- because of her inactivity.

She started this year with a January rating of 112^th on Women's International Squash Players Association (WISPA) list, slipped to 129^th in April and the May rankings table shows her at 222^nd in the world.

But after last year’s anguish and frustration of being unable to play and seeing her world ratings plummet, Fernandes has now improved mentally and physically.

She is now willing to be patient in her bid to recover lost ground.

“There is no pressure anymore because my ranking can’t slide anymore, and I am just enjoying playing squash again. I am not putting any pressure on myself I am just taking it as it comes,” she told CMC Sport.

Fernandes is a four-time senior Guyana Sportswoman of the Year, copping the crown in 2005 and 2006, plus 2000 and 2001 when she was also junior Sportswoman of the Year.

She describes her current knee problem as a “condition” as opposed to an injury and she may need prolonged use of the knee brace as she targets tackling the world’s best again.