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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Welshman eyeing Golden Jaguars return for Caribbean Cup By Rawle Toney
EMERY Welshman could not have asked for a better start to 2016 football campaign. Last week, the 24-year-old signed with Real Salt Lake FC for this season in the USA’s Major League Soccer. But despite all that he has achieved, nothing beats playing for the ‘Golden Jaguars’. Guyana will compete in the 2016/2017 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Cup tournament, drawn in Group 5 alongside Puerto Rico and Anguilla. The Scotiabank-sponsored championship will kick off in March (21-29) with all of the countries under the CFU, except Haiti, Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago, who are all still participating in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Round two of the Championship is scheduled for May and Round three in October. The 5th Place playoff will take place in November and the finals in May 2017. The top four teams will qualify to the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Since their 2018 World Cup qualifier against the ‘Vincy Heat’ (St Vincent and the Grenadines), the Golden Jaguars were dormant and now, head coach Jamaal Shabazz will reassemble his troops to better
their 2007 showing at the tournament, where Guyana narrowly missed out on a spot in the semi-final and ultimately the CONCACAF Gold Cup. “It’s been a while since we’ve been together, so I am looking forward to getting back to Guyana and playing with the guys again and representing Guyana,” Welshman said yesterday in an exclusive interview with Chronicle Sport. However, his selection, according the striker, will depend heavily on if Shabazz will have a well-funded Golden Jaguars team by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF); one that will allow him (Shabazz) to put together the best possible team, inclusive of all the overseas-based players. “It would be great if I was selected for the Caribbean Cup,” Welshman said, while adding, “hopefully the boss (Shabazz) sees me in his plans”, Welshman pointed out that the drive and passion is always there whenever called upon to ‘roar’ for the Golden Jaguars” The former Toronto FC forward, shied away from speculating on the composition of the Caribbean Cup squad only stating “I’d like to see all the players involved in competitive matches, with their clubs before qualifiers, so training camp is not entirely
CRICKET QUIZ CORNER
(Tuesday November 03, 2015) COMPLIMENTS OF: THE TROPHY STALL Bourda Market & The City Mall (Tel: 225-9230) & AUDREY’S TASTY SNACKETTE 176 Charlotte Street, Georgetown (Tel: 226-4512) Answers to yesterday’s quiz: (1) 5 (2) 10
Today’s Quiz: (1) How many players have claimed a hat-trick on their Test match debut? (2) Who is the first player to do the hat-trick in ODI cricket? Answers in tomorrow’s issue
Emery Welshman in action for Guyana
based on fitness and more on the football.” Welshman made five appearances for the Golden Jaguars, all coming last year, scoring three goals; the first being against Barbados in an International Friendly and the others against St Vincent and the Grenadines at the Guyana National Stadium in the
World Cup qualifiers. Real Salt Lake starts the year in the 2015/16 CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal Round, opening the schedule in Monterrey, Mexico, against Tigres UANL on Wednesday, February 24, with the return leg at Rio Tinto Stadium on Wednesday, March 2.
Guyana exit CFU Futsal Tournament with 3-2 win over Antigua GUYANA bowed out of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Futsal Tournament with a 3-2 win over Antigua and Barbuda in Havana, Cuba yesterday. The Guyanese team, competing at the tournament for the first time since 2008, had suffered back-toback defeats in their previous Group ‘A’ matches. A 5-2 loss to Curacao on the tournament’s opening day, followed by a
heartbreaking 4-3 defeat to Trinidad and Tobago meant that the team, coached by GFF Technical Director Claude Bolton, were eliminated along with Antigua, Jamaica and St Maarten. Meanwhile, by virtue of finishing on top their respective groups, Cuba and Curacao will be CFU’s representatives at the 2016 CONCACAF Futsal Championship, which will be held in Costa Rica in May.
South Africa bans Bodi for 20 years for match-fixing PRETORIA, South Africa (Reuters) - Former South Africa international Gulam Bodi has been banned from all cricket-related activities for 20 years after admitting he attempted to fix matches in the country's domestic Twenty20 competition this season. Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced the punishment yesterday following an investigation conducted by the organisation's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit. Five years have been suspended on condition that Bodi is not found guilty of a similar offence and that he participates in corruption-related player education programmes. "Our attitude to corruption will always be one of zero tolerance," CSA chief executive officer Haroon Lorgat told a news conference. "There is no doubt that
Mr Bodi's actions have threatened the integrity and image of the game that we love and he must be handed a strong punishment. We have had many discussions with Mr Bodi and he accepts the folly of his actions. "We are fortunate in this instance that several players rejected his approaches." Cricket has been hit by several separate incidents of match-fixing in recent years. Lorgat did not reveal if any players were being investigated for their potential roles in the saga, but CSA did confirm "certain aspects of the investigation are on-going". Bodi, who was born in India and moved to South Africa as a teenager, played two one-day internationals and one Twenty20 match for the national side in 2007. (Reporting by Nick Said, editing by Ed Osmond)
Unseeded Murray crowned RTC tennis champion THE Men’s final of the RTC Championships closed with the biggest twist of the tournament when the unseeded Ronald Murray dashed the hopes of the Number 2 seed, Leyland Leacock, of being the first RTC Champion. According to a press release, the skills of Leacock were heightened at the beginning of the match while hitting the ball with clean surgical precision that awarded him a 3/1 lead. This did not rattle Murray as he held his composure to quickly take back the break and return on serve. The two matched each other to the point of 5-5 until Murray took the window of opportunity on Leacock’s serve to break and clinch the opening set. Excellent volleying by Leacock built up his confidence at the net. This did not deter Murray to produce some incredible passing shots. The scoreboard pressure mounted on Leacock in the second set at 5-4 to Murray. He found himself serving to stay in the match and a focused Murray glared across the net with the hunger to win. Silence pervaded the atmosphere with the toss of the ball. Spectators held their breath, as they riveted their gaze on the dead-
ly forehand passing shot which blasted past Leacock at the net to make Murray champion. The gathering stood and cheered the two players. The second semi-finals highlighted the hard work Carol Humphrey put in throughout the years to still have the ability to ruffle the feathers of young Afruica Gentle. Humphrey appeared unsettled on the court and slid several times at the beginning of the match. The young Gentle was not gentle with the ball and performed in better form than a year ago in her encounter with the veteran. In the first set, Humphrey was a casualty at the hands of the young Gentle. The second set started with the same momentum when Gentle took a 3-0 lead. At this point Humphrey held her first game and banished the score from her thoughts. She played more freely and marshalled better points with longer rallies. She swept the match in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 to set up a final against Cristy Campbell. This is the first meeting of the two. Number two seed, Gentle the big hitter will have to work hard against one of the best ladies defenders Campbell.