Junior Squash Tournament, starting on Monday.

Teams from the Bahamas, Jamaica, Guyana and Barbados will fly in for the event, which will see individual matches take place from Monday through Wednesday, with the team event beginning on Thursday and ending on Saturday.

Competition will be in four categories for boys and girls, including under-13, under-15, under-17 and under-19, with all matches taking place at the Bermuda Squash Racquets Association courts in Devonshire.

Bermuda placed third overall a year ago, this after winning the title a year earlier in the Bahamas. The boys' team were second in Barbados in 1999, with their female counterparts fourth.

The boys under-19 group again stands out as one to watch and promises a new champion, with Bermuda's two-time winner Nicholas Kyme now out of the running due to age. Kyme won the event in 1998 and 1999.

Kyme's absence opens the way for last year's runner-up, James Bullock of Jamaica, to lift the crown. But he will face a stern test from the likes of Bahamians Rashad Butler and Eric Lopez, Theron Mohabeer and Julian Chin of Guyana, fellow countryman Kyle Chin, reigning under-17 champ Gavin Cumberbatch of Barbados and locals Michael Stout and Steven Smith.

Among the under-19 girls, Melissa Harney and Clare O'Connor seek to upset favourite Nicolette Fernandes of Guyana and hopeful Tracy Roett of Barbados.

All will have their work cut out.

Bajan Bryan Cumberbatch hopes to retain his under-13 title, which he won by beating Bermuda's Andrew Stout last year, while Stout's brother James appears odds on to seize the under-17 crown vacated by Gavin Cumberbatch.

Hoping to make inroads among the girls under-15 category is Anna Forbes, while Jessica Mitchell looks to do likewise in the under-17 group, this after playing varsity squash at Westminster School in Connecticut.

Eleven-year-old Laura Robinson makes her second appearance in this tournament, while brother Andrew aims for improvement on his showing of a year ago. Andrew has just returned to the Island after competing at the World Junior Men's Championships in Milan, Italy.