Runa Reta finished runner-up at the Senior Caribbean Squash Championships after losing to Karen Meakins in last night’s final in Cayman Islands.

Reta, the Bermuda Squash Racquets Association assistant coach, forced Meakins of Barbados to work hard for her victory, losing 11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8 in a match that lasted 33 minutes.

It had taken Reta less than 40 minutes to reach the final, having cruised through Monday’s quarter-final against Akeila Wiltshire in 19 minutes, and then taking just 20 minutes to dispatch Ashley Khalil, also of Guyana, in yesterday’s semi-final.

However, English-born Meakins was always likely to prove a far tougher proposition as the tournament’s No 1 seed and defending champion.

Reta, who was representing Bermuda for the first time, is a former Canadian No 1 with a career-high world ranking of 29.

She represented Canada at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, finishing ninth in the singles competition, and was part of the team that won gold at the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2007.

Daniela Schumann, who lost to Meakins in the semi-finals, took third place with a 8-11, 13-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-4 win over Khalil in 39 minutes.

In the men’s competition in Cayman, Micah Franklin and Noah Browne were both defeated at the quarter-finals stage on Tuesday.

Bermuda have sent a squad of 18 players to the Championships and will be hoping to finish in the top three of the team competition.

In last night’s men’s final Chris Binnie, of Jamaica, defeated Cameron Stafford, of Cayman, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6. 8-11, 11-3 in 59 minutes.

It was Binne’s fifth Caribbean title in a row.