SPORTS SECTION E
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017
NBA ACTION
Buddy, Pg 8
‘Fantastic Four’ all set for the Davis Cup tie ‘SUPER By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net THE stage is set for the American Zone II Davis Cup tie this weekend at the Doral Park Country Club in Miami, Florida. The Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association has already sent its fourmember team off as they wind down their preparation to take on Venezuela in what is their home venue. Venezuela opted to play the tie in Miami instead of Venezuela because of the civil unrest there. When the event takes place from Friday to Sunday, top seed Spencer Newman, No.2 seed Philip Major Jr, player/captain Marvin Rolle and No.4 seed Justin Lunn will represent the Bahamas. They will face the team of Ricardo Rodriguez, Luis David Martinez, Jordi Munoz-Abreu and Miguel Angel Este.
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Yohny Romero will serve as Venezuela’s captain. While none of the Bahamian players have any ATP rankings, Venezuela’s top three players do. Rodriguez is listed at No.779 in singles and 923 in doubles; Martinez is pegged at 1237 in singles and 243 in doubles and Munoz-Abreu is 1265 in singles and 316 in doubles. A number of BLTA executives are expected to be joined by offi-
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cials from the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, family members and friends in Miami for the tie this weekend. At the end of the tournament, which will comprise of best-of-five set singles and doubles, the winner will advance to the second round over the weekend of April 7-9 to play the winner between Bolivia and El Salvador to either remain in zone II for 2018 or go on to play for promotion to zone one for 2018
in the third round September 15-17 at a site to be announced. The loser will play the loser between Bolivia and El Salvador over the weekend of April 7-9 with the winner remaining in zone II next year and the loser being demoted to zone III. The team of brothers Baker and Spencer Newman along with Kevin Major and Marvin Rolle as the player/captain pulled the Bahamas out of zone III last year in Bolivia. The Newman brothers pulled off impressive victories to give the Bahamas a 2-0 decision over Jamaica in the clincher. In December during the BLTA’s Annual Giorgio Baldacci National Open, Baker beat Spencer to earn the top spot, while Rolle got third and Kevin Major Jr finished fourth. However, Baker Newman was
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he Government Secondary Schools Sports Association continued its postseason at the Kendal Isaacs Gym last night with HO Nash Lions, the Dame Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins and the DW Davis Pitbulls winning their respective opening games of their best-ofthree championship series. In the late game, the CC Sweeting Cobras and the Anatol Rodgers Timberwolves played in game one of the senior boys’ series, but the result was not available up to press time. The game was played just before the official opening ceremonies and after the three other divisional matches took place. In the earlier games played, the Lions opened defence of their junior girls’ title by nipping the pennant winning SC McPherson Sharks 39-38; the defending champions and pennant winning Pitbulls bite the AF Adderley Fighting Tigers 78-54 and the Mystic Marlins held off the CI Gibson Rattlers 4846. GSSSA president Varel Davis said after an exciting sudden death playoffs last week, they are happy to get the championship off to such a great start. “I’m happy to see that we
Farrington chipped in with seven. After taking the 12-point
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have some new faces in the championship,” she said. “This is the first time in the school history that Anatol has made it this far. Although CC Sweeting has won the Hugh Campbell Championships, they have never won the GSSSA title. So both teams are fighting for something this year. “In the senior girls, we have CI Gibson playing for their first title too, so it’s so good to see them there. It will be interesting to see how they all finish this year. Of course, we have teams like DW Davis and HO Nash, who have proven to be tough to beat in the past, back in the junior boys’ and girls’ finals. So it’s going to be exciting to watch them.” Davis said the GSSSA got off to a pretty good start last week when they hosted the playoffs with the undefeated pennant winning CI Gibson Rattlers and the defending champions Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins both getting eliminated. She noted that the playoffs have set the tone for a keenly contested championship. • Here’s a summary of the games: Pitbulls 78, Fighting Tigers 54: AF Adderley didn’t have any answer for Roscoe Dean, who exploded for a game high 32 points to lead DW Davis to
PLAY ACTION: The DW Davis Pitbulls defeated the AF Adderley Fighting Tigers 78-54 yesterday in the GSSSA basketball junior boys’ championships series at the Kendal Isaacs Gym. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff the opening win in the junior boys’ series. Dean had 10 points as the Pitbulls opened an impressive 29-17 first quarter lead and they
never looked back. Maxim Francois added 16 points, Deangelo Foulkes and Aaron Brown both had eight and Kenvon
By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net THE ‘Super Bowl’ of sailing will be held over the weekend of February 18-19 when the 30th ‘Catch Me If You Can’ St Valentine’s Massacre is held in Montagu Bay. Organiser Eleazor ‘the Sailing Barber’ Johnson said the event has grown from its initial event in 1987. “I remember when Montagu was lone bush. There was no bathroom or nothing there in those days,” Johnson said. “There was also nothing going on after the New Year’s Day Regatta and April when the National Family Island Regatta was held. “So I decided to put something together to get boats to come out to sail and we decided to do it after Valentine’s Day. It turned out to be the biggest regatta that was held in New Providence. They had something to do and they didn’t have to buy any tickets to go away on the Out Island or anything like that.” Johnson said the regatta provided an opportunity for a number of vendors to make some money as they sell their items onshore during the competition between the boats on the water. Since 1993 under Algernon Allen, then the minister of youth, sports and culture, Johnson said the Bahamas Government has come on board and assisted him financially in making the regatta a success. He also lauded Sir Durward ‘Sea Wolf’ Knowles, who came to his assistance from the inception of the regatta. Others who assisted were the Caribbean Bottling Company through its product Coca-Cola; Butler & Sands, distributors of Campari; George Myers from Paradise Island; Arlington Butler, past president of the Bahamas Olympic Committee; Leslie Miller, Member of Parliament for Tall Pines; Wallace Auto and Aquapure. Johnson said persons and companies interested in coming on board to assist in the sponsorship of the regatta are urged to contact him at 324-2946. The highlight for the regatta will be held Sunday (February 19) when Johnson’s Lady in Red, Lady Nathalie will attempt to
Lions, Mystic Marlins, Pitbulls take openers By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
BOWL’ OF SAILING ALL SET
LOC releases ticket prices for the 3rd IAAF World Relays Bahamas
MISS BAHAMAS Cherell Williamson purchases the first ticket for the 3rd IAAF World Relays Bahamas.
THE Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the 3rd IAAF World Relays Bahamas 2017 has released ticket prices for the big event set for April 22-23 at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium. Single session tickets, ranging from $15 to $70, can be purchased at the stadium or online. The ticket prices for general admission are $15, silver is $40, bronze is $50 and the gold section is priced at $70. The 2017 programme includes heats and finals for the 4x100m, 4x200m, 4x400m, and the 4x800m for both men and women. Competitors will also contest a mixed gender 4x400m event.
“The competition on the track will be just as heated as the competition for these tickets,” said Jerome Sawyer, LOC director of communication. “Especially considering what will be on the line for some of these countries,” he added, The top eight finishers in the 4x100m and 4x400m earn automatic entry for the IAAF World Championships in London set for early August. Countries also compete
for the Golden Baton which is awarded to the team with the most points based on position in the finals. The United States was the Golden Baton winner in 2014 and 2015. For the third consecutive time, The Bahamas will host the IAAF World Relays, making history as one of the few countries to host three consecutive championships. The 2017 event will be included in the IAAF World Athletics Series (WAS) of
events as well. Hosting a WAS event is another historic first for The Bahamas. The LOC expects around 30,000 spectators to pack the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium over the two-day event. The stadium has a seating capacity of 15,000. More than 800 volunteers are required for the world-class showing. Tickets can be purchased at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium and online at NSA-Bahamas.com. Tickets booths are open Monday to Friday from 11am to 7 pm and on Saturdays from 11am to 4pm. For more information, call (242) 603-1312.