Kaieteur News
PAGE 40
Wednesday March 01, 2017
CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship
Haynes excited at being named Best Young Player By Franklin Wilson Twenty-one year-old Golden Jaguar beach soccer player Jamal Haynes, a member of the Attention Family Beach Soccer Club based in the Bauxite Mining To w n o f L i n d e n h a s expressed a feeling of excitement having been named as the Best Young Player at the just concluded CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship played at Malcolm Park, Nassau, Bahamas. Haynes’ speed, team spirit, work ethic and showmanship was duly recognised by the panel which picked the top individual performers from the championship that attracted 16 nations including the likes of new champions Panama, beaten finalists Mexico, USA, C a n a d a , Tr i n i d a d a n d Tobago and El Salvador. Speaking with Kaieteur Sport after receiving the Scotiabank Best Young Player trophy, Haynes expressed delight at being recognized and rewarded for his efforts at his first major international tournament, his only prior experience being the Barbados Beach Soccer Showcase which was held in the Land of the Flying Fish from February 10-12, 2017. ”I’m feeling very excited, first time having gotten this experience oversees in one of the biggest tournaments in the world, so I’m feeling very excited about this.” Haynes who scored a
Champions Panama acknowledges their supporters after receiving the winners’ trophy even as dignitaries applaud.
total six (6) goals in the six matches that Guyana played, said that prior to leaving Guyana, he harboured no thoughts of ever winning an individual award but was just focused on going out and executing what his coach thought him to do their best for Guyana. ”My feeling is very high at this moment because I actually made my country proud, they didn’t really
expect this from me but I made my country proud and I too am proud of it.” The Guyana forward said that he would continue to play this version of the sport which is likely to make a quantum leap with regards to spreading across the country. The former Wisburg Secondary and Linden Technical Institute student is encouraging young players
in Guyana to take up the sport and is encouraging them to, “Work hard, stay focused and you will be successful.” Guyana ended 12th of the 16 teams in its first sojourn at this level this level recording victories over Belize 4-1, while losing to Bahamas 1-4 and Jamaica 36 in Group play. In the Playoffs, the Guyanese defeated Antigua and
Barbuda 6-4; lost to Costa Rica 2-5; lost to Antigua and Barbuda 6-8. Following are the final Standings: 1st: Panama, 2nd: Mexico, 3rd: El Salvador, 4th: Guadeloupe, 5th: USA, 6th: Bahamas, 7th: Trinidad & Tobago, 8th: Jamaica, 9th: Costa Rica, 10th: Canada, 11th: Antigua & Barbuda, 12th: Guyana, 13th: Belize, 14th: Turks & Caicos Islands, 15th:
Barbados, 16th: US Virgin Islands. Individual Awards: Golden Ball: Alfonso Maquensi (Panama), Golden Glove: Diego Villasenor (Mexico), Top Scorers: Marlon Meza (Belize) and Jose Ramon Maldonado Alonso (Mexico) (12 goals each), Young Player Award: Jamal Haynes (Guyana), CONCACAF Fair Play Trophy: Canada.
Commonwealth Games 2022: Durban ‘may drop out as host’ BBC Sport - Durban may be unable to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games because of financial constraints, South Africa’s sports minister has said. “We gave it our best shot but we can’t go beyond. If the country says we don’t have this money, we can’t,” Reuters quoted Fikile Mbalula as saying. He said a final decision would be made by the Commonwealth Games Federation. Durban was awarded the Games in 2015 after being the only city to make a confirmed bid. In December, South African officials had said the
country was “fully committed” to hosting the event. The government had estimated the Games could generate up to 20 billion rand ($1.5 bn; £1.2bn) in economic benefit. But Mr Mbalula said the government had been forced to reconsider. “I don’t want to raise your expectations and say everything looks good, it doesn’t because we don’t agree on the fundamentals and that is the operational budget,” he told a media briefing. The Commonwealth Games Federation said it was in the final stages of
reviewing a submission by Durban and it would make a recommendation as soon as the evaluation was complete. The possible withdrawal of Durban has sparked interest in the British city of Liverpool. A spokesperson for the city council said: “Liverpool is interested in hosting the games in 2022. We had heard rumours that Durban might be unable to deliver the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and have already indicated to the government that we are very willing to host them instead.” The Games were first staged in 1930 and are held every four years. They
feature athletes from more than 50 countries, mostly
former British colonies. The 2022 event is due to
be the first time the Games are hosted in Africa.
Durban won the bid and hosted the Games in 2015. (AFP)