GAMES

Source: www.trinidadexpress.com By Kwame Laurence New Delhi

Throwing first at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, yesterday, the Trinidad and Tobago field athlete landed the iron ball 19.03 metres.

Fully aware there was just one woman in the field capable of bettering that mark, Borel-Brown knew she would improve on the bronze medal performance she had produced in Melbourne, Australia back in 2006.

It happened so easily. I was just trying to make sure that I didn't mess up, that I got a throw in that could get me into the final and into the medals. When I saw it was 19 I was really excited. And I knew that I didn't exert a lot of effort. It was technically good, so then I thought I would break the world record," she joked.
None of the throwers came close to the 22.63m world record. Valerie Adams, though, established a new Commonwealth Games standard. The reigning champion threw 20.47m in the first round to erase her own 19.66m Games record from the books, seizing the lead from Borel-Brown in the process.

Like Borel-Brown, Adams' first throw turned out to be her best. But while there was no improvement on her opening mark, the champion had the satisfaction of bettering 20 metres in each of the six rounds.

Bronze went to Samoa's Margaret Satupai, who threw a personal best 16.43m.
After receiving her silver medal, Borel-Brown draped the T&T flag across her shoulders, posing for a series of photos as she basked in the moment, the 31-year-old thrower having completed another chapter of T&T track and field history.

In Melbourne, Borel-Brown became the country's first female Commonwealth Games medallist. She remained the lone member of the club up until Friday, when Ayanna Alexander earned triple jump silver to seize the "Most Successful T&T Female" title.

But Alexander's reign was short-lived, Borel-Brown reclaiming the crown less than 24 hours later with her big 19.03m effort. And while 19 metres eluded her for the rest of the competition, there was never any doubt the US-based athlete would join T&T's "Commonwealth Games Multi-Medallist Club".
She is the first female member and the 11th overall, joining the likes of Hasely Crawford, Wendell Mottley, Edwin Roberts, Roger Gibbon and Rodney Wilkes.

There is every likelihood another first will be recorded at the Nehru Stadium today. Rhonda Watkins is the favourite in the women's long jump final, following her 6.56 metres effort in yesterday's qualification event. She was the only jumper to attain the 6.50m automatic qualifying distance.

Alexander, who jumped 6.02m in qualifying, will also compete in today's final.
Borel-Brown told the Sunday Express the strong showing from T&T's female athletes here in New Delhi is not a chance occurrence. "It's the people that came before us. Candice [Scott], people like Ayanna [Hutchinson], people like Fana Ashby, all the female athletes that came, and even before that time. We're more like a team now, we can depend on each other, we can talk to each other more. We could talk about stuff, we could talk about track, and we support each other. We've just been building on the shoulders of the past, just been building and building and building."

Another T&T woman, Aleesha Barber, is listed for action today. She competes for a lane in the 100m hurdles final.
Emmanuel Callender missed out on a medal in the men's 100m by just one-hundredth of a second, the T&T sprinter finishing fourth in Thursday's final in 10.25 seconds. Today, he runs in the first 200m semi-final heat, and hopes to return to the track some two hours later for the championship race.

In the second round, yesterday, Callender finished third in heat two in 20.91 seconds to advance automatically to the semis.

Earlier, in the eighth and final heat in the opening round of the half lap event, the T&T sprinter gave himself a bit of a scare. He shut down too early, and had to step on the gas pedal to claim third spot and a guaranteed lane in the second round. Callender clocked 21.16 seconds.

"I'm just trying to save as much energy as I can," he told the Sunday Express, after his first round heat. "I had only one day's rest [after the 100] so I'm still sore. I'm trying to take it easy and not push myself too hard and burn up all my energy.
"All this is preparation," Callender continued, "for [London] 2012. My coach (John Smith) insisted I run both [sprints] plus the relay, so that I could get the experience of what four rounds feel like."

Callender said he expected to strike gold in the 100m.
"But I ended up cramping up in the blocks and it caused me to pause. When I finished running, my hand cramped up too. Dehydration."

Callender's teammate, Aaron Armstrong, bagged bronze in the 100m in 10.24 seconds.
The haul for Team T&T, ahead of today's action, is four—two silver medals and two bronze. Watkins and Callender are hoping to add a new colour to the collection.

Source: www.newsday.co.tt by Walter Alibey

FORMER national rugby player and coach Rhett Chee Ping has said he is elated at his appointment as chairman of the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago (Sportt).

Yesterday the 44-year-old Chee Ping, who guided Trinidad and Tobago to the Caribbean Rugby Championship both as a player and coach, said he wants to make a difference in the lives of many young people through the avenue of sports.

Only two days ago he got the nod from Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar for the post as Sportt Company chairman, along with numerous others including former manager of the national cricket team Omar Khan, who has been appointed as chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (TTEC).

Chee Ping told Newsday he sees the appointment as an opportunity to make a difference.

“So many people talk about making a difference but when they are given an opportunity they back out. I am not going to be like that,” Chee Ping said. “There is a lot of talent in TT and the challenge is to turn this into something valuable. It’s about how can we develop the youths in TT holistically.”

Chee Ping carries a strong background in the field of sports, having began as a swimmer at the age of nine and graduated to rugby soon after completing studies at the Barry University in the United States in 1990/91 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Management.

He was forced to give up his position as coach of the national rugby team because of the increasing workload and responsibilities as a counsel member of the Caribbean Shipping Association; and on the board of directors at Medway Ltd — a local and regional shipping company.

In addition to being the president of the Shipping Association of TT, Chee Ping is also a director of Gordon Grant and Company Ltd.

He believes that while other responsibilities such as being at the helm of clubs in the domestic rugby league might be a challenge, he holds closely to his heart the duty of national coach as one that cannot be compromised.

“It’s much easier to make time for your club teams, but the difficulty in shouldering that responsibility as coach of the national team, is that you may have to keep people waiting for you etc, because of other responsibilities.”

As such he is still coach of rugby giants Trinidad Northerns, a team that has, along with rivals Caribs RFC, has dominated rugby in Trinidad and Tobago. He is hopeful of using his strong management background, as well as his ability and knowledge of moulding talent, to take development of the youth and the country by extension, to another level.

He explained that while accountability is critical, one can hardly put a price tag on the development.

He is awaiting the completion of a special audit being done on the Sportt Company before work can be started. “I intend to change things around. A simple assignment will be to recognise people’s intention to work at the company through their applications. We must at least say that we have acknowledge their applications.”

He noted that despite the scandal that has tarnished the reputation of the sport company, he will enter with a pure mind. “I will be expecting nothing when I go there to start work,” Chee Ping concluded.

Source: www.trinidadexpress.com  By Kwame Laurence in New Delhi

Ayanna Alexander jumped into the spotlight at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, here in New Delhi, India, yesterday, the 28-year-old securing silver to become Trinidad and Tobago's most successful female athlete in Commonwealth Games history.

Alexander produced a 13.91 metres effort in the second round of the women's triple jump to finish second, behind former world champion Trecia Smith, the Jamaican retaining her Commonwealth crown with a 14.19m jump. Canada's Tabia Charles (13.84m) picked up bronze.

"It feels good," an elated Alexander told the Express, shortly after her silver success. "I wanted to come out here and glorify God with the gift he has given me, and then represent my country to the fullest. I want to make Trinidad and Tobago proud, everybody in Trinidad and Tobago proud, as well as my teammates, my family and my friends…just to fly that flag and represent Trinidad."

Alexander has long been in the shadow of T&T's more celebrated female athletes—Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Rhonda Watkins, Josanne Lucas and Cleopatra Borel-Brown.

"I've come back home a couple times and looked in the newspapers and would see that such and such is going to be triple jumping from this country, such and such is going to be triple jumping from that country, but I didn't see anything about my name. That drives me.

"And just like here, such and such was in medal contention…my name was not mentioned. That's just fuel for me. I'm just trying to make a way for myself and do the best that I can."

Yesterday, Alexander succeeded in her bid to jump out of obscurity, the US-based athlete becoming only the second female from T&T to earn precious metal at the Commonwealth Games. Silver put her at the top of the very short list--ahead of Borel-Brown, the women's shot put bronze medallist four years ago.

"Definitely the start of great things ahead," Alexander declared. "It was an opportunity, a chance to compete hard and put myself out there, and I took advantage of the opportunity. Ayanna Alexander is here!"

Smith grabbed gold yesterday with her only legal jump of the competition. Alexander, on the other hand, had the most impressive series of the 11 athletes on show—13.68, 13.91, 13.68, 13.81, 13.82 and 13.87.

Lalonde Gordon, the lone T&T quartermiler here in New Delhi, finished strong in the third and final men's 400m semifinal heat, crossing the line in a personal best 46.33 seconds to secure fourth spot in the race. The clocking, though, was not fast enough to earn him a lane in today's final.

Alexander will be back at the Nehru Stadium today for the women's long jump qualifying competition. Watkins is also among the athletes who will bid for a berth in tomorrow's final.

Borel-Brown chases precious metal in the women's shot put, and Emmanuel Callender faces the starter in the opening round of the men's 200m.

If Borel-Brown can reproduce the form that saw her clear 19 metres at three meets in Europe in August, she will surely become T&T's first female multi-medallist at the Commonwealth Games.

Source: www.trinidadexpress.com By Kwame Laurence in New Delhi

Roger Daniel just missed out on a third trip to a Commonwealth Games rostrum when he finished fourth in the men's 10 metres air pistol singles event, at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, here in New Delhi, India, yesterday.

The Trinidad and Tobago shooter finished fourth with a score of 673.1, a mere 0.9 short of the 674 total posted by bronze medallist Daniel Repacholi, of Australia. India's Omkar Singh grabbed gold with a score of 681.8, while silver went to Singapore's Bin Gai (676.2).

At the end of the qualification round, Daniel was third with 577, two more than Repacholi. Singh finished first, scoring 584 to equal the Games record, while Gai totalled 580 for second spot.

The other T&T shooter, Rhodney Allen was 14th with a score of 563.

Repacholi was the best of the eight shooters in the final, the Australian outscoring Daniel 99 to 96.1 to edge into third position.

At the 2006 Games, Daniel bagged bronze in the 50m pistol singles. And on Tuesday, he teamed up with Allen for third spot in the 50m pistol pairs event. Yesterday, bronze number three was snatched from the T&T soldier's grasp.

Daniel and Allen are listed for action today in the men's 25m centrefire pistol pairs. And Robert Auerbach will be on show in stage one of the men's singles trap.

Njisane Phillip, Christopher Sellier and Thireef Smart combined for fifth spot in the men's team sprint, at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, yesterday, the final day of track cycling at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The T&T team clocked 47.391 seconds in the qualifying event to trail Australia (44.488), New Zealand (44.583), Malaysia (45.378) and Scotland (46.724).

Australia went on to claim gold in a Games record 43.772, beating New Zealand (44.239) into second spot. In the bronze medal race, Malaysia (45.040) defeated Scotland (46.273).

Emile Abraham completed a little more than half of the scratch race final. With 38 laps to go in the 20-kilometre event, the T&T cyclist was lapped by the race leader. And it was not long before the main bunch reeled him in as well, the red flag going up to signal the end of Abraham's challenge, his hopes of completing the 40-lap race dashed.

Afterwards, Abraham told the Express the cancellation of a proposed pre-Games training camp contributed to his sub-par performance.

"The day before we were supposed to leave we got word that the training camp was cancelled due to lack of funds. It would have been my final stepping stone prior to here. When the training camp was denied it put us in a certain position because we were all counting on that. Each athlete always has a specific programme that they look forward to, and when things don't go that way it kind of screws up the entire preparation.

"We still came out here," he continued, "and put our best foot forward. We tried to represent the country as best as we can and I'm just happy to have made the final. I didn't do as well as I planned but I've got to look forward to the road race [on Sunday]."

Super heavyweight boxer Tariq Abdul Haqq was dominant in his duel with Pakistan's Meer Khan, at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium. Haqq won 10-1 to book a quarterfinal showdown with New Zealand's Joseph Parker.

Welterweight Aaron Prince was also on show, yesterday. He was beaten 11-3 by India's Dilbag Singh.

The T&T men's hockey team lost to South Africa in a Group B fixture, at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. The scoreline, though, was one they could be proud of, the South Africans, ranked 12th in the world, winning 5-3.

Though way down at 29 on the rankings list, T&T were on level terms with their opponents at the halftime interval. Captain Kwandwane Browne scored in the 10th minute to equalise for T&T following a South Africa strike five minutes earlier. And four minutes before the break, Wayne Legerton was on target for a second T&T equaliser.

The 2-2 halftime score was a victory in itself for T&T.

By the 50th minute of the game, South Africa were up 4-2. But T&T remained in contention thanks to Legerton's second item, in the 52nd. The only other goal, however, was scored by Taine Paton, the South African finding the target in the very last minute of the match.

Kwan and company return to the Dhyan Chand Stadium today for a showdown with Canada.

The T&T hockey women were whipped 7-0 by India, yesterday, in their final Group A fixture. T&T lost all four matches to finish at the bottom of the five-team table.

Joshua McLeod, Caryle Blondell and Cadell Lyons were all eliminated in the opening round of the men's 50m freestyle, at the Dr. S.P.M. Aquatics Complex.

McLeod was the fastest of the three T&T swimmers, touching the wall in 23.86 seconds to finish seventh in heat eight and 18th overall. The top 16 swimmers secured semifinal berths.

Blondell and Lyons were 22nd and 25th, respectively, clocking 24.18 and 24.30.

Para-swimmer Shanntol Ince will be in the pool today, competing in the women's 100m butterfly S9.

And at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex, T&T's netballers face Malawi in a Group A fixture.

Source: www.guardian.co.tt

President of the National Association of Athletic Administration (NAAA), Ephraim Serrette, said that the performances of sprinters Aaron Armstrong and Emmanuel Callender in yesterday’s 100 metres final should help them to get funding from the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs’ Elite Athletes Assistance Programme (EAAP). Armstrong won the bronze medal in a time of 10.24 while Callendar placed fourth. The race was won by Jamaican Lerone Clarke (10.12) with England’s Mark Lewis-Francis (10.20) finishing second. The EAAP assists in covering athletes’ expenses as they relate to travel, accommodation, nutritional supplies and medical care for international competition.

Serrette pointed out that since the event was relatively low keyed (the Commonwealth’s top 11 sprinters of 2010 declined to participate), it opened up the chance for Armstrong and Callendar to boost their status.
“I told them before they departed that it was an opportunity for them to get recognition,” he said. “The funding they get is based on their placings at international events so they should be joining the EAAP.”It was T&T’s fourth 100m bronze medal at the Games. Olympic gold medallist Hasely Crawford twice finished third (in 1970 in Edinburgh and 1978 in Edmonton), while Marc Burns was second runner up in Melbourne in 2006.

Ato Boldon won the 100m gold in Kula Lampur in 1998. Serrette added that the results reinforced his belief that athletics is the country’s strongest sport. “Track and field continues to bring T&T results and we are maintaining that presence on the world stage,” he said. “I’m glad to see that we are recognised as a sport that brings glory to T&T, be it at regional or international meets.” He went on to predict that more medals were coming for T&T via its 4x100m team, Cleopatra Borel-Browne (shot put) and Rhonda Watkins (long jump).