Cooke tops Kgn Int'l

Kynan Cooke won the Sterling Asset Management Kingston International 2013 Backgammon Tournament on the weekend at Spanish Court hotel, beating Billy West in a close final.

Meanwhile, Marie Legault defeated Nikki Franklin to win the first women's title.

Last year's champion, Alastair MacBeath, won the Lost Souls group - for those players who were knocked out of the first round - beating Eddie Azan in the tournament held under the patronage of the Mayor of Kingston, Angela Brown Burke, which kicked off the backgammon season.

Competitive group

A highly competitive group of 30 players vied for the titles this year.

Andrew Issa, CEO of Coldwell Banker, a premier sponsor of the tournament, said the tournament's success, two years running, will fix it permanently on the events calendar of Kingston and Spanish Court hotel.

"Getting high interest in the women's tournament is definitely a sign that more people want to play and are willing to compete," said Issa.

Sterling Asset Management's vice-president, sales and marketing, Kevin Richards, was on hand to perform the draw for the women's tournament and said the firm's involvement has to do with the strategic intensity of the game.

"It actually isn't terribly different from what we do in investments," says Richards. "It's about having the right strategy."

Other sponsors for the tournament were Spanish Court hotel, Caribbean Producers Jamaica, Wata, Haagen Dazs, Coldwell Banker and Panmedia.