Ruebin Walters and Andwuelle Wright added more medals for T&T yesterday at the 23rd Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games began in Barranquilla, Colombia,
Walters was not perfect in his execution, hitting a number of the hurdles along the way but he was definitely effective in his drive for a medal and picked up a silver in the men’s 110 metres hurdles at the Pista Athletica.

Walters clocked 13.57 seconds to follow Barbadian Shane Brathwaite, who won gold in 13.38 while Cuban Roger Iribarne bagged bronze in 13.58. T&T’s other hurdler in the event, Aaron Lewis, did not finish the race.

Wright’s final leap of 7.94 metres earned him a bronze medal in the long jump event after sitting third for much of the competition with his opening attempt at 7.75m. Jamaican Ramone Bailey won gold with 8.07 and Bermuda’s Tyrone Smith was the silver medallist with 8.03.

Sparkle McKnight raced to fifth place in the women’s 55.56 with Ronda Whyte of Jamaican winning in 55.08. Second was Mexican Zudikey Rodriguez in a personal best (PB) 55.11 and Zurian Hechavarria in third in a 55.13-PB.

In the men’s version of the race, Jehue Gordon finished in eighth position in the men’s 400m hurdles in a time of 50.02. Kyron McMaster produced a Games’ record time of 47.60 to win gold with Annsert Whyte of Jamaica in second in a season’s best (sb) 48.50 and third was Dominican Republic’s Juander Santos in 48.77-sb.

Kyle Greaux ran a season’s best 19.97 to qualify for the final of the men’s 200m. The national 200m champion lined up in the second semifinal and finished behind Panamanian Alonso Edwar, whose 19.67 along with Greaux’s clocking bettered the Games record to advance as the two fastest qualifiers.

Another T&T sprinter Jalen Purcell competed in the event and clocked 21.07 to place sixth not quick enough to progress.

In the first round, Greaux and Purcell progressed to the semifinals as automatic qualifiers. Greaux, the national 200m champion, won heat two of the three in a time of 20.34 while Purcell sprinted to line in fourth place in 21.11 in the first heat.

In the women’s version of the race, both Semoy Hackett and Kayelle Clarke qualified for the final of the half-lap event.

In the first heat, Hackett placed third in 23.01 and Clarke was second in the other in 23.57 to be automatic qualifiers as in the opening round when Hackett clocked 23.40 to finish second in heat two and Clarke second in the third and final heat in 23.90.

In the women’s shot put, Portious Warren and Latoya Gilding finished seventh and 11th, respectively. The 22-year-old Warren best throw measured 51.71, her second attempt while Gilding’s opening effort was her best at 43.50 but it was not good enough to throw among the final eight. Winning was Cuban Yaime Perez with Games record of 66.00m.

In the women’s heptathlon, Tyra Gittens and Khemani Roberts after completing four disciplines yesterday.

The opening event, the 100m hurdles, Gittens earned 1,010 points after placing second in 13.78 while Roberts’ time of 15.10 placed her eighth for 828 points. Next up for the duo was the long jump where Gittens added 903 for her third place (1.74) totally 1,913. Roberts increased her total to 1,658 after adding 830 for her sixth-place finish with her best leap measuring 1.68.

Gittens stayed in contention for a medal after the final two disciplines on the day. In the women’s shot put, she placed third (12.67) to add 706 to move to 2,619 and then was second in the 200m for 951, to close with a total of 3,570 for the third spot.

Roberts was seventh (10.74) for 578 (2,236) and second (25.16) for 872, respectively to sit in seventh place with3,108.

Both heptathletes will be back in action today in the final three disciplines, long jump, javelin and 800m.

Mix results for beach vballers

The duo Abby Blackman and Rheeza Grant will play for the ninth spot after combining well to earn a straight sets win over Honduras pair Jarisa Hynds and Marissa Brady in their ninth-12th Classification match in the women’s beach volleyball competition.

Blackman and Grant made light work of the Hondurans, winning the opening set 21-17 and then the second, 21-19. The will now meet the El Salvador team of Maria Vargas and Kathya Vasquez, today for ninth place. The El Salvadorians defeated the tough Dominican Republic pair Alondra Beroa and Yaniris Miller in straight sets, 2-0 (21-16, 29-27).

Local men’s team of Daneil Williams and Daynte Stewart will play for the seventh spot after falling to a straight-sets loss, 2-0, to Costa Rica team of Richard Hall and Victor Alpizar.

Williams and Stewart played their hearts out but were still beaten, 23-21, 21-14. The local pair will either play Guatemala or Nicaragua for seventh place.

Lee, Marcelle lose in singles, mixed doubles

Badminton player Will Lee was left to rue not making better use of winning the opening set in his round of 32-match against Dominica Republic’s Cesar Brito, falling to a 2-1 defeat in the Men’s Singles competition at the University of the North Coliseum.

Lee was in charge at the start, claiming the first set 21-17 but lost the second, 14-21. He couldn’t recover in the third, slumping to a 16-21- final-set loss.

In the Women’s Singles competition, local player Avril Marcelle suffered a straight-sets loss to Diana Corleto, 2-0 (11-21, 8-21) in her round of 16-match.

Later, Lee and Marcelle partnered in the mixed doubles competition looking to rebound from their disappointing finishes in their respective singles matches.

The T&T team faced off against Jamaicans Ricketts Samuel and Katherine Wynter in their round of 16-match but did not get success as they were defeated, 2-0 (21-13, 21-14).

Shooting team places sixth

Roger Daniel, who finished 10th in the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Individual on Monday, was back in action yesterday in the individual men’s 25m standard pistol competition and he placed 13th.

The 2010 gold medallist in the event totalled 543, one less than his T&T teammate, Rhodney Allen (544), who finished one spot ahead in 12th.

Another local shooter Clement Marshall was lower down the order in 22nd place with a score of 505.

In the Team event, the T&T shooters combined to score 1,592 to place sixth in the nine-team competition which was won by Cuba, who achieved the Games record in the qualification phase.

Catariz ousted in 1/8 elimination round

At the Lulio Gonzalez Stadium, Daniel Catariz was the best archer on the day, reaching the round of eight elimination round in the men’s recurve individual competition but fell to Guatemalan Diego Castro, 6-0.

This after defeating Eddy Hernandez of Dominican Republic, 6-2 earlier in the round of 16, where his T&T teammate Jonathon Mosca was beaten by Dominique Roux-Serret of Guadeloupe, 6-4.

The T&T shooting team of Jonathon Thomas, Peter Kong and Hasmath Ali lost to eventual gold medal winner Mexico, 237-221, in the quarterfinals of the Men’s compound team competition.

Water polo women go under to Mexico

Goal-keeper Leah Dos Santos saved 11 shots from 24 attempts for T&T in its quarterfinal match against Mexico in the women’s water polo competition but the national side went under, 13-3.

In the first quarter, T&T struggled to find the back of the net but also made it difficult for the Mexicans, who got goals from Alcione Murrieta and Frida Carrillo, to lead 2-0 heading into the second period.

It was Jordan Van Reeken netting the opening goal in the second quarter for T&T but Murrieta, lifted her play and added two more for Mexico before her teammates Dafne Aguilar, Diana Carballo and Carrillo put in one each to guide their team to an 8-1 lead at the half.

T&T regained its defensive composure and held Mexico to one goal from Itzel Diaz De Leon in the third session (9-1).

In the fourth quarter, Shemiyah Ross and Charissa Hackshaw added one each to increase T&T’s score to three but Carballo sank her second item so too Aguilar and their teammate Edith Flores put her name on the scoresheet as well with a double, to give Mexico the 10-goal victory.

Winless T&T will play Colombia for fifth place today at the Aquatic Centre.

T&T’s Johnny Hamilton has signed with the Detroit Pistons in the NBA.

“What a day to be alive. Thanks to the almighty, my family and coaches for having my back and helping me grow into the man I am today. I couldn’t do it without y’all,” said Hamilton in a Facebook post yesterday.

“Thanks to the @detroitpistons for granting my first opportunity to be a Professional Athlete. I look forward to this year as I take on a new chapter in my life. I also want to thank everyone that had something to do with me getting to this chapter. Whether negative or positive contributions y’all were all part of God’s plan for me.”

Hamilton originally of Rio Claro where he started playing for Warriors in that Community league before joing NBS Ambassadors that campiagned in the Mayaro Basketball League. He joins the “Bad Boys” of Detroit which will feature NBA All Stars post-player Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin.

Hamilton played on the Pistons during the Las Vegas Summer League after going undrafted in the 2018 draft. He wasn’t a starter for the team but looked like the best centre on their roster.

Hamilton is seven feet tall and weighs 230 pounds, so he brings some size to the Pistons frontcourt.

Hamilton started his college career at Virginia Tech where he played sparingly in two seasons before transferring to the University of Texas-Arlington where he was given an opportunity to play.

He averaged 11.1 points per game last season and 8.1 rebounds while shooting 63 per cent from the field. He can also protect the rim a bit as he averaged 2.3 blocks.

Last month, in the Summer League, Hamilton had eight points and grabbed three rebounds in Detroit’s 105-97 against New Orleans Pelicans. Detroit also defeated Timberwolves 64-59 and had losses to Memphis Grizzlies 73-70 and Milwaukee Bucks 90-63.

The T&T Boxing Association (TTBA) is in panic mode as its boxers may be in jeopardy of missing the AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships in Budapest Hungry, August 17 - September 1 due to no funds.

The organization also fears its Youth National coach Rawlson Dopwell, who was accepted for the AIBA Star II Coaching Certification Course and Cutman Certification Course Examinations for which the coach is scheduled to leave August 6 is also in jeopardy.

In a release yesterday, Cecil Forde, president of the TTBA said “This tournament is of great importance as it is the final qualification for the Youth Olympic Games which is scheduled to take place in Buenos Aries Argentine in October 2018. This tournament is essential for both the young men as they would be joining the Elite National Team next year and be in consideration for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.”

Forde said the TTBA has been attempting to raise funds through fund-raisers but has received no help from corporate T&T and government, through the Sports Company of T&T and Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs.

The youth boxing national team has been in camp since January and participated at the Youth Continental Championships in Colorado Springs USA, May 21- 26 where boxers qualified for the AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships.

Meanwhile, the team to represent T&T at the Caribbean Schoolboys/Girls, Junior and Youth Championship was selected, following a final box-off session at the Cosmic Boxing Gym in Marabella at the weekend. The team is being coached by Aqui with Dwayne Hinds as his assistant. Ria Ramnarine, the former T&T boxer is coach of the country’s Women’s team.

The team includes Ortega Jokhu, Abdul Taylor, Nyrell Hosein, Juan Rodriguez, Blessing Waldrop, Jacob Polanski, Tyrique Hosein, Denzel Massy, Joshua Sylvester and Aholiab Bishop, and the girl’s team comprises Aleisha King, Shakira Elias, Kadn Cornwall and Ornella Ramnath.

In addition, Merril Simon and Forde will be the managers of the boys and girls teams respectively, while David Brown and Latoya Providence will travel with the teams as referees.

Forde described the schoolboys/girls team as the nursery for boxing in the country who must be given every opportunity to realize their dreams. T&T boxers won four golds, three silver and a bronze medal at last year’s tournament while Nickell Joseph was voted Best Boxer.

Joseph was since chosen amongst the top 10 sportsmen at the First Citizens Sports Foundation Awards.

WALTER ALIBEY
 

The T&T Great Race has officially gone international. In addition to having a competitor from the USA, race organizers have now ensured that the event has been sanctioned by the world governing body for the sport, the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM), which is fully recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is a member of the Recognized International Sports Federation (ARIFS).

At Thursday’s Launch of the event’s 50th running at 51 Degrees Lounge on Cipriani Boulevard, Port-of-Spain, it was announced that one international competitor- Lucas Oil, a 48 foot Silverhook, will contest the event on August 18 in the 130 mph ‘A- Class’, the first time in 29 years.

The last time a foreign boat participated was back in 1989, by the name of Doller Marine from the United States, which eventually won the race. This time around, however, Lucas Oil will have its work cut out, with Mr Solo Too eager to add to the title it won last year, and Jumbie, Paramount, Ironman, Monster and Cat Killer anxious to pose an upset.

The race will feature 43 boats in nine different classes, all scheduled to receive staggered starts on the day, starting at 7:15 am for smaller boats and 8 am for the A-Class competitors, which can be viewed from the Foreshore.

Feature speaker Ken Gordon, the founder of the Great Race, praised his comrade Ralph Gibson, who was instrumental in creating standards for safety that were implemented for this gruelling race.

In 1968 Gordon envisioned a boat race between the twin islands and on August 2, 1969, the Great Race was born.

Vice President of the TTPBA, Roger Bell, spoke about the race migrating from a National event to an International event, while his treasurer Michael Clerk revealed that a new GPS platform has been introduced this year, and it will allow fans around the world access online to track the race boats on race day.

He later gave a rundown on the Great Racecourse. Meanwhile to commemorate the 50th running of the event, recognition was given to the racers and technical crew of the early years such as Brian Bowen, Chris Mc Clean, the De Gannes family, Dennis Ramdwar, Garth Marshall, Carlos Sabga, the Sa Gomes brothers, Brian & Derek Crooks, Junior Thompson, Derrick Gomes, Larry Romany, Marcel Carrington, Bob, Douglas & John Skinner and Robin Geofroy.

They were thanked for their contribution to the sport. Bell said the Great Race would not be here 50 years later were it not for the dedication, passion and skill of many. He thanked the present ExCo for working tireless hours to make the UIM sanctioning possible.

The start can be viewed from the Foreshore before they head off to Store Bay, Tobago.

At the launch Mobil Outlaw, the overall high points champion was on display, as well as racers from the 70’s and 80’s, such as Winfield Aleong, Jimmy Hadeed, Rolf Hive, Douglas Skinner, Johnny Walker and Donald Hadden.

WALTER ALIBEY
 

Bermudez United will be back to defend its title in the Courts All Sectors Netball League’s Under-16 tournament which passes off on Saturday at the Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena in Tacarigua from 1 pm.

The second edition will feature six other teams including Fire, Metal Industries Company (MIC), Police, the University of T&T (UTT) and SNA East and South teams, which will be managed by the University of the West Indies (UWI).

The tournament will be played on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, from 1 pm to 5 pm on each day. At the last edition, Bermudez played unbeaten to win the title in the competitive and exciting Under-16 competition with UWI taking second place and Fire finished third.

Teams will compete in a round-robin format designed to help the young players develop a love for the sport and encourage a healthy lifestyle.

Similar to last year, the programme will focus on building mental, physical and technical capacity, increasing player participation, encouraging a healthy lifestyle and love for the game of netball.

The young netballers last year indulged in interactive sessions with national players and international officials including former national captains and netball coaches Anika La Roche-Brice and Rhonda John-Davis, who spoke to them on time management on balancing their school work, play, home and social media, self-development encouraging proper behaviour on and off the court, health, nutrition and sportsmanship. International umpire award holders Joel Young-Strong and Lilia Mathurin-Cameron, whom both have had regional and international appointments, spoke to the youngsters on the rules and interpretations, protocols including discipline, roles of captains and players and attitudes of players.

Following the opening ceremony, teams will compete in a knockout competition before league action starts on Monday.

The decision of the feature event today, Emancipation Day, at Santa Rosa Park in Arima, the Grade Two (Restricted) T&T Breeders Classic for native-bred three-yearold horses over 1,800 metres on the main track at Santa Rosa Park, will come down to jockeyship.

The top two in the event are the Glenn Mendez trained filly Streaking Far and the Walter Debysingh trained colt Affirmative.

This pair looks to be the best on form but should Princess Sophia stay for O’Brien, she will have a great chance after beating the big two earlier in the season over 1,300m and 1,350m, respectively.

Ricky Jadoo will be aboard Streaking Far and Wilmer Galviz will ride Affirmative.

Both are very good jockeys and what a race this could turn out to be if both are given superb rides.

Streaking Far won in February and in May when making all the running, but today the charge will have some problems to get an easy lead. What is in the Laurence Berment owned filly’s favour is that she stays forever.

On the other hand, Affirmative has made all to break his maiden and came back to lead General JN for a short while in the Midsummer Classic.

That day he beat his main rival by one and a half-lengths over 1,800 metres and today every inch of yardage will assist Ricky Jadoo in getting the filly home in the $140,000 purse event.

I am sticking with Streaking Far to give Mendez another big win.

She will be ridden by the in-form veteran Ricky Jadoo and could outstay them all.

I will expect Affirmative to be second with Princess Sophia in third.

With the defection of Whisper Light, the path is now clear for the Shivam Maharaj owned Stockyard to win the Grade Three —co-feature President’s Cup over 1,900m.

The Debysingh-trained Stockyard will be ridden by Galviz. Post time is 12.30 pm.

OLYMPIAN Shot Putter Cleopatra Borel added another gold medal to T&T’s tally at the 23rd Central American and Caribbean (CAC) in Barranquilla, Colombia last night, while compatriots Semoy Hackett and Kyle Greaux captured silver and bronze on the track in the 200 metres sprints.

Facing a competitive field that also featured compatriot Portious Warren, the veteran shot putter tossed the metal ball a distance of 18:14 metres for the win on her fifth attempt, which came in spite of foul throws at the fourth and sixth efforts. In spite of this, however, the win appeared, always on the cards for her as she exhibited a trend of throws that showed constant improvement on each round.

In her opening attempt, Borel recorded a heaved of 17:44 metres, but showed a marked increase on the second and third with distances of 17:63 and 18:03, before her winning effort.

She was followed in the second position by Yaniuvis Sago Lopez of Cuba, releasing a distance of 18:03 metres for the silver while Mexico’s Maria Fernanda Castro secured the bronze medal in 17:88 metres.

Meanwhile, Hackett claimed silver in the final of the Women’s 200metres event, crossing the line in a fast 22.95 seconds. She bettered her 23.01 performance in the semi-finals only a day before, but she could not hold off Jamaican Shashalee Forbes from sprinting to the gold medal in a lightning-quick 22.80 seconds.

Jamaica also secured the bronze medal with a 22.96 seconds time from Jordean Williams, while Kayelle Clarke, the other T&T runner in the half-lap final was fifth in 23.54 seconds, shaving just few hundredths of a second off her time in the semis.

In the Men’s equivalent Greaux, the national champion produced a quick 20.26 seconds performance that earned him the bronze. The TT sprinter won his heat in 20.34 to earn a final berth, knowing he had to improve tremendously for the gold yesterday. But despite an improvement in his time he still could not prevent hometown favourite Bernardo Baloyes (Colombia) from blowing past the finish line in a time of 20.13 seconds for the gold. Alonso Reno Edwar of Panama took the silver in an equally fast 20.17 seconds.

In the Men’s High Jump T&T’s Kareem Roberts was ninth with a 2:10 metres effort, finishing a distance behind the eventual winner Donald Thomas of Bahamas in a 2:28, a similar height with second and third Javier Yanez of Venezuela and Alexis FGrancis of St Kitts./Nevis.

Rugby men clobber Venezuela

T&T’s Rugby Men were off to a flying start in their Pool B Match 3 Preliminary round encounter against neighbours Venezuela at the Estadio Moderno in Barranquilla, winning 24-10 as action continued yesterday.

Entering the game with a psychological advantage after beating their opponents for the bronze medal the last time the teams met at the CAC in 2014, the TT men were out of the blocks quickly enough to gain a 5-0 lead with less than two minutes on the clock.

Nigel Ballington, the Harvard stand-out crossed the touchline after just a minute and 17 seconds gone, but TT missed out on the opportunity to increase their advantage 7-0 by missing the conversion.

Their celebrations were however short-lived, as the Venezuelans equalized after four minutes and 18 seconds from Jose Arrieta. And like the men, the Venezuelans saw their attempt at a conversion sail agonisingly wide.

The TT men, still angry after their being thrown out of the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Men’s 15s Tournament last month, picked themselves up and rushed out in front a second time, courtesy a try from Leon Pantor, the former TT skipper in the 5th minute. And this time they made good on the conversion from debutant Jahreem George, to take the score to 12-5 at the half-way stage.

Later Pantor scored another try to push his team further ahead 17-5, before George, the Rainbow player who has completed a successful transition from junior to the senior level on the national team, made no mistake from the conversion to take the score to 19-5.

Venezuela stormed back after the 12th minute with a try from Wilkinson Arrieta, which went unconverted, to the delight of the TT team.

And they were made to pay later when TT sealed the win with a try from captain Joseph Quashie, that also went unconverted. Quashie’s try completed a 24-10 victory for the TT men who were later scheduled to face Guatemala in their second match of the tournament last night at 8:58 TT time.

Volleyball men fall to Venezuela

The Indoor Men’s volleyball team missed out on a chance at finishing sixth yesterday when they were beaten in straight sets 3-0 on Court 1 by Venezuela. The South Americans claimed the first two sets 25-16, 25-16 before they sealed the win convincingly 25-17 in the final set. TT will today play for 7th and 8th to Guatemala.

In Beach Volleyball the TT Women duo of Abby Blackman and Rheeza Grant had to settle for 10th spot after going down in straight sets 2-0 to El Salvador’s pair of Maria Vargas and Kathya Vasquez. The Central Americans first took 21 minutes to defeat TT 25-23 and then, before taking just 11 minutes to seal the win 21-7 in the second set.

Beach Volleyball Men:

TT team of Daneil Williams and Daynte Stewart was beaten by Guatemala’s pair of Andy Leonardo and Luis Garcia in straights 21-18, 21-17 in a battle for 7th and 8th. The result meant TT finished 8th.

Woods goes down in Judo semis

In Judo T&T’s Gabriella Wood cruised to the semi-finals after beating Mexico’s Melanie Bolanos by an ippon 11-1 in the quarter-final rounds, but she later went down to Cuba’s Idalys Ortiz 10-0.

WALTER ALIBEY
 

T&T Football Association General Secretary Justin Latapy-George and Senior Men’s team manager Richard Piper were among 20 officials from across the region in Barbados for the CONCACAF Team Managers Workshop last weekend.

It was the second in a series of five seminars being hosted by the CONCACAF with representatives attending from T&T, St Kitts/Nevis, Guyana, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Antigua/Barbuda, St Lucia, Montserrat, Saint Maarten and the host nation.

Participants are being taken through several topics over the three days, inclusive of pre-event management, stadium inspection and marketing by CONCACAF instructors Les Meszaros of Canada and David Sabir of Bermuda. Speaking during the ceremony, CONCACAF Development Manager for the Caribbean Andre Waugh gave a preface to the upcoming course, which comes soon after a similar course in Jamaica.

Calling it CONCACAF’s newest development initiative, Waugh told the participants there was much in store for them. “This is directly aimed at building capacity in the area of team administration. For us, it is important that the link is clear between the off-the-field activities and the performance on the field and we really want to put that into perspective and ensure that after three days we leave here with a clear understanding of the importance of proper team administration,” he said.

He made it clear participants were charged with the responsibility of sharing the information with their respective nations at the national and club level.

According to Waugh the development of all involved in football was the pinnacle of its advancement. “We want to continue along that line in investing in capacity for us. That is the important thing. The important thing is not to give a fish, but to teach people how to fish, to build capacity because we believe that it is through that investment in the human capital that the beautiful game of football, that we love, will develop within this region.”

The first Concacaf workshop in Jamaica, held a week ago, targeted team managers and general secretaries. It was deemed a success by participants and instructors alike. It was held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, and had an exciting climax, as attendees gave it a thumbs up.

With every run scored and every ball bowled, the 2018 BP T&T Mayaro Night Cricket Windball Competition came to a thrilling finish with the men’s and women’s knockout finals at the Mayaro Government School Recreation Ground last weekend.

The Mayaro Windball Night Cricket Competition has been sponsored by energy company BP T&T since 1999 and represents just one aspect of their support for sports development in Mayaro.

Giving his recap of the season was Matthew Pierre, Community Liaison Officer, BPTT, “Sports is just one of the many areas that BPTT invests in and the turnout of teams and supporters from all over the country shows that this is a worthwhile investment. The focus is more than just entertainment and encompasses developing talent, sporting excellence and community camaraderie. The management of this league is excellent and I want to commend everyone who works behind the scenes to continue to make this the best cricket competition in the country.”

The men’s and women’s knockout finals were played out in exciting fashion to the delight of the spectators who responded with cheers, and even tears, as they rooted for their favourite teams despite the inclement weather.

In the men’s fixture, Siparia-based Late Boys posted an intimidating 102 runs in their 12 overs, but they could not hold off the flamboyance and determination of San Fernando’s Sampath Construction Company Ltd (SCCL) Hard Drive who blasted to victory with balls to spare. The KO victory by SCCL Hard Drive added to their capture of the league title.

In the words of SCCL Hard Drive’s captain, Dinesh Ragbar, “This victory means a lot and we won it as a team. Our main goal was to improve from last year and we did that in a spectacular way. We play all over the country but this competition is really special because of the atmosphere, the crowd, the quality teams and the overall organisation of the tournament. Mayaro really is a beautiful place and we must commend BPTT for sponsoring this cricket competition. We look forward to defending our victories next year but we know it won’t be easy.”

The women’s knockout final was no less exciting although it was a one-sided affair. A confident Bomb Squad made their home community of Mayaro proud by posting a daunting 108 runs in the eight-over fixture. In reply, the Strikers ladies could only muster 43 runs.

Bomb Squad’s captain, Nicola Cabrerra, was jubilant at their victory, “We won the league, the knockout and a number of individual prizes as well. This was a great season for us and we’ve been taking part in this competition since its inception.”

2018 HONOUR ROLL

Men’s Division
League Championship Winners: SCCL Hard Drive; Runners-Up: Late Boys
Knock-Out Winners: SCCL Hard Drive; Runners-Up: Late Boys
Round Robin Winners: Late Boys
Match Past Winners: Cascadoux All Stars
Most Sixes: Denzil Ramphal, Late Boys
Most Wickets: Brian Pegues, Young Veterans
Most Runs in a Game: Alexo Pegus, Young Veterans
Best Catch: Brian Pegues, Young Veterans
Most Runs in League: Denzil Ramphal, Late Boys
Women’s Division
League Championship Winners: Bomb Squad; Runners-Up: Oilers
Knock-Out Winners: Bomb Squad; Runners-Up: Strikers
Round Robin Winners: Strikers
Most Sixes: Adanna Brown, Bomb Squad
Most Wickets: Sheron Lutchman, Bomb Squad
Most Runs by a Team: Bomb Squad
Most Runs by a Player: Roxanne Omalo, Oilers

Affirmative, superbly ridden by Wilmer Galviz made every inch of the running to record an impressive length-and-a-half victory during the Emancipation Day feature event over 1,800 metres, on the main track at Santa Rosa Park, Arima, yesterday.

The Walter Debysingh trained colt was made the 6-5 favourite to land the $84,000 first prize cheque and he prevailed in style for owner Shivam Maharaj.

When the starter sent them Galviz had Affirmative at the head of affairs with the speedy Santa Cruz Lady joining issue going to the first turn. These were followed by Princess Sophia, Streaking Far with Blazing Gem, Smarty Jon and Man of Tomorrow tracking the pace.

Going down the back-stretch there was little change in the order but as the horses arrived at the far turn the complexion of the race began to change. Galviz asked the leader Affirmative, to go win his race and the son of Charismatic Cat/Rosalinda lengthened his stride and put a three-length gap on Santa Cruz Lady which hoisted the red flag as Blazing Gem moved into the third spot ahead of the chase along Streaking far which was caught flat-footed. Princess Sophia was under pressure and so was Man of Tomorrow to stay in touch with the leaders.

At the top of the straight, Galviz had a healthy four-length advantage with Blazing Gem in the second spot, it was here that Ricky Jadoo switched Streaking Far to the outside and the Glenn Mendez trained filly began to run at the leader.

However, Affirmative and Galviz were not for catching, after stealing the event at the far turn and maintained their gallop to the line.

Streaking Far was a good second with Blazing Gem, a distant third. Fourth went to Princess Sophia.

Affirmative registered the good time of 1:56:00 for the trip, giving his owner his first success in the event.

Princess Suri was very impressive in victory in the co-feature - Grade Three - President’s Cup over 1900 metres.

Sent off as the 3-1 second choice behind the 3-5 favourite Stockyard, punters never had an anxious moment to collect.

The Shaffique Khan three-year-old filly was always tracking the pace set by Stockyard and Battle cry before assuming command at the far turn.

It was here that the Ronald Ali said to go on the daughter of Super Saver/Big Bambu. Suddenly, she was two lengths clear coming to corner as Magical Victory went in pursuit of the leader with Battle Cry still in the hunt, as Stockyard lost his pitch.

With 200 metres left it was all Princess Suri as she kept up the gallop to win by 2 1/2 lengths in the time of 2:02.09. Magical Victory was second with Battle Cry staying on again for third and the favourite Stockyard, a disappointing fourth.

At the end of the event, former champion trainer Glenn Mendez was honoured by the Racehorse Owners Association and the Arima Race Club for winning 700 races in his career.

The day’s leading trainer was Harold Chadee who saddled two winners in Money Matters and Rough ‘N’ Tumble in the final event on the ARC Emancipation Day of Racing.

The day leading rider was Jorge Bracho who rode Chadee’s winners.

The Central Football Association considered one of the best-run Regional Association Leagues will kick-off its 2018 FA Cup play-off on August 12 with a doubleheader at St Mary’s Recreation Grounds.

The CFA has had mixed fortunes this year, first losing its instrumental FA Cup sponsor and partner Ramsingh Sportworld due to the economic grind, but has forged relationships with its members that have ensured a level of safety for players and officials, as well as enable attendances at matches are not affected.

The association’s secretary general Clynt Taylor yesterday called on corporate T&T to support the organisation’s its FA Cup tournament which was funded by Ramsingh’s Sportsworld for well over a decade. So far, through Nal Ramsingh, the CFA has received $18,000 to be used as prize monies, trophies and medals, as well as other support, for which Taylor said the CFA is very grateful.

The FA kicks off with Eagles United FC taking on Leeds FC in the opening game at 5 pm. In the second match at 7 pm Family Soccer FC, the second place team in the League will square-off with Perseverance Ballrunners.

Champs Real Central FC, which was formerly Perseverance United last year, will open its campaign six days later (August 18) in a clash with the winner of the Eagles/Leeds FC match. They face an uphill task to retain their title though, with Central Soccerworld at the top of the standings on 24 points after 10 matches and are unbeaten to date in excellent form.

Central Soccerworld will face the winner of the Ballrunners/Family Soccer encounter on August 15 in its opening match.

Taylor told Guardian Media Sports yesterday that in spite of his association’s search for a partner for the FA Cup, the CFA’s relationship with its members has been a bright spark in the midst of the dark. He singled out Christopher Regis, the Eagles manager whose contribution to providing police escort service to teams affected by the out-of-control crime scourge, has gained the recognition of all in the CFA and participating communities.

With Regis’ help, teams are taken to and from matches safely. Regis’, the hard-working Eagles boss who appears to be a lover of family and community, also ensures that there is a police presence at matches.

According to Taylor “We are very pleased with the work that Regis has done and continues to do, and we want to work with him and encourage him to keep up the fight to ensuring that the young people in the various communities are well served.”

WALTER ALIBEY
 

Our athletes have so far really done us proud at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) games which are currently being held in Barranquilla, Colombia. The games started on July 19th and end tomorrow, and at the time of writing, T&T had captured 24 medals ( 7 gold, 6 silver and 11 bronze). We are the leading Caribbean nation, ahead of the mighty Jamaicans, and when it comes to any kind of games, to be leading the ‘Land of Wood and Water’ is no easy feat. One cannot praise our athletes enough for their outstanding performances at the games.

Some athletes, of course, will receive more accolades than others. I have already written about the exploits of Dylan Carter and his incredible times and for those who don’t follow cycling, up comes Nicholas Paul, a 19-year-old, winning two individual gold medals when everyone had focused on Njisane Phillip to win the bulk of our gold medals in cycling. As one sports fan said to me, “Nicholas who?”

For me, another huge achievement came from our female cyclist Teniel Campbell when she won the women’s road race in a thrilling finish, holding off Yudelmis Domínguez of Cuba and Mexico’s Lizbeth Salazar. To tell you how close it was, all three were credited with the same time. Another of our female entrants - Alexi Costa - finished the gruelling 99 km. event and was praised by Campbell for staying with her throughout the challenging race. The interesting time for Costa was 2:31:49 and Campbell’s winning time was 2:31:47. Unbelievable!

The reason I singled out these ladies is I know how difficult it is for our cyclists on the road. Many years ago, I was involved in a road race in Tobago and the cyclists had to be dodging vehicles even though there were a police presence and vehicles warning motorists that the cyclists are approaching. Road cycling in T&T is extremely difficult when compared to some of the other countries that are competing at the games; Campbell’s achievement must be put down to her hard work, determination, dedication and will to win for her country.

In contrast, there are the usual critics that say that this is only the CAC games, not as big as the Olympics or the Commonwealth Games. To those critics, I say take your parcel and ride out into the sunset.

Firstly, our athletes can only compete with the competitions that they are confronted with. What we have to do - which I am sure the various associations, coaches and trainers will be looking at, is the respective times these athletes have achieved. These would give them a gauge as to where they are at and how much is needed for them to challenge at the very top. In other words, athletes like Dylan Carter - how does his time compare to the Olympic standard? Also, what about our cyclists? We have produced greats in the past; we cannot just expect more riders to qualify for Tokyo 2020, we must give them every opportunity to medal.

As usual, praise and promises met some of the team of athletes that arrived at Piarco. The usual reception was held and all the right things were said. Great! Well deserved, as no praise is too much for what our contingent has done. I see the TTOC has planned to pay out the CAC games medal bonus incentives to some of the athletes this week. That is wonderful news for the teams and I hope they receive it on time as promised. SporTT has also assured the cyclists that they would soon be rewarded for their CAC efforts as it is the government’s intention to actually pay that payment before the end of the fiscal year. There is also the promise to pay the outstanding amounts to the athletes from the past games and I would expect that includes the Commonwealth Games earlier this year.

I am sincerely hoping that the promises to the athletes are kept. I must admit, I do not know and have never met the relatively new Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Shamfa Cudjoe which for me is strange as most of the previous Ministers of Sport I knew quite well. Most of them played sport at some level in the country, however, having said that, I love the direction she is heading. I just do not want her to get too involved with the governance of any sporting body. What we need from the Minister is to ensure that funding is available to our athletes to get them to the world-class level. More importantly, these funds have to be properly monitored and accounted for as our athletes deserve to be given the chance.

In closing, congratulations to the incoming Commissioner of Police, Gary Griffith - a real die-hard sports fanatic who I am sure will do a great job without his hockey stick. Let the fear of Gary be in them!

Colin Murray

Shurlan Williams and Tonya Nero emerged as the men’s and women’s Open category winners of the Walke Street Emancipation Freedom 5K Run on Wednesday in Sangre Grande.

It was quite an entertaining finish as Williams was well tested by last year’s champion Kelvin Johnson but the T&T runner had enough left in him to race across the line first in 16 minutes and 25 seconds just ahead of the Guyanese distance runner, who was the runner-up in 16.28.

Coming in, a not too distant third, was Nicholas Romany in a time of 16.38 in the annual race which saw some 320 runners participate in a course taking runners and walkers throughout Sangre Grande.

Nero comfortably won the women’s title, clocking 19.58 to finish ahead of Chantel Lemaitre (22.05) and Alyssa Lockhart (23:17), respectively.

The 16th edition of the Emancipation Day run was well attended by villagers, who were entertained by the beautiful music of the Jay Notes Steel Orchestra and the Hill Toppers Orchestra.

This year’s theme “Run For Your Health”, was certainly achieved by the Walke Street Emancipation Committee, founded by Montsho Masimba 23 years ago, seeking to assist in the development of people in the Sangre Grande community and its environs.

The event was open to children and adults of all ages. At five years old, Chennai Moore was the youngest participant while the oldest participant Sarran Hanooman (81 years) was recognised for his performance.

In other awards presented, Sweaters touring team picked up the prize for having the largest group participate and Dennisford Pajsee was the fastest pace walker.

Results

Open Category
Men
1 Shurlan Williams - 16.25
2 Kelvin Johnson - 16.28
3 Nicholas Romany - 16.38
Women
1 Tonya Nero - 19:58
2 Chantel Lemaitre - 22:05
3 Alyssa Lockhart - 23:17
5-9
Boys - Micah Eudovique;
Girls - Chennai Moore
10-12
Boys - Jousha Gonzales;
Girls - Hannah Heath
13-16
Boys - Kareem Ramjohn;
Girls - Brineal Paponnette
17-25
Men - Anthony Phillip;
Women - Nicole Agard
26-35
Men - Francois Joseph;
Women - Mellisa Poliah-Lockhart
36-45
Men -Lionel Dandrade;
Women - Shardie Mahabir
46-55
Men - Oneil Paponnette;
Women - Allison Thomas
56-65
Men - Aldwyn King;
Women - Suzzannah Joefield
66 and over
Men - Anthony Bruin;
Women -Shirley Hazzard

Team mascot, Kathyann “Black Panther” Williams-Bentick and Emmanuel De Freitas as Public Health rallied from a 0-3 half-time deficit to beat Western Division 4-3 in the Port-of-Spain City Corporation Inter-Department Football League on Tuesday.

Playing in the first match of a double-header at Nelson Mandela Park, St Clair, Western Division looked well set for the second win in three matches after goals from Leon Roberts, Kashief Moses and Marcel Charles handed them a comfortable 3-0 advantage at the end of the first 30-minutes half.|

However, during the break Public Health mascot, “Black Panther” arrived ringing her bell in hand to lift her team spirit, and after a brief ‘pep talk’ Public Health took to the field as a fired up team.

Soon they were back in the contest as De Freitas first made it 3-1 before he netted another to get his team within a goal of its opponent, 3-2 in a constant drizzle that made for some exciting end to end action.

Veteran Trevor Rajkumar then stunned Western Division when he hammered a close-range free-kick into the roof of the goal for a 3-3 scoreline before Devon Jack completed the turn-around by netting the match winner.

The win, Public Health’s first lifted it into the fourth spot on the eight-team table with four points, three adrift of joint leaders Cemeteries and Transport & Cleansing.

Cemeteries were denied a third straight win from as many matches when Yevan Rajpaul hammered home a free-kick to get his team on level terms after Sekou Long-Kujufi had given Cemeteries a 1-0 second-half lead from close up, off a rebound off the right post.

On Monday, defending champions City Hall got a goal from Cheyne Stephen in a 1-1 draw with Transport & Cleansing as well, with Kevin Mc Leod scoring for the latter.

And in the second match, St James Division got its first point of the season, in another 1-1 draw with Central Market with Nicholas Solomon and Stephen Francis, the goalscorers.

Matches continue today with another doubleheader from 4.30 pm.

Results 

July 30
• City Hall 1 (Cheyne Stephen) vs Transport & Cleansing 1 (Kevin Mc Leod)
• St James Division 1 (Nicholas Solomon) vs Central Market 1 (Stephen Francis)
July 31
• Cemeteries 1 (Sekou Long-Kujufi) vs Central/Eastern 1 (Yevan Rajpaul)
• Public Health 4 (Emmanuel De Freitas 2, Trevor Rajkumar, Devon Jack) vs Western Division 3 (Leon Roberts, Kashief Moses, Marcel Charles)

LATEST STANDINGS

Teams P W D L F A Pts
1. Cemeteries 3 2 1 0 7 1 7
2. Transport & Cleansing 3 2 1 0 7 1 7
3. Central/Eastern 3 1 2 0 4 1 5
4. Public Health 3 1 1 1 5 9 4
5. City Hall 3 1 0 2 3 4 3
6. Western Division 3 1 0 2 5 7 3
7. Central Market 3 0 2 1 3 4 2
8. St James Division 3 0 1 2 1 4 1

Four different players were on target to lead FC Santa Rosa to a come-from-behind win against Petit Valley/Diego Martin United 4-1 in the lone T&T Super League round nine fixture on Wednesday.

Playing at home at St Anthony’s College Ground, Westmoorings, Petit Valley/Diego Martin took a fourth-minute lead through Kazim Daniel.

However, four minutes later, Ryan Stewart got the visiting FC Santa Rosa on level terms before Kheelon Mitchell fired his team into a 2-1 lead, two minutes later.

Alfie James then extended the lead FC Santa Rosa’s advantage in the 29th minute before Noel Williams completed the turn-around in the 74th.

The win lifted FC Santa Rosa to 18 points from nine matches, one behind Queen’s Park Cricket Club while Cunupia FC, Matura ReUnited and defending champions Guaya United are third, fourth and fifth respectively with 17, 16 and 15 points.

Round nine matches continued last night at various venues while around ten matches come off on Saturday and Sunday.

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

n FC Santa Rosa 4 (Ryan Stewart 9th, Kheelon Mitchell 11th, Alfie James 29th, Noel Williams 74th) vs Petit Valley/Diego Martin 1 (Kazim Donald 4th)
Tomorrow’s Matches
n Guaya United vs QPCC, Guaya Rec. Ground, Guaya, 5 pm
n San Fernando Giants vs Petit Valley/Diego Martin Utd, 4 pm
On Sunday
n Prison Service vs FC Santa Rosa, YTC Ground, Arouca, 3.30 pm
n Police FC vs Club Sando Cultural Roots Utd, St James Police Barracks, St James, 4 pm
n Cunupia FC vs UTT, Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar, 4 pm
n Bethel Utd vs Matura ReUnited, Mt Gomery Rec. Ground, 6 pm
n Erin FC vs RSSR Utd, Erin Rec. Ground, 6pm

STANDINGS

Latest T&T Super League
Teams P W D L GF GA Pts
1. QPCC 8 6 2 0 20 9 20
2. FC Santa Rosa 9 6 0 3 23 9 18
3. Cunupia FC 8 5 2 1 18 7 17
4. Matura ReUnited 8 5 1 2 14 14 16
5. Guaya Utd 8 4 3 1 15 7 15
6. Prisons Service 8 3 4 1 12 11 13
7. Police FC 8 3 3 2 9 9 12
8. RSSR FC 8 2 3 3 10 12 9
9. UTT 8 2 2 4 9 15 8
10. Erin FC 8 1 3 4 9 11 6
11. Club Sando Cultural 8 1 2 5 5 12 5
12. Bethel Utd 8 0 5 3 9 17 5
13. San F’do Giants 8 0 5 3 5 14 5
14. P.V.D.M Utd 9 0 3 6 6 17 3

T&T’s Ethan Wong continued his impressive showing at the JITIC 14 and Under 2018 Confederation of Tennis for Central American and the Caribbean (COTECC) Junior Circuit currently underway in San Salvador, El Salvador.

The tournament is being played at the El Salvador Tennis Federation Complex, City Merli Sports Centre, Final Gardens of the Shroud, Santa Tecla, La Libertad, El Salvador

In the Under-14 Boys Second Draw Grade Three Singles competition, Wong is through to the semifinals while Kyle Kerry was ousted in the quarterfinals.

Wong served off the knockout phase of the competition by beating Guatemala’s Gabriel Porras 6-3, 7-5 and then blasted Puerto Rican, Matthew Melendez 6-0, 6-0 to set up a semifinal clash with El Salvador’s Cesar Cruz.

Kerry also started impressively by dismissing Puerto Rican Antonio Del Toro 6-0, 6-0 in the round-of-16, but was then stopped by host player Rene Morales, 4-6, 3-6.

The pair of Wong and Kerry will also contest the Boys Doubles Under-14 Second Draw Grade Three semifinals against Porras and Morales.

This after Wong and Kerry defeated Puerto Rican, De Toro, and Christopher Polish 6-1, 6-0 in their quarterfinal.

In the Girls Under-14 competition, Cameron Wong, Isabel Abraham and Aalisha Alexis enjoyed mixed fortunes.

Wong defeated Adriana Navarro of Honduras, 6-3, 6-1 and Abby Chandelier of Dominican Republic, 5-7, 7-6(3), 7-5 to reach the semifinals versus Kissmel Cedano of Dominican Republic.

Alexis was beaten in her opener by Curacao’s Sarah Nita, 1-6, 2-6 while Abraham defeated Barbadian Serena Bryan, 6-1, 6-3 before losing to Dominican Republic’s Rocio Espinal, 2-6, 2-6. In the Girls Consolation Second Draw, Alexis advanced to the semifinal versus Barbadian, Dana Bryan courtesy her 6-4, 6-0 victory over Luciana Vidal of El Salvador.

In the Doubles event, the T&T pair of Abraham and Alexis, as well as Wong and Curacao’s Nita, are all through to the final four.

This after Abraham and Alexis outplayed the Bryan’s of Barbados, 6-2, 7-5 while Wong and Nita, dumped Hondurans, Navarro and Siham Richmagui 6-1, 6-0.

In the semifinals, Abraham and Alexis face Dominican Republic duo, Deidi Abreu and Espinal, while Wong and Nita tackle Daniela Aguilar and Vidal of El Salvador.

In the Under-16 Division Second Draw, T&T boys Alijah Leslie and Nathan Valdez did not get past their first knockout matches. Leslie was beaten by Dominican Republic’s Angel Maleno, 3-6, 2-6 and Valdez went under to Dominican Republic, Braine Paulino, 2-6, 1-6.

Leslie then played his way to the runner-up spot in the Consolation draw, losing to Puerto Rico’s Daniel Gruen, 0-6, 1-6 in the final.

Keshorn Walcott won gold on his last throw in the men’s javelin event at the 23rd Central American and Caribbean Games in Barranquilla, Colombia, last night.

The 2012 Olympic champion and 2016 bronze medallist set the bar early, opening with an 81.78 metres-throw to fill the top spot. He fouled the second throw and sat out the next two rounds but was overtaken by Grenadian Anderson Peters after his fourth throw measured 81.80. After those four rounds, Mexico’s David Carreon remained in the third spot with his best then, coming in his opening throw with 76.11.

Walcott, who in the lead up to the Games had a seventh-place finish at the Morrocco stop of IAAF Diamond League on July 13 with an 83.26-throw and three days later, a fifth-place finish at a meet in France, returned in round five with a shaky 70.91m.

Walcott knew he had to come good in the final round and that he did, sending the iron-spear 84.47m, a mark that could not be contested by his closest challenger Peters, who reached 80.45m in his final attempt and had to settle for silver.

Carreon stayed on for the bronze medal, improving with a fifth-round throw of 76.27.

Over on the track, Zakiyah Denoon, Semoy Hackett, Khalifa St Fort and Reyare Thomas, running out of lane three, put together a fine race to cop a silver medal in the women’s 4x100m.

The local quartet clocked 43.61 seconds to follow Jamaica, which was in lane five, to the line in 43.41 and in third place was the Dominican Republic team in lane four with a season’s best time of 43.68.

Minutes later, the T&T men’s team of Keston Bledman, Jonathan Farinha, Jalen Purcell and Nathan Farinha, in lane two, ran a season’s best 38.90 to just miss out on a medal, placing fourth in 4x100m relay final.

Out in lane five, Barbados raced to gold in a Games record time of 38.41 ahead of silver-medallist Dominican Republic (38.71) in lane four and bronze-medallist Jamaica (lane three) in 38.79.

Meanwhile, boxer Michael Alexander added a silver to T&T’s medal haul after he was overwhelmed by Olympic bronze medallist Cuba’s Lazaro Alvarez in the men’s lightweight (60kg) final.

Alexander lost on points, 5-0, to experienced Cuban boxer, who won the lightweight gold at the 2014 CAC Games.

On the penultimate day of the CAC Games, T&T has a total of 30 medals (9 gold, 8 silver and 13 bronze).

Rugby falls 26-5 to Jamaica

In the bronze medal match, T&T went under to Jamaica 26-5. In the semifinals, T&T fell to Mexico 29-5. Leon Pantor had T&T ahead in the second minute of the match but Mexicans rebounded quickly on completed the win with five made tries and two conversions.

Earlier in the quarterfinals, T&T came from behind to comfortably beat Costa Rica 20-5 to reach the semifinals. Andres Ortiz opened the scoring completing a try in the first minute of the match for the Costa Rican team.

A minute and a half later, Agboola Silverthorn completed the first of two tries to level the score, 5-5. Joseph Quashie then gave T&T the lead, 10-5, with the score remaining unchanged at halftime.

Silverton pushed T&T further ahead scoring his second try with Leon Pantor making another some two minutes later to seal the win.

Men’s vballers finish 8th

T&T men’s volleyball team ended in eighth place after losing to Guatemala, 3-1 (25-22, 27-25, 23-25, 25-17) in the men’s volleyball tournament at the Humberto Perea Coliseum.

Guatemala edged T&T up to the fourth set, starting on a comfortable five-point lead and growing while finishing with a wider advantage.

T&T trailed in spikes with a 42-55 margin and in aces with 2-6; T&T did better in blocking with 15-10 and Guatemala committed one more unforced error than T&T (30-29).

In the loss wing spiker Legall Brandon scored 18 points as T&T’s top scorer and middle blocker Marc Honore contributed with 10 points.

Honore said, “We need to play more matches, we played the whole tournament flat. Today Guatemala was the better team and we made too many mistakes. We need to be strong mentally and from there work on our skills, we have a lot to learn. I am proud of some good moments during the event and I think we can be a very good team in the future.”

Guatemala’s wing-spiker Wagner Chacon led all scorers with 21 points on 18 kills and 3 blocks, middle blocker Leonel Aragon scored 16 points and wing spiker Carlos Lopez collected 15 points.

Guatemala’s setter Adan Ruano expressed “this is the first experience for all of us in Central American and Caribbean Games; we are glad for finishing seventh. I believe we could have done more, but we must continue working to keep on adding. We must improve our unity as a team, we were overconfident by leading 2-0 and our opponent kept on with their same game level. We closed as soon as we could because we were worn out”.

Maharaj ninth in canoeing

It was not smooth sailing for Satyam Maharaj in the canoeing event, placing ninth and last in the in the men’s K1 200m final at the Calima Lake in Cali.

Maharaj crossed in a time of 45.985 seconds in the gold medal race. Winning was Cuban Fidel Vargas in 36.399, second was Mexico’s Alberto Briones in 37.236 and third was Eddy Barranco of Puerto Rico in 37.479

Late Wednesday, T&T men’s and women’s team finished sixth after losing their respective classification matches. The men’s team went under to Venezuela, 16-8 while the women’s unit fell to Colombia, 14-7, earlier in the day.

Compliant T&T Pro League clubs will receive subventions before Friday, Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Shamfa Cudjoe has assured.

With the League scheduled to begin on Friday, Minister Cudjoe eased the minds of concerned clubs by saying that SporTT had given a commitment to pay the monies before the start date but only to clubs meeting the requirements by submitting audited financial statements.

Future funding for the League will require the Pro League to submit audited financial statements, a strategic and business plan and an annual report of its operations.

A two-page document released by the ministry yesterday, listed only W Connection and Point Fortin Civic as the pro league campaigners to not have submitted audited statements to date.

The Savonetta Boys as W Connection are commonly known, could not submit its financials as the auditor was out of the country.

Connection, a multiple times winner of nearly every title at stake in the Pro League, was expected to submit its financials by yesterday, but David John-Williams, the former Connection CEO who has not had much involvement with the club since his elevation to T&T Football Association (TTFA) president, said he could not say whether the team’s management had submitted the relevant documents.

Renee John-Williams, the club’s CEO, on the other hand was also out of the country, he said.

Connection was one of six clubs written to by SporTT to submit its audited financials last month, and was also one of only two, to have been non-compliant, the other being Point Fortin Civic, which according to the release, did not offer a response.

Civic chairman Garthorne Craig said his club submitted its documentation yesterday and should be able to receive the grant.

The other clubs written to were Club Sando FC, St Ann’s Rangers, Central FC, Morvant Caledonia United, North East Stars and San Juan Jabloteh.

Yesterday’s two-page release served to highlight government’s continued support for the country’s top-flight domestic football competition which was always based on the submission of audited financial statements by the League, in keeping with financial policies of both the MSYA and SporTT. The League was forced to change owners in March 2002, following the collapse of the Semi Professional Football League that took place from 1996-1998, under the then T&T Football Federation (TTFF).

Tehillah Romeo, the ministry’s communications personnel said participating clubs, in 2002, took a strategic decision to establish a private limited liability company called the Pro LeagueLimited which has been run under the name T&T Pro League.

The mission then was to promote professional football as a viable option to young people pursuing careers in the sport, and to assist in creating opportunities that would allow participants to transition easily into the wider working environment.

“During the period 2002 to 2004, the TT Pro League, which is the franchise of Pro League Limited, sustained its operations through financing from club owners and limited corporate sponsorships.

“The financial model of the League identified self-sufficiency due to anticipated spectator participation and large corporate sponsorship,” Romeo explained. “In an effort to promote professional football, while at the same time, assist in building technical capacity in the discipline of football, the Government of T&T through the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs took a decision to provide financial support to the professional and Semi-Professional Football League for a period of four years, commencing in 2005, with the sum of $3 million, and reducing thereafter at the rate of 25 per cent per annum. “In 2012 and 2014, government made similar decisions regarding the reduction of the State’s subvention to the TT Pro League Limited, as the league attained stronger financial footing through increased corporate financing and other funding mechanisms.

“All this was done in an effort to assist the league in accomplishing self-sufficiency as originally intended.”

For the period 2005-2017, government’s support shows a whopping $76,341,875.

In April Cabinet agreed to help the struggling Pro League by means of providing payment for salaries to players at the eight clubs, to the tune of $11.1 million for three years.

Payment was expected to commence in fiscal 2018 with the sum of $600,000 per club, and reducing thereafter at the rate of 25 per cent per annum detailed as follows:

Year one, $600,000 per club equivalent to $4,800,000 for eight clubs; Year two, $450,000 per club—$3,600,000 for eight clubs; and Year three, $337,500 per club—$2,700,000 for eight clubs.

Romeo made it clear disbursements would be made only to compliant clubs and urged all sporting bodies to comply with the ministry’s guidelines.

WALTER ALIBEY
 

The Windies have won all three completed matches at the Central Broward Regional Park, Fort Lauderdale in Florida, USA and today, they will be going all out to maintain that record as they meet Bangladesh in the second match of the three-match series from 8 pm.

It is the third series visit to Lauderhill for the Windies, following matches there against New Zealand in 2012 and India in 2016 while Bangladesh will be making their Florida debut.

In 2012, the Windies won both matches against New Zealand and in 2016, they won their two-match series 1-0 over the Indians, as the second match of the series was rained off. Dwayne Bravo with a great last over had given the Windies a one-run victory over the powerful Indians.

Tonight, Carlos Brathwaite will lead a Windies team that is one game away from wrapping up the series. They started off brilliantly with a seven-wicket victory in St Kitts.

Andre Russell smacked an unbeaten 35 and Marlon Samuels made 26 not out in no time, as the Windies chased down a target of 91 in 9.1 overs. The Windies, who have been settling in nicely at the Marriot North Hotel, will be relaxed going into the match but coach Stuart Law is warning against this. The Aussie said that his team can’t relax, and must go out there and fight hard to win the series with a game to spare.

Bangladesh will be under more pressure as a loss tonight will see them losing the series.

Both teams are good in this format but the Bangladeshis struggled in their opening encounter and their confidence would have taken a hit. Bangladesh has been struggling in recent times in the format, having lost their last five matches.

The pitch looks good for batting and Windies opener Evin Lewis will be licking his chops as he scored a century against India here last time around and his strike rate is close to 200 on this ground.

For Bangladesh, they will be looking to their highest run scorer in T20 Internationals Tamim Iqbal. The left-hander who failed to score in the first match has struck a century and five half-centuries for Bangladesh.

A large contingent of Bangladeshi supporters is expected to show up at the ground as their diaspora committee has been hard at work at galvanising support. They held a dinner with both teams on Thursday night in Fort Lauderdale.

Teams 

Windies: Carlos Brathwaite (capt.), Samuel Badree, Sheldon Cottrell, Andre Fletcher, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Rovman Powell, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Chadwick Walton (wk), Kesrick Williams.
Bangladesh: Liton Das, Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mahmudullah, Ariful Haque, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Nazmul Islam, Abu Jayed.
Head-to-head in T20s
2007 Johannesburg - Bangladesh won by 6 wkts
2009 St Kitts - Windies won by 5 wkts
2011 Dhaka - Bangladesh won by 3 wkts
2012 Dhaka - Windies won by 18 runs
2014 St Kitts - No Result
2014 Dhaka - Windies won by 73 runs.
2018 St Kitts - Windies won by 7 wkts
Played - 7
Windies - 4
Bangladesh - 2
No result - 1

Queen’s Park Cricket Club lead at the top of the T&T Super League standings is down to three points, after a second straight drawn result on Thursday.

Coming off a 2-2 away draw with lowly Bethel United, the Parkites were hoping to return to winning ways against neighbours Police FC at St Mary’s College Ground, Serpentine Road, St Clair.

However, both teams failed to trouble the scoresheet in the first half in a tightly contested encounter.

The Parkites then took the lead in the 65th minute through Kevaughn John, but 12 minutes later Dwayne Salazar equalised for Police to earn a share of the points.

With its second drawn result in as many matches, the Parkites now lead the 14-team table with 21 points from nine matches, three ahead of FC Santa Rosa and Cunupia FC while Matura ReUnited and defending champions Guaya United are next with 17 and 16 points respectively.

FC Santa Rosa had a 4-1 win over Petit Valley Diego Martin United on Wednesday, while Cunupia FC and Matura ReUnited fought out an entertaining 3-3 draw in another key fixture on Thursday at Valencia Secondary School Ground.

Cunupia FC would feel hard done by the eventual outcome as they led 2-0 thanks to strikes from Michael Darko in the 21st minute, and Kevon Woodley with his league-leading tenth of the season, in the 49th.

However, Matura ReUnited then turned the match upside down with three goals without reply courtesy Isaiah Lee in the 52nd, Stevon Stoute, seven minutes later and Kerin Vincent, four minutes from the end of regulation time.

But it was not to be for Matura ReUnited as Darko fired in the equaliser for Cunupia, three minutes into time added on to cap off a pulsating encounter.

In other matches, Guaya United needed a Beville Joseph 57th minute goal to cancel out Ishmael Sawyer’s 15th minute opener for RSSR FC at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo; University of T&T (UTT) whipped San Fernando Giants 4-2 led by a double from Tristan Perrotte at UTT Campus, O’Meara Road, and Club Sando Cultural Roots United edged Bethel United 2-1 thanks to a Kearn Noel 85th minute winner at Dibe Recreation Ground, Long Circular, St James.

The match between Prison Service FC and Erin FC scheduled for YTC Ground, Arouca was rained out.

MORE INFO

T&T Super League results:
Wednesday:
n FC Santa Rosa 4 (Ryan Stewart 9th, Kheelon Mitchell 11th, Alfie James 29th, Noel Williams 74th) vs Petit Valley/Diego Martin 1 (Kazim Donald 4th)
Thursday:
n RSSR FC 1 (Ishmael Sawyer 15th) vs Guaya United 1 (Beville Joseph 57th)
QPCC 1 (Kevaughn John 65th) vs Police FC 1 (Dwayne Salazar 77th)
n UTT 4 (Tristan Perotte 3rd, 66th, Michael Holder 58th, Shaquille Nesbitt 62nd) vs
San Fernando Giants 2 (Tristan Khan 5th, 56th)
n Club Sando Cultural Roots 2 (Keeron Benito 22nd, Kearn Noel 85th) vs Bethel
United 1 (Akellon Murphy 11th pen)
n Matura ReUnited 3 (Isaiah Lee 52nd, Stevon Stoute 59th, Kern Vincent 86th) vs
Cunupia 3 (Michael Darko 21st, 93rd, Kevon Woodley 49th)
n Prison Service FC vs Erin FC – did not play due to water-logged field
Current T&T Super League standings:
Teams P W D L F A Pts
QPCC 9 6 3 0 21 10 21
FC Santa Rosa 9 6 0 3 23 9 18
Cunupia FC 9 5 3 1 21 10 18
Matura ReUnited 9 5 2 2 17 17 17
Guaya Utd 9 4 4 1 16 8 16
Prisons Service 8 3 4 1 12 11 13
Police FC 9 3 4 2 10 10 13
UTT 9 3 2 4 13 17 11
RSSR FC 9 2 4 3 11 13 10
Club Sando Cultural 9 2 2 5 7 13 8
Erin FC 8 1 3 4 9 11 6
Bethel Utd 9 0 5 4 10 19 5
San F’do Giants 9 0 5 4 7 18 5
PVDM Utd 9 0 3 6 6 17 3
Upcoming matches:
Today:
n Guaya United vs QPCC, Guaya Rec. Ground, Guaya, 5 pm
n San Fernando Giants vs Petit Valley/Diego Martin Utd, 4 pm
Tomorrow:
n Prison Service vs FC Santa Rosa, YTC Ground, Arouca, 3.30 pm
n Police FC vs Club Sando Cultural Roots Utd, St James Police Barracks, St James, 4 pm
n Cunupia FC vs UTT, Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar, 4 pm
n Bethel Utd vs Matura ReUnited, Mt Gomery Rec. Ground, 6 pm
n Erin FC vs RSSR Utd, Erin Rec. Ground, 6pm