Two weeks ago, Island squash chief Ross Triffitt said he expected the men's squad to triumph at the Caribbean Championships in Barbados.

What the Bermuda Squash Racquets Association Director of Squash did not anticipate however was that his team would completely redefine the standard of the game in the Caribbean.

Over the course of the campaign in the team event, which was concluded on Saturday night with a spectacular straight matches victory over top-seeded Guyana in the final, not one of the Bermudian team lost a match - an unprecedented achievement - while only four individual games were conceded.

To complete the Island's dominance of squash in the region, Bermuda's top two players, Gary Plumstead and Nick Kyme, are now officially recognised as the two leading players in the Caribbean.

As the event organisers remarked at the closing ceremony over the weekend, the young Bermuda team, which consisted of Gary Plumstead, Nick Kyme, Tommy Sherratt, James Stout and Sam Stevens, and was the first team to represent the Island at the tournament for over a decade, has taken the standard of play to an entirely new level - a level which has left the rest of the Caribbean completely awe-struck.

Triffitt was understandably ecstatic with the performance of his young charges.

"All the players knew we had a very good chance of doing well and we were going there hoping to win," he said. "But to do it in such an emphatic style is just fantastic and demonstrates how dedicated all the boys were in doing their best for their country.

"Other countries are going to have to work a lot harder if they want to be competitive against us which is great for the Caribbean as a whole."

Although Bermuda were clearly the favourites going into the final on Saturday, having convincingly defeated Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Venezuela and Barbados in previous rounds, nobody expected the complete drubbing of Guyana which followed.

First on Centre Court was Bermuda's No.3 Sherratt, who faced the challenge of the consistent Robert Fernandes.

Although he started nervously in front of a large crowd, losing the first game 4-9 and was struggling in the second at 1-7 down, the 26-year-old pulled himself together, demonstrating remarkable resolve by coming back to win the game 10-8.

Looking increasingly relaxed and beginning to reach the high standards he had set himself throughout the tournament, he coasted through the next two games, winning them 9-1, 9-2 to put the Bermuda one-nil up.

No.5 seed Stevens was next on court against Regan Pollard.

Using his superior fitness to his advantage, Stevens worked his opponent around the court, keeping the ball tight in the back corners and forcing Pollard forward with drop volleys.

Although he let his standards slip for a time in the third, having seen red following a controversial refereeing decision, he was rarely troubled in general during his 9-2, 9-2, 9-6 victory.

With Bermuda two matches to the good, Plumstead, the Caribbean Champion and in some eyes one of the finest players ever to grace the region, had the chance to wrest the title away from the defending champions' grasp.

He did so with ease, defeating two-time Caribbean Champion Max Weithers 9-7, 9-6, 9-6 to the delight of the heavily outnumbered Bermudian contingent.

Bermuda squash professionals Kyme and Stout completed the highly impressive whitewash, defeating Shaun Badrinath and Julian Chin in four games respectively.

Meanwhile, at a meeting of Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) representatives on Saturday morning, it was unanimously decided that Bermuda will be the host of the prestigious biennial event in the summer of 2005.