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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday September 5, 2014
Stag Beer ‘West Side’ 5-A-Side football semis tonight … Showstoppers to play New Road Eagles; Stewartville Gunners and De Kinderen to collide
IT ALL boils down to the top four teams in the semifinals and based on the way things have been going so far, more upsets can be expected. The inaugural Ansa McAl/Stag Beer ‘West Side’ 5-a-side football tournament will see Showstoppers, who are coming off a dramatic upset win over former tournament favourites Tuschen Up-Top Youths; play the undefeated New Road Eagles while Stewartville Gunners and surprise contenders De Kinderen Village will go head-to-head tonight from 20:00hrs. Vergenoegen Rice Mill Tarmac was the venue for Wednesday’s quarterfinals that saw Showstoppers and Tuschen Up-Top Youths play each other in a game that went all the way to suddendeath penalty shootout to decide the winner. Showstoppers’ Marvin
Josiah, the tournament’s leading goalscorer, put his team in the lead, scoring his first of a hat-trick in the first minute of the game, but just before the end of the first half, John Waldron equalised for the Tuschen team. The resumption of the game in the second stanza saw Dexroy Adams hit home in the 21st minute, giving Showstoppers a 2-1 advantage. John Waldron completed his double in the 27th minute to silence the large crowd who were in jubilation to see the team many regarded as favourites on the verge of elimination. After both teams failed to find the nets, the game went into extra time, and it was Tuschen Up-Top Youths through back-to-back goals from Calvin Shepherd (33rd and 34th) that took a 4-2 lead which did not last long since Josiah, Showstoppers’
Devon Millington lucky charm completed his hat-trick scoring in the 35th and 39th minutes to send the game to sudden death penalty. The two sides exchanged a number of goals until Tuschen
Up-Top Youths’ Devon Millington missed the goal that could have sent his team to tonight’s semi-finals but instead, he opened the door for Adams to go to the charity spot and calmly tuck the ball
in the goal. So Showstoppers edged one game closer to the tournament’s $200 000 first prize. New Road Eagles kept their unbeaten record intact, doing so when it mattered the most and sending home the lone Georgetown team that remained in the competition following their 2-0 victory. Through goals from Leroy Pedro (20th) and Jermaine Junior (25th), New Road Eagles easily deposed of Broad Street in a game that was a onesided affair. Stewartville Gunners lived up to their nom de plume; shooting their way to a 2-0 win over Uitvlugt. The game got off to a terrifying start as tragedy struck the Gunners with one of their players breaking his leg following a collision with a Uitvlugt player when the two tackled each other. The game was
momentarily brought to a halt as organisers and teammates whisked the player away to a nearby hospital. Showstoppers, though, being the better team seemed motivated to win the game for their fallen player and made light work of Uitvlugt, who had few chances of scoring, having being smothered by the tenacious defending of the victors. Meanwhile, Vergenoegen All-Stars failed to shine when it mattered the most as the tournament’s other undefeated team folded 2-0 to De Kinderen Village. It is anticipated that another mammoth crowd would be on hand as the tournament nears its climax. It’s anybody’s tournament for the taking, with the rollercoaster-like momentum continues, forcing fans to think twice before making a wager on the team they want to win it all.
Serena eyes revenge and Hamstrung Clarke place in U.S. Open final doubtful for Pakistan series By Simon Cambers
MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) - Australia captain Michael Clarke is doubtful for next month’s series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates after scans confirmed an injury to his left hamstring. The 33-year-old strained his hamstring in training before the one-day international (ODI) tri-series against Zimbabwe and South Africa in Harare following a long break from the game and missed the first two matches. He returned to the team during Australia’s humiliating three-wicket loss to Zimbabwe but aggravated the injury and was ruled out of the rest of the tournament.
Clarke returned to Sydney on Tuesday and later had a scan. “Michael Clarke had an MRI scan on returning from Zimbabwe that has confirmed a left hamstring muscle injury,” Cricket Australia physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said. “He will have intensive rehabilitation for this injury and we will be monitoring his progress over the next week before deciding when he can return to training and playing.” Australia will start their series against Pakistan with a Twenty20 International, a format Clarke does not play, on October 5 and will go on to play three ODIs and
Michael Clarke two Tests. “Had a scan on the hamstring, some damage as expected but I will be back fitter and stronger,” Clarke said on his official twitter handle. “I have some great people helping me get my injury right. I will do whatever it takes to get back on the field with the boys.”
NEW YORK, USA (Reuters) - Top-seeded Serena Williams will twin revenge with ambition when she faces Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova today with a berth in the U.S. Open final at stake. Williams is bidding for her third consecutive U.S. Open title and 18th career grand slam victory. But having lost to the left-handed Russian at the 2012 Australian Open, she knows not to take anything for granted. “She’s beaten me before,” the 32-year-old American said of her 17th-seeded opponent. “She moves well, doesn’t care (about reputations), she gives 100 percent. “It’s going to be interesting for me to do the best that I can because she has a lot of momentum going into this match as well.” Having failed to reach the quarter-finals at any of the other three grand slam events this year, Williams joked that reaching the last four in New
York was already a success. “Realising that I don’t have to win anymore, so everything now is just extra,” she said. “That also helps.” Makarova beat seventh-seeded Canadian Eugenie Bouchard and Belarussian 16th seed Victoria Azarenka en route to her first grand slam semi-final and is also in the women’s doubles final.
“I’m trying to stay in the shade and to be in my world,” she said. “But I’m really enjoying playing on the big stage and the big courts with all this crowd. I’m feeling differently than in other places. “I feel that I’m ready. I’m feeling good in my game and mentally and I believe in myself. I was feeling that I can do more than quarters.”
CRICKET QUIZ CORNER (Friday September 05, 2014) Compliments of THE TROPHY STALL-Bourda Market &The City Mall (Tel: 225-9230) & CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL CO. LTD-83 Garnette Street, Campbellville (Tel: 225-6158; 223-6055) Answers to yesterday’s quiz: (1) Tamim Iqbal-37 (2) 62 Today’s Quiz: (1) Who is the current WI Test captain? Who is the Int’l T20 captain? (2) How many Int’l T20 games Bangladeshi Mamadulah has played to date? Answers in tomorrow’s issue