Trinidad and Tobago’s lone professional player and eight-time National Men’s squash champion, Colin Ramasra, has decided to call it quits on his illustrious career which spanned approximately 22 years.
The 31-year-old athlete made the shocking revelation yesterday just weeks ahead of this year’s National Senior Squash Championships, where he would have once again been in defence of his Men’s title. The three-time St Lucia Open champ has been competing on the local circuit since the age of 10 and turned pro in 2010. During his 22-year career, the Petrotrin player travelled the globe vying for honours at the highest competitive level, among the world’s top-ranked athletes.
On his retirement, the 2010 Cayman Islands Open winner revealed, “I just feel it’s the right time. I’m still number one in Trinidad as a National champion and I’m happy to be leaving the sport on top. Since the Commonwealth Games and Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games last year, I’ve hardly been training. The desire is not as strong as it was to compete now. After going through all that I went through last year, I somewhat lost the motivation. It’s time for a different aspect of life for me.”
Ramasra backed up his decision to retire by stating that he had dedicated his entire life to squash. He expressed elation with the multiple opportunities presented to him representing TT across the globe and was pleased to have been the first person in local squash history to go professional and put TT on the map. His highest placing on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) world ranking was 148.
“I have achieved most of the goals that I have set out to professionally so I’m comfortable with my decision. I definitely want to continue doing some coaching and still be involved with squash locally,” he added.
When asked what he considers to be the highest and lowest points of his career, the nine-time Junior National champion indicated that winning gold at the Montreal Open in Canada back in 2007 was indeed a major achievement. However, like many other local athletes, Ramasra’s biggest obstacle was funding. He noted that sports such as squash which is not high profile in TT, is difficult to get sponsored.
Ramasra thanked all those who worked with and alongside him throughout his 22-year campaign, declaring: “Squash has been such an important part of my life since first representing Trinidad and Tobago in 1993 at the Caribbean Junior Championships in Guyana. I am honoured to have represented TT in squash for the past 22 years all over the world. I have had some truly amazing experiences competing locally, regionally and internationally. I would like to thank the Ministry of Sport, the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee, the Trinidad and Tobago Squash Association as well as my sponsors. I would like to thank the media for all their years of coverage of squash. Personally I would like to thank my family, friends and girlfriend for all their support throughout my career. I would also like to thank my home club the Pointe-a-Pierre Staff Club and everyone at Pointe-a-Pierre for all their support and encouragement throughout my career.”
Colin Ramasra Career Highlights:
- Nine-time National Junior champion (1993-2001)
- Eight-time Men’s National champion (2002-2014) *No Nationals in 2003/ 2004; Winner in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014 (Forced to withdraw from 2008 final due to injury)
- Two-time T&T Open champion (2008 and 2010 – the last T&T Open)
- Three-time St Lucia Open champion ( 2012-2014) Only time in history a player won three times
- 2010 Cayman Open champion (only Caribbean player to ever win this title )
- Petrotrin Caribbean Open champion 2013
- Lutchmeesingh Transport Caribbean Invitational champion 2011
- Montreal Open champion 2007
- Harrow Holland Series Event champion 2010
- CAC Games 2010 – Silver medal in Mixed Doubles with Kerrie Sample
- Two-time Caribbean Men’s runner up (CASA) 2007 and 2009
- Two-time Southern Caribbean Men’s runner up 2006 and 2008
- Three-time Commonwealth Games participant (2006, 2010, 2014) Best finish 19th in 2010 – highest finish by a Caribbean male
- Three-time CAC Games participant (2006, 2010, 2014)
- T&T’s first and only medal at a multi sport games
- Winner of every tournament held in Trinidad at some point (South Closed, South Opens, Carnival Squash Event, Graded Events etc )
- Three-time South Open Champ 2010, 2011, 2012.