Swaminadha, Sam win DeSinco National U12 Chess Championships

Government and corporate Guyana to aid in the infrastructural development of the game, as well as construction of its own indoor facility.

The development of female basketball will also take centre stage, Singh highlighted, following the inclusion of three women (Sonia Rodney, Sileena Arjune, and Leona Kyte) on the Executive Committee.

Meanwhile, the local basketball governing body made two changes to its constitution.

The Michael Singh-led body voted unanimously to change its name from the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) to the Guyana Basketball Federation.

Additionally, the Congress voted solidly to add “AtLarge/Committee” members – a move that the GBF said would add to its ability to properly govern basketball in Guyana.

Georgetown’s Academy Training Centre (ATC) team drew level with East Coast’s ATC on seven points atop the points table, during the recent staging of games in the Tiger Rentals-powered Guyana Football Federation (GFF) National Under13 Developmental League.

Match day three of the inter-Association leg of the Tiger Rentals-sponsored league saw four exhilarating matches being contested at the GFF’s National Training Centre (NTC), Providence on Saturday last.

Bartica ATC enjoyed its first win of the tournament thus far, felling West Demerara 2-0.

Rayleigh Tracy and Lebron

Wharton registered one goal each to secure a much-needed victory for the Region Seven outfit.

Isiah Williams' lone goal was enough to secure three points for East Coast ATC in a thrilling match against East Bank ATC.

Meanwhile, West Berbice breezed past their neighbours

East Berbice in a 3-1 encounter. West Berbice’s 3 came as a result of a brace from Kahiem Hercules and one goal from Ramzan Hussein. Allan Spencer was the lone marksman for East Berbice.

Jashawn Haynes and Darius Chester accounted for Georgetown ATC's 2-1 win over Upper Demerara, after netting one apiece. On the flip side, Anthony Gordon registered Upper Demerara’s consolation goal.

Currently, East Coast ATC leads the league with seven points and a goal difference respectively, as they all played extremely well. advantage on Georgetown’s ATC, which are also on seven points. With six points are Upper Demerara and West Berbice’s ATCs. East Bank, West Demerara, and Bartica ATCs all have three points from one win each, while East Berbice ATC are yet to strike victory in the league.

The DeSinco Limited National Under12 Chess Championships were held on January 28 at School of the Nations, with 25 excited children competing.

The tournament saw keen competition among the top players who were all vying for a chance at the national titles.

Seven rounds of play were contested under a time control of 20 minutes per player, with 5 seconds added to the clock after each move.

Aquilani Swaminadha took the Under12 Open Championship title with 5.5 points. He defeated his counterparts Jacob McDonald, Joseph Prendergast, Javier Davenand, Julian Mohabir, and Arush Ramnarine. His halfpoint came from a draw in the fifth round against 11-year-old Nicholas Zhang.

Swaminadha also won the prize for the Best Under10 player.

Their positions were also determined by the Buchholz tiebreak system.

The Girls’ Under12 champion is Kataleya Sam, who finished ninth overall in the event, with 4 points. Her losses came at the hands of Mohabir, McDonald, and Zhang.

She also took home the prize for Best Under10 female player.

The Tiger Rentals U13 tournament continues next Saturday, February 4, at the same venue.

Zhang went on to claim second place in the competition. While he scored the same points as the champion, he was ranked below Swaminadha owing to the Buchholz tiebreak system, which takes into account the scores of the opponents that a player has defeated. The player with the highest total Buchholz score (the highest sum of the scores of the opponents that the player has defeated) is ranked higher.

In third place for the Open category was McDonald on 5 points. Also on 5 points were Jeremy Cole, Mohabir, and Ramnarine who came in fourth, fifth and sixth in the competition

In second place for the girls was Chelsea Harrison, and third place went to Skyler Gurchuran. Both nine-year-old girls finished on 2.5 points each.

Seven-year-old Landon Mohabir, the youngest player in the tournament, earned a prize for his exceptional performance, gaining a trophy as the Best Under8 player. He finished on three points, having defeated Harrison, Ethon Marks, and Lucas Smith.

Notable performances came from Prendergast, Adam Rahaman, Veer Persaud, Francis Thomas, and Shaheem Khan, who all finished on 4 points.

The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) is very pleased with the performances of the players, most of whom are part of the training programmes provided by the body.

The tournament was supervised by FIDE Arbiter John Lee and National Arbiter Jessica Callender. The GCF expressed immense gratitude to the management of the School of the Nations, who generously provided the venue for the hosting of the tournament. School of the Nations also provides the GCF with the opportunity to hold its weekly chess club for school-aged children on Saturdays.

The GCF also extended its most sincere appreciation to its sponsor, DeSinco Limited, for its unwavering support in the development of chess in Guyana, particularly at the youth level. It said it could not have held the championships without its assistance and looked forward to continuing the partnership in the future.

The next tournament on the GCF calendar will be the Under14 Nationals, which will be held in February and will be announced soon.

West Bank Demerara (Versailles, Vreed-en-Hoop) – Every Weekend. DJ Music. Groups and Excursions welcome – Phone: 264-2946-9.

Squash and boxing were the sports frequently mentioned when the National Sports Commission (NSC) hosted the National Sports Awards for the period 2021-2022 at the National Cultural Centre, on Sunday evening.

The period 2021-2022 was considered by a panel of Journalists and NSC figures, with the year 2020 being struck out, owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

In attendance at Sunday’s soiree were Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr; Director of Sport (DoS), Steve Ninvalle; NSC Chairman Kashif Muhammad; other members of the NSC Board, athletes; officials; and family members.

When the dust settled, it was boxing’s Desmond Amsterdam who was adjudged Sportsman of the Year, while squash’s Nicolette Fernandes was named Sportswoman of the Year, both for their exploits on the international stage.

Full list of awardees:

Sportsman of the Year

Desmond Amsterdam (Boxing)

Runner-up – Tagenarine Chanderpaul (Cricket)

Sportswoman of the Year

Nicolette Fernandes (Squash)

Runner-up – Rosanna Fung (Bodybuilding)

Junior Sportsman of the Year

Shomari Wiltshire (Squash)

Runner-up – Omari Glasgow (Football)

Junior Sportswoman of the Year

Attoya Harvey (Athletics)

Runner-up – Kristen Gomes (Squash)

Sportsman of the Year (Person with Disabilities)

Walter Grant Stuart

Male Coach of the Year

Idi Lewis (Table tennis)

Female Coach of the Year

Tremayne Smartt (Cricket)

Sports team of the Year

Junior Squash Team (CASA)

Association of the Year

Guyana Boxing Association (GBA)

Male Sports Official of the Year

Ryan Sampson (Rifle shooting)

Female Sports Official of the Year

Ann Gordon (Basketball, Football, etc)

Corporate Sponsor of the Year

Large – ANSA McAL

Medium – Mohamed’s Enterprise

Small – MVP Sports

Sport Journalist of the Year

Print – Duncan Saul

Broadcast – Akeem Greene

Non-Print – Avenash Ramzan

Posthumous Award

Gokarn Ramdhani (Badminton)