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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday June 29, 2015
Fernandes, Joseph crowned senior National squash champions NICOLETTE Fernandes and Nyron Joseph were crowned champions of this year’s Digicel Senior National Squash Tournament when the curtain came down last evening at the Georgetown Club Squash courts. Joseph recovered from a remarkable two games down to win three games on the trot and as a result, became the 2015 Digicel Senior National Squash Champion. In the marathon fivegame outing the reigning Junior National Champion started slowly, managing to win only six points in the first two games, and threatened to be beaten in the third game when only 9-10 down. What followed was a determined comeback in which the younger Joseph took the third game 12-10, amid several calls as tensions rose.
Nicolette Fernandes The fourth and fifth games were almost too close to call as the players battled point for points with impressive rallies, interrupted by close calls on ‘lets’ and ‘strokes’, which clearly unsettled the players. In the end Joseph showed tremendous commitment in a final point that featured everything from powerful cross-country drops, dives,
Nyron Joseph and eventually an impressively paced drop that proved the deciding stroke in the match to earn Joseph the game 11-8. In the female final Nicolette Fernandes was superb in a 3-0 victory over Ashley Khalil, who showed she was no pushover. She battled through the second game, threatening to even take a game off the world
Gatlin wins 200m in blazing 19.57 at U.S. trials By Gene Cherry EUGENE, Oregon – (Reuters)-Controversial Justin Gatlin set the stage for a world championship showdown with Usain Bolt when he won the 200 metres in a blazing 19.57 seconds at the U.S. trials in Oregon yesterday. Only four people, including world record holder Bolt, have ever run faster than the 33-year-old, whose previous best was 19.68 seconds. “I wanted to come out and make a statement, and that’s what I did,” said the fast starting Gatlin. Training partner Isiah Young was second in 19.93 with the 30-year-old Wallace Spearmon taking third in 20.10. The wind was an allowable 0.4 metres per second. Gatlin, the year’s fastest at 100 and 200, had a bye in the 100 at the trials, but plans to challenge Bolt at both distances in the August world championships in Beijing. They have not met since 2013 with Gatlin, who has served two doping bans,
piling up a two-year unbeaten streak. Olympic champion Jenn Suhr was equally dominate, soaring to the best pole vault performance of the year, 4.82 metres, and Jenna Prandini captured the women’s 200m in 22.20 seconds on the University of Oregon track where she competes collegiately. Candyce McGrone and Jeneba Tarmoh joined her on the team for the world championships. DOMINANT RUN David Oliver showed he will be ready to defend his world 110m hurdles title with a dominant run of 13.04 seconds. Ronnie Ash, world record holder Aries Merritt and Aleec Harris took the next three spots, giving the U.S. four hurdlers in Beijing since Oliver has a bye. Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Galen Rupp, caught up in doping allegations involving his coach Alberto Salazar, made the U.S. team in a second event, the 5,000m. Ryan Hill broke through to win in 13:50.69 with Ben
True second in 13:51.09. Rupp finished third in 13:51.54. Salazar has been accused in a BBC programme and ProPublica story of giving Rupp the banned steroid testosterone in 2002 when Rupp was only 16, and encouraging athletes to misuse prescription drugs. He has denied all the allegations but is under investigation by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), a source told Reuters. Rupp said, “I’ve got nothing to hide. I’ll do whatever I need to do to cooperate with them (USADA).” But fellow distance runner Kara Goucher lashed out at a report Salazar issued denying the allegations. “I understand if you read it through, it looks like I am a liar. I don’t like being labelled a liar,” an emotional Goucher, among those making allegations against Salazar, told reporters after her race. She said she had been talking to USADA about Salazar since 2013 and would welcome a chance to testify under oath.
number 29. In the end Fernandes held her nerve to win that game 15-13, with all the poise and composure expected of a senior professional. Her pedigree was evident in the final game as she almost perfectly executed each stroke to take that game 11-5. The female third-place playoff between Akeila Wiltshire and Ashley DeGroot was tense as the players, off to an uncharacteristically lethargic start, kept getting in the way of each other’s strokes, resulting in a plethora of ‘lets’, clearly unsettling both players. The usually halcyon style of the current left-handed Junior National Champion Wiltshire progressed to a barrage of discontent as both players
briefly lost their composure. In the end Akeila showed better execution amidst the pressure as she recovered from being one game down to take the match 3-1. At the presentation ceremony Guyana Squash Association representative, Tiffany Solomon, extended gratitude on behalf of the association to their premier corporate sponsor Digicel, and to the Georgetown club for playing host to yet another national squash tournament. COMPLETE RESULTS Regan Pollard beat Peter Michael DeGroot 3-0 (11/6, 11/8, 11/8). Akeila Wiltshire beat Ashley DeGroot 3-1 (4/11, 11/5, 11/8, 12/10).
Rebecca Low beat Makeda Harding 3-2 (11/3, 5/11, 10/12, 11/8, 11/9). Nicolette Fernandes beat Ashley Khalil 3-0 (11/7, 15/13, 11/5). Adam Alves beat Anthony Islam 3-0 (11/7, 11/1, 11/9). Joshua Abdool beat Jonathan Hohenkirk 3-1 (15/13, 8/11, 12/10, 11/2). Deje Dias beat Alec Melville 3-0 (11/7, 11/6, 11/7). Larissa Wiltshire beat Taylor Fernandes 3-1 (11/8, 8/11, 11/5, 11/3). Nyron Joseph beat Jason Ray Khalil 3-2 (1/11, 5/11, 12/10, 14/12, 11/8). Senior Open Males 1st: Nyron Joseph 2nd: Jason Ray Khalil 3rd: Regan Pollard 4th: Peter Michael DeGroot Senior Open Females 1st: Nicolette Fernandes 2nd: Ashley Khalil 3rd: Akeila Wiltshire 4th: Ashley DeGroot
Police Commissioner aiming to expand community interaction through Sports ... NC Chairman, Director of Sport laud initiative WITH the Guyana Police Force (GPF) ‘A’ Division partnering with the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) to host its one-day Under-15 football tournament, Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud said that it’s the aim of the force to use sports as an integral role in fostering a closer relationship with communities across Guyana. The tournament is part of the ‘A’ Division strategic plan not only to foster a better relationship with communities within its jurisdiction, but also to create role models, and with football being the most popular sport, it serves as the perfect catalyst for such an initiative. Over ten teams participated in yesterday’s event hosted at the Eve Leary Sports Club ground, representing their respective Police Youth Groups under the umbrella of the ‘A’ Division. The Police Commissioner, while lauding ‘A’ Division Commander Clifton Hicken, made a call to the other divisions of the Police Force to follow their (‘A’ Division) lead on the new approach to combat crime. “What we have is a social crime prevention
(L-R) ‘A’ Division Commander Clifton Hicken, GFF NC Chairman Clinton Urling, Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud and Director of Sport Christopher Jones. continued support to the Guyprogramme, with several fronts of operation; enhancing social cohesion and key among those is an environmental protection programme. All of us that engage in sports understand the competitiveness of the society that we live in, so it prepares us to live in today’s world,” the Commissioner of Police said. Chairman of the GFF Normalisation Committee (NC), Clinton Urling, said that the initiative is a “clear manifestation between the nexus of sport and community development”. Urling pledged the GFF’s
ana Police Force in helping to achieve their goal and noted that football, being the world’s most popular sport is the perfect tool to use in order to reach out to the youths in the community. Director of Sport Christopher Jones spoke of the National Sports Commission’s (NSC) interest in any programme used to charter a course of social development. Jones called for a balance between sports and education, stating: “God forbid, should you pick up a career-ending injury, you must find something to fall back on.”