04132018 sports

SPORTS SECTION E

NPBA

Finals, Page 4

FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2018

Jeffery Gibson wins silver in the 400m hurdles

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net GOLD Coast, Australia — Jeffery Gibson added a little bit of history for himself at the XXI Commonwealth Games.

He became the first Bahamian male athlete on the track and just the second to repeat as a medallist in the same event at the four-yearly games.

After settling for a bronze in Glasgow, Scotland in 2014, Gibson used his tall 6-foot, 1-inch frame to power his way down the home stretch out in lane eight to improve to silver with a season’s

best of 49.10 seconds to trail British Virgin Island’s Kyron McMaster, the gold medallist in 48.25 and holding off Jamaica’s Jaheel Hyde, the bronze medallist in 49.16.

“I couldn’t be happier with myself. I think that sometimes we look at the statistics and not everyone comes back and medals in an event like this, with it being so early in the season to expect championship times and championship performances,” Gardiner said. “So I’m elated and grateful that I can come back and medal.

“I know that when I was warming up, I was having some technical difficulties that could

JEFFERY Gibson on podium. (AP)

deter me or break me mentally, but I told myself you’re coming out with champions and you’re a champion yourself. Run like a champion, focus on what you want to do, visualise yourself winning and just bring it on home.”

Bradley Cooper was the first two-time Commonwealth Games medallist, with a silver in Edmonton, Canada, in 1978 and gold in Brisbane, Australia, in 1982.

Gibson, now in the training camp with Steven Gardiner in Florida, stumbled coming out of the blocks, but he was able to regain his composure and running blind on the outside, he fought right until the very end to get back

on the podium for the second consecutive trip to the games.

“The blocks are a little different from what I’m accustomed, but that stumbling, I went over my first hurdle a little crazy and I told myself that there’s nine more, focus on the rest of the race, lead the race from lane eight and if they have to take this medal away from you, you’re going to make them fight for it” he reflected.

“When I realised that I was at the 160 to go and it didn’t seem as if anyone was coming, I was like just run away with this race. As I came on the home stretch, some

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Striking gold!

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net GOLD Coast, Australia — On a night when three Bahamians mounted the podium to receive their medals at the XXI Commonwealth Games, Shaunae Miller-Uibo got the national anthem to be played in the Carrara Stadium as she received the gold from Jamaica’s retired icon Usain Bolt for her record-breaking performance in the women’s 200 metre final.

Not only did Miller-Uibo pull away from the field out of lane three, she posted 22.09 seconds to erase Bahamian sprint superstar Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie’s Commonwealth Games record of 22.20 that she set in 2002 in Manchester, England. That year, Ferguson-McKenzie also won the 100m and she helped the Bahamas win the 4 x 100m relay.

This year, the spotlight was on MillerUibo in her Commonwealth Games debut and she didn’t disappoint anyone as she added the Commonwealth title to the bronze she picked up in the 200m at the IAAF World Championships last year in London, England, following her disappointing slip from gold to fourth place in the 400m.

The 2016 Olympic 400m champion, sporting a silver colouring in her hair, said it was just an honour to clinch the title here.

“It’s a good feeling, an accomplishment that came early in the season in April. I know a lot of the girls are not in tip-top shape, neither am I, but I’m happy with the gold and I’m happy with the time.

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Shaunae Miller-Uibo wins 200m

GOLD RUSH: Shaunae Miller-Uibo celebrates winning gold in the 200m final yesterday during the Commonwealth Games at Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast, Australia. SEE MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE 8 (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Bianca ‘BB’ Stuart 8th overall in long jump final

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net GOLD Coast, Australia — Although it wasn’t exactly what she wanted, Bianca ‘BB’ Stuart was still delighted to walk off the field at the Carrara Stadium as an

PLAYOFFS, Page 5

eighth place finisher in the women’s long jump final at the XXI Commonwealth Games.

In the midst of all of the excitement for Team Bahamas with Shaunae Miller-Uibo’s recordbreaking gold medal performance and Jeffery Gibson adding another silver in the men’s 400m hurdles to Jamal Wilson’s first one in the men’s high jump, Stuart was hoping that she would get on the podium as well last night.

The 29-year-old national record holder was only able to match the same position that she posted in her first appearance at the fouryearly games in 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Her best leap of 6.30 metres or 20-feet, 8-inches came on the fifth of her attempts as she watched as Canada’s Christabel Nettey took the gold with 6.84m (22-5 1/4), while Australia’s Brooke Stratton got the silver with 6.77m (22-2 1/2)

and England’s Shara Proctor was awarded the bronze with 6.75m (22-1 1/4).

“It was slightly better than yesterday,” said Stuart about her leap of 6.27m (20-7) she did the night before to secure the 11th place in the qualifying round. “A small improvement is always good. It’s still not what I wanted distance wise, but I gave it my all and the eighth place result was what we got so I was happy to make the final.”

With the assistance of coach Peter Pratt on the sidelines in the stands, Stuart said her performance has certainly given her some reason to look forward to the rest of the season with great anticipation.

“My approach is a little off, so just a little bit more repetition in practice and I should be able to get it together,” she said. “I will go

SEE PAGE 2

BIANCA Stuart competes in the long jump finals yesterday.

(AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

MEN ADVANCE TO 4 X 400M FINAL, WOMEN GO STRAIGHT TO 4 X 100M SHOWDOWN

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net GOLD Coast, Australia — The Bahamas will have two teams in the relay finals on Saturday as the closing out competition at the XXI Commonwealth Games after the women’s 4 x 100 metres went to a straight final and the men’s 4 x 400m team clinched a third place in their heats today at the Carrara Stadium.

While the women didn’t have to compete, the men’s team of Ojay Ferguson, Alonzo Russell, Michael Mathieu and Ramon Miller clocked three minutes and 04.62 seconds to finish behind Jamaica (3:03.97), India (3:04.05) and Australia (3:04.22 SB) in the last of two heats.

However, Australia was disqualified, moving the Bahamas into third for the final automatic spot. Trinidad & Tobago followed the Bahamas in 3:05.84 for fourth place and the Turks and Caicos Islands got fifth to also qualify with the two fastest losing times.

The first heat also had some drama as only the three automatic teams advanced out of the first heat. They were Botswana, Kenya and Fiji. England didn’t finish as their lead off runner Matthew HudsonSmith pulled up at the start of the first leg and Nigeria got disqualified.

Ferguson, a replacement for Steven Gardiner who didn’t make the trip here, got the team started out in lane eight in a split of 46.2 as he put the Bahamas out front on the first exchange to Russell. The Grand Bahama native had the fast split of 45.4 to maintain the lead taking the baton to Mathieu, another Grand Bahamian. Back after running two rounds in the 400m, Mathieu got caught

by Jamaica’s Jamari Rose on the back stretch, but made it a battle to the line in his split of 46.63.

Miller got the baton and was out front up to the final curve when he got caught.

On the front stretch, he was passed by Jamaica, India and Australia to finish fourth in his split of 46.34.

“I felt good about it. I felt good going into the race,” he said. “I just wanted to go out there and do my best.

Thank God I did just that.”

Going into the final, Ferguson said they have to finish much better if they intend to get on the podium with a medal.

Russell declined to comment, but Mathieu said it was good for the guys to get a blow out like he did in the 400m before the final.

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PAGE 2, Friday, April 13, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

ZHARNEL Hughes collides (arms) with Jerome Richards.

(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

BAHAMAS’ Shaunae Miller-Uibo celebrates winning gold yesterday in the 200m final at Carrara Stadium.

(AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

DRAMA IN 200: HUGHES DISQUALIFIED, MILLER-UIBO WINS WOMEN’S TITLE

By JOHN PYE AP Sports Writer GOLD COAST, Australia (AP) — The expected duel between Olympic champions was a lopsided contest, with Shaunae Miller-Uibo winning the women’s 200 metres in a Commonwealth Games record and Elaine Thompson missing out on a medal.

Zharnel Hughes thought he’d won the men’s 200 but he missed out on a medal, too. Hughes was given provisional first place in a photo finish with Jareem Richards when they crossed in 20.12, but Hughes was later disqualified.

Hughes and world championship bronze medallist Richards were in adjacent lanes and their arms collided only metres from the finish line.

Richards, who was inside Hughes and closing in on him quickly down the straight, appeared to be impeded, but

GIBSON FROM PAGE 1

of the runners came up on me, especially Jack Green in lane seven. He came up on me pretty fast. His turn was much faster than mine. But after clearing the last two hurdles perfectly and keeping my stride, I was able to line up evenly with them at the end.”

As the tallest competitor in the field, Gibson was able to accelerate through the line and got the lean at the tape to secure his second Commonwealth Games’ medal and the second silver for Team Bahamas just after Jamal Wilson was awarded the first for his accomplishment in the men’s high jump the night before.

“I couldn’t be more happy. I’m grateful, forever grateful,” he summed up. “I can’t wait to share this news with so many people.

My team-mates have especially pushed me and cheered for me. I want them to know that this is for them.”

The two silver medals along with Shaunae Miller-Uibo’s gold in the women’s 200m in a Games’ record-breaking performance highlighted a great day for Team Bahamas in the Gold Coast.

didn’t know he’d been awarded the win until the pair had completed a lap of honour. A later protest by Hughes was rejected by officials. “He definitely saw me coming because he broke up when I was coming up on him and I felt his arm hit me across my chest,” Richards said. “I feel for him. To see somebody who is a track and field friend lose a medal is not a good feeling, but also I gained a gold medal from that. I’m thankful, but I feel for his loss.”

Aaron Brown of Canada took silver in 20.34 and Northern Ireland’s Leon Reid moved into third.

It was a second gold of the meet for Trinidad and Tobago, after Michelle-Lee Ahye won the women’s 100 title and relegated Jamaicans to silver and bronze.

Watching it all was eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt, now retired but at the Carrara Stadium to present the medals to the women’s 200-metres champion.

KYRON MCMASTER, of the British Virgin Islands, celebrates after crossing the finish line to win the gold in 400m hurdles final.

(AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) Many expected him to be draping the gold medal over the neck of fellow Jamaican Thompson, who won the 100-200 double in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Instead it was Miller-Uibo, who won the Olympic 400-metre title with a memorable diving finish,

who won the women’s 200 title in 22.09, taking 0.11 off the games record set by another Bahamas sprinter, Debbie Ferguson, in 2002.

Shericka Jackson of Jamaica took silver in 22.18 and Dina Asher-Smith of England was third in 22.29, fractionally ahead of Thompson.

“Me and Eileen, we compete a lot. She’s a great competitor.

It’s early in the season, so a lot of people weren’t in too great shape, but I think we put on a great show for the crowd,” Miller-Uibo said.

She was surprised that Thompson didn’t finish on the podium.

“Of course it’s a little shocking, but ... anything can happen in the summer.”

Earlier, Kyron McMaster won the 400-metre hurdles gold medal to give the British Virgin Islands its first medal ever at the Commonwealth Games.

He won in 48.25 seconds ahead of Jeffery Gibson of the Bahamas and Jaheel Hyde of Jamaica.

McMaster dedicated the title to his former coach Xavier “Dag” Samuels, who died last year when Hurricane Irma hit the Caribbean.

MEN ADVANCE TO 4 X 400M FINAL, WOMEN GO STRAIGHT TO 4 X 100M SHOWDOWN FROM PAGE 1 “I felt like I can do a little better tomorrow,” he said. “I think everybody should come back better, which is good.”

Miller, who has anchored a few teams before, said he was pleased with his performance.

“My leg was pretty good. I had a lot of fast guys on my leg, but I’m just getting back into the swing of things, so I just want to thank God for us making it back. That was the main goal,” he said.

For the final, Miller said they will have to make some adjustments, but he’s certain that the coaching staff will figure it out.

The final is all set for 5:05pm Saturday (Australian time) with the Bahamas in lane eight again. Fiji is in seven, Jamaica six, India five, Kenya four, Botswana three, Turks and Caicos two and Trinidad & Tobago in lane one.

At the last Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, the team of LaToy Williams,

MEN’s 4 x 400m team (l-r) of Ramon Miller, Michael Mathieu, Alonzo Russell and Ojay Ferguson. They advanced to Saturday’s final.

Mathieu, Russell, Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown and Andretti Brown clinched a silver behind England and ahead of Trinidad & Tobago.

As for the women’s 4 x 100m relay, that race is scheduled for 2:57pm (Australian time) with the Bahamas in lane seven.

Trinidad and Tobago is in eight, Nigeria six, England five, Cameroon four, Ghana three, Australia two and Jamaica in lane one.

The Bahamas got sixth place in Glasgow with the team of

Katrina Seymour, Sheniqua ‘Q’ Ferguson, Cache Armbrister and Nivea Smith.

Seymour is in the pool with Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Anthonique Strachan, V’Alonee Robinson, Tamara Myers and Bianca Stuart.

The Bahamas will be looking to add to the three medals - Miller-Uibo’s gold in the women’s 200m, Jeffery Gibson’s silver in the men’s 400m hurdles and Jamal Wilson’s silver in the men’s high jump won so far.

McMaster had the word “Guidance” tattooed onto his left biceps and printed on the wristband on his right arm as a tribute to Samuels.

“Tonight the gold meant a lot to the country, but I did what my coach would have wanted me to, go out there and run my race,” McMaster said. “He’s with me everywhere I go.”

The first gold medal of the night went to Jamaica, with Janieve Russell winning the women’s 400metre hurdles.

Canada’s Christabel Nettey won the women’s long jump with a leading mark of 6.84 metres and Wycliffe Kinyamal won Kenya’s first gold medal of the games with victory in the 800 metres in 1:45.11, holding off Kyle Langford of England.

Australia picked up gold medals in the pole vault and the women’s discus.

Kurtis Marschall cleared 5.70 metres on his third and final attempt to edge Canada’s Shawn Barber. Dani Stevens broke a 20-year-old games record to win the women’s discus in with a best throw of 68.92 metres.

STUART FROM PAGE 1

back to training and I may take a couple of weeks off and probably won’t compete again until early May. I just don’t know yet.”

Having made it to the top eight to complete all six tries in the final, Stuart said she is hoping to go to the Central American and Caribbean Games in July in Colombia where she feels she can improve on her performance here once she can correct her approach to the board.

While her best mark came on her fifth attempt, Stuart also did 6.27m (20-7) on her first try, scratched the second, posted 6.29m (20-7 3/4) on the third and 6.25m (20-6 1/4) on the fourth, but scratched the sixth and final attempt.

Stuart, 29, rebounded from what she called “disappointing performances” at the IAAF World Championships last year in London, England, and the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016 when she failed to get out of the qualifying rounds. She did make the podium, getting a silver at the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, in 2015, the same year she also didn’t advance out of the preliminaries at the World Championships in Beijing, China.

Miller-Uibo strikes gold at the Commonwealth Games FROM PAGE 1 It shows that I’m on pace for the summer to come and I’m excited to see what happens.” Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson got the silver in a lifetime best of 22.18 with Dina Asher-Smith of England clinching the bronze in 22.29. Olympic champion Elaine Thompson was left off the podium in fourth in 22.30.

Miller-Uibo, who got an early 23-year-old birthday present here (born on April 15), said she didn’t know whether having her parents, Maybelene and Shaun Miller in the stands, breaking FergusonMcKenzie’s record or getting the medal from Bolt was the highlight of the achievement here, but she was just happy to get the gold for the Bahamas.

“The main thing was to come here and try to take the gold. I wasn’t too focused on the time, but I’m happy with the time and I give God all thanks and praise for it,” she said. “I’m in great shape,

so I just have to stay healthy for the rest of the season.”

Her inspiration came from the parental support she got from her parents, May, who served as the assistant track team manager and Shaun Miller, who was her coach.

“It was a great feeling. I had them in the back warming up with me, so it was great to have them there,” she said. “They have been my support system since I was a young girl so just to have them, so just to see them in the crowd and so happy makes me a happy camper.”

Her performance followed the come-back silver medal achievement by Jeffery Gibson in the men’s 400m hurdles and as Jamal Wilson received his silver medal in the men’s high jump from the night before. Team Bahamas was looking for a fourth medal, but Bianca ‘BB’ Stuart could only muster an eighth place in the women’s long jump.

“It was a great feat. We had a competitive field of girls, a lot of PRs in the field as well. I’m just

thankful for it and give God the glory,” she emphasised.

Having spent the past two seasons concentrating on winning the gold at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the 400m and attempting the 200/400m double at the IAAF World Championships in London, England, Miller-Uibo said she just wants to have some fun this year and hopefully this will be the start of that as she gears up for the cycle.

“After this year, we have three more years to come so me and my coach wanted to take it as easy as possible, so we’re going to have a little more fun and try and do a few more 200m rather than 400m this year and see where it takes us,” she said. “We’re still going to be doing 400m training, but just go out and enjoy the 200m.”

Miller-Uibo certainly had a lot of fun at the games. She came out sporting a gray and lilac hairdo that she decided to switch up for the occasion. “A lot of people liked it. They started calling me Stormy, so I just flew with it,” she

said. “A lot of people were like she’s bringing the storm today, so storm it is.”

As for receiving the medal from Bolt, who retired in as the greatest male track and field athlete in London, Miller-Uibo said it was an honour. “It was a great feeling to get it from a legend like himself. I was so excited.,” she reflected. “I was hoping that I could have rushed back to get a quick snap with him, but it is what it is. But I was really excited.”

When asked if he said anything special to her, she noted: “He just wished us congratulations.”

Among the first set of congratulations she got was from her parents and head coach Rupert Gardiner, who was on the sidelines waiting to greet her at the finish line. “This feels great.

During her warm-up, she was experiencing something with her legs. She had a personal prophet assigned to her, so I had to call her,” May Miller said. “She covered her right on the phone right before the race, telling her that all

is well. Just go out and do what you have to do and it showed here in the results. To God be the glory.”

Her father echoed the sentiments: “To God be the glory” and he took it a bit further.

“This one, this one was for the Bahamas,” he said. “She was going through a lot this week with the passing of one of her close cousins Tiffany Powell and this was on her mind too. But she put it all together and did it for the Bahamas. It feels good right now to get the first gold medal for the Bahamas.”

And Gardiner said Miller-Uibo executed the race to perfection.

“We anticipated that gold medal to top it all off with a great performance for Team Bahamas,” he stated. “The team did well. She did well.”

With her 23rd birthday coming up at the close of the games on April 15, Miller-Uibo said she will begin the celebrations with prayer and dinner with her parents.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, April 13, 2018, PAGE 3

High jumper Jamal Wilson: ‘But the silver feels like gold for me’

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net GOLD Coast, Australia — Putting any celebrations he had intended on hold until after he received his hardware, Jamal Wilson said it’s so surreal that he finally won his first senior international medal at the XXI Commonwealth Games.

On Thursday night at the Carrara Stadium before the start of day five of the athletic competition, Wilson was awarded his silver medal for his performance the night before when he

soared 2.30 metres or 7-feet, 6 1/2-inches to finish behind Australia’s gold medallist Brandon Starc and ahead of Canada’s Django Lovett.

He said he didn’t get to celebrate because there was so much going on with people from the Bahamas sending him congratulatory messages.

“I think tonight is going to be a little bit different,” he said. “Last night was a wonderful night with a lot of love from home.”

With the medal around his neck, Wilson said he feels like he’s five pounds heavier. “I need to put on a few pounds, but I need to

win a few more medals so I can pack on some more pounds,” he said.

“But it feels good. It’s a silver, but the silver feels like gold for me. It’s my first major medal. I’m happy to make my family proud and make my people proud.”

The season has just started for Wilson, who intends to go to the Central American and Caribbean Games in Mecxico in July and hopefully he can duplicate the feat.

He said he and his long-time coach Ronald Cartwright will go over their strategy and decide on how they will proceed.

JAMAL Wilson bites his silver medal that we won in the high jump.

VETERAN WRESTLER MACKEY’S ‘SPEED AND TECHNIQUE’ WILL BE ON DISPLAY

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net GOLD Coast, Australia — Rashji Mackey said having sat and watched Sean Wrinkle compete on the first day of competition in wrestling at the Carrara Sports Arena 1, he’s looking forward to stepping on the mat and performing on the final day of competition in the XXI Commonwealth Games on Saturday.

Here for his second appearance at the four-yearly games, Mackey will be fighting the men’s freestyle 86 kilogram class where he will take on Kevin Wallen from Jamaica in the quarter-finals. A win and he will advance to the semi-finals. The final is set for later in the day.

“I feel wonderful. I’m excited. I couldn’t wait for this opportunity to come by again,” he said. “I just feel really excited. I can’t wait to fight.”

After watching the first day of competition, Mackey said he’s not concerned at all about his draw.

“I go based on endurance and technique,” he stressed. “I’m not worried about anybody. Muscle is good, but I prefer speed and technique and I think that is what will pull me through.”

In his first appearance at the games in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2014, Mackey admitted that he wasn’t as prepared as he should have been four years ago.

But he has assured the Bahamian public that he’s ready to go out and put on a show here in the Gold Coast.

“I’ve been doing a lot of cardio, weightlifting and basically training hard because I know that the competition is going to be stiff,” he said. “I think I have done sufficient work to get me ready to

compete here, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

Coach Clarence Rolle, who is also the president of the Bahamas Wrestling Federation, said he’s expecting some great things from Mackey.

“He’s our veteran.

He’s the guy that we look up to,” Rolle said.

“He’s been through this before and the minor technical mistakes that Sean (Wrinkle) made competing in his first international competition, I don’t expect that from Rashji. He’s been here before and so he’s ready and I expect that he would have surpassed that level.”

Against Wallen, Rolle said he has a lot of confidence that Mackey will succeed.

“You will see him use the methods he’s learned over the years and his incredible strength that

TABLE TENNIS: ADRIAN ROLLINS PLEASED WITH HIS PERFORMANCE

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net GOLD Coast, Australia — After meeting and playing against some of the best players in the world, Adrian Rollins said he can go home quite content with his trip here to represent the Bahamas in table tennis at the XXI Commonwealth Games.

While he broke the barrier as the first Bahamian to represent the Bahamas in the four-yearly games, Rollins said he played his best, matched against players who possess a lot more experience than he did.

“Some of them come from countries where there are several million people and they have a lot more players playing the sport and they were considered the best in their country, so for me to come here from the Bahamas where our numbers, in terms of players, are much smaller, I feel it was a good experience.”

Rollins said his match against Sri Lanka’s Rohan Sirisena on Tuesday was an intense one. The match lasted 14 minutes as Sirisena won 4-0. He took game one 11-3 in three minutes, game two 11-2 in three minutes as well, game three 11-4 in three minutes and 11-6 in four minutes.

In his second match, Rollins lost to Vanuatu’s Ham Lulu 4-0 in 15 minutes as well, but the outcome of each game was much closer.

Lulu won 11-3 in the first game in three minutes, 11-7 in the second in four minutes, 11-6 in the third in four minutes and 11-5 in the fourth in four minutes.

“I enjoyed the experience, but I felt I could have done a little better with a little more training,” he said. “Obviously these guys have been at the Commonwealth Games several times before, so that exposure to the games gave them a slight advantage over me. But I’m feeling that

COACH Shemaka Fernander (left) and Adrian Rollins. whoever we send back here, will have my experience that I will pass on to them.”

As a civil structure engineer by profession and the oldest member of Team Bahamas at age 54, Rollins said he’s an easy going guy who started playing when he was in college.

But he’s now a member of the Bahamas Table Tennis Association that meets and plays on a regular basis at the YMCA building on JFK Drive. “We play in Nassau and in tournaments in South Florida. Several of us also visited and played in the US Open,” Rollins said. “Since we started the Bahamas Table Tennis Federation, they had a team that represented the Bahamas at the US Open for the first time last year.

“We intend to do that this year again, plus we have one or two more tournaments like the Central American and Caribbean Games in July in Mexico that we will go to as a team from the Bahamas. I intend to be on that team going to the Central American and Caribbean Games, so the experience I gain here should help me there.”

Shemeka Fernander, who serves as the secretary

general for the federation and was the coach of Rollins here, said she thought he represented the country well in his debut.

“I noticed some strengths and some weaknesses,” she pointed out. “We serve a little different in the Bahamas and I think that was something that threw him off his game a little bit.

I noticed it also with his opponent. You’re supposed to throw the ball six inches up in the air, which we normally do, but it looked a little short, which messed both of the players up.

“I was very pleased with his game against the player from Sri Lanka. I believe if he had to play another game or two, he could have won. So I was very happy with his performance.”

Fernander said they will definitely take advantage of the experience and they hope to send some younger players to come here to compete in about four years.

She said they are already in a number of public and private schools and now that they have been exposed to this level of competition, they can only see the sport expand in the future.

WRESTLING manager/coach Clarence Rolle is flanked by competitors Sean Wrinkle and Rashji Mackey (far right). we have been working on,” he said.

“He’s very technically sound, so I’m expecting a win and then we will move onto the next round.”

Mackey, 24, has been around for a while, having competed at

the Pan American Championships twice in 2008 and again in 2016. He’s hoping that his performance here on Saturday will get him ready to compete in the Central American and Caribbean Games in Colombia in July.

PAGE 4, Friday, April 13, 2018

BREEZES HIGH FLYERS ONE GAME FROM CHAMPIONSHIP

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE Division II defending champions are a game away from repeating as champions while the Division I series went in the opposite direction and is a game away from being all tied up.

The Breezes High Flyers (Divison II) took a 3-0 series lead while the Rockets (Division I) now trail 1-2 after their respective wins in the 2017-18 New Providence Basketball Association championships, Wednesday night at the AF Adderley Gymnasium.

Game four in both series is set for Friday at 7:30pm.

Rockets – 90 Commonwealth Bank Giants – 84 Livington Munnings turned in an MVP caliber performance and led the Rockets with 26 points and 22 rebounds, both game highs.

Eugene Bain finished with a near

double double – 20 points and nine rebounds and Quentin Demeritte scored 11 (3-4 from three).

The Rockets led by as much as 10 in the fourth quarter, but had a late game collapse within the last four minutes.

D’Shon Taylor again led the Giants in both scoring and rebounding.

Taylor led five Giants in double figures with 19 points (4-11 from three) and added 11 rebounds.

Michael Bain Jr had another all around game with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists, Jeffrey Henfield added 13 points and eight rebounds, Tehran Cox sand David Taylor each scored 10 and Gamaliel Rose finished with nine points and nine rebounds.

The Giants led briefly in the opening stages of the fourth on a jumper from Cox, but the Rockets took control for good several possessions later.

Eugene Bain’s floater put the Rockets up 77-67 with 3:52 left to play.

The Giants pulled within five when

Henfield made a pair of free throws, 86-81 and followed up with a turnover on the next possession. However after an empty trip on offence, Munnings would seal the Rockets win with a dunk.

Bain and Munnings’ dominance in the frontcourt led the Rockets to an 11 rebound advantage on the boards and a 12 point edge in points in the paint.

The Rockets also shot 43 percent from the field while the Giants were at just 33 percent.

The first quarter featured six ties and four lead changes before a late Taylor dunk gave the Giants a 21-19 lead at the end of one.

The Giants went ahead by 10 on a Taylor layup, 35-25 with 6:45 left to play in the half. Demeritte’s second three of the game capped an 8-0 run and brought the Rockets within two, 35-33.

The Giants would end the quarter with seven unanswered points to take a 42-35 lead into the half. The Rockets

sould outscore the Giants 55-42 in the second half to clinch their first win of the series.

Breezes High Flyers - 93 Aliv Bucket Team - 83 Three Flyers players finished with double doubles led by Dave Davis’ 26 points and 16 rebounds. Devonte Gibson had 18 points and 14 rebounds while Shanton Pratt added 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Jeremy Neely stuffed the stat sheet and nearly finished with a triple double – 15 points, eight assists and six rebounds while Enrico Bethel added eight points and eight rebounds.

Rashad Ingraham’s monster game to lead the Bucket Team included 39 points and 22 rebounds, both game highs. James Rolle scored 15 and Dylan Musgrove added 10.

Davis scored on the opening possession, the Flyers built a 10 point first quarter lead and led wire to wire in the win.

SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIPS KICK OFF ON APRIL 17

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

SOCCER will be the next sport on the academic calendar to contest it’s national championship when the top teams throughout the country take to the pitch.

The Bahamas Football Association, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Youth, Sports, and Culture will host the Samuel P Haven 2018 National Soccer Championships, presented by the IL Cares Foundation, April 17-21 at the Roscow AL Davies Soccer Field.

In this year’s championships, the finalists from BAISS and GSSSA and the champions from GBSSSA (Grand Bahama) will compete in a single elimination tournament to decide who will be 2018’s National Champions.

Evon Wisdom, Senior Education Officer at the Ministry of Education said the development of the sport within the school system has become paramount.

“This tournament has been sanctioned three consecutive years and we see it as a development tool to assist the BFA in the development of soccer in our country. We feel as though this can be powered by schools and their rivalries will make this sport so much better so the ministry is proud to promote this event. The popularity of the tournament has continued to grow to now we have even been asked to include our junior high schools. This is something that we intend to work with the BFA on to see how each year we can make

ON THE BALL: Evon Wisdom (centre), Senior Education Officer at the Ministry of Education, highlighted the importance of soccer development in schools. the tournament bigger and better,” he said, “We are putting in place a development programme for family islands where they can develop those leagues to the point where they can be invited to play in nationals. Those talks are ongoing and will continue throughout the summer so next year we will be able to see participation from the Family Islands.

We take the development of soccer very seriously and feel that it should be done properly and in order,” he added.

“We believe at the ministry we play an important role in assisting the BFA in the development of soccer. We have to better coordinate as this event continues to grow.

Teams are trying to come to this championship and this timing unfortunately comes into play close with examinations. Our mandate is first to academics and with soccer placed where it is we will always have the issue with

the exams timetable. Some leagues have not finished, so I believe we may have to find a change in schedule to facilitate the timing of the tournament”.

The BAISS is the only league to have completed their seasons thus far and have teams qualified for the tournament.

In the Senior Boys division, the St Andrews Hurricanes are the champions and the Lyford Cay Dragons finished as runners-up.

In Senior Girls play, the Queen’s College Comets enter as the champions and the Aquinas Aces also earned automatic qualification as runners up. The GSSSA will begin their championships this afternoon and in Grand Bahama, a tournament to determine their participants will be completed this weekend.

Four games will be contested each afternoon of the three-day event. Match times

are slated for a 4:30pm start on the 17th and 19th and a 1:30pm start for the medal round on the 21st.

Adam Miller, Assistant General Secretary of the BFA, said the tournament’s format will provide maximum exposure for the participating teams.

“We are looking to expand with the addition of two teams from Grand Bahama. The idea is that four of the teams will play in a random draw on the 17th and the winners from that matchup will play the champions from the BAISS and Grand Bahama and those winners will play in the championship on the 21 with the losers relegated to the third-place game. “Once we find out which team will earn a spot then we have a better idea of what the layout of the tournament and the schedule will be and what the draw will look like,” he said. “The format is to provide teams with as much opportunities to

advance to the championship and also leagues that have more success in this tournament, they will get benefits to their rankings. The idea is to eventually turn into an 8-field tournament to be determined by a rankings system rather than simply by the league you play in.”

After a successful hosting in the 2016 edition of the tournament, the 2017 event was postponed due BFA hosting its resources on the country’s hosting of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. “Four games each day is a lot of games in a short period of time, but hopefully the teams are prepared for it,” Miller added. “It was unfortunate we were unable to host in 2017 due to resources being focused on the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, but a lot of teams felt like they should have been in it are looking at opportunities to win this year.

“It’s always good to see teams compete against ones they are not used to playing against so it should present some interesting matchups.

The issue we have now is timing for the leagues and league play not being in sync.

Some teams have three weeks off, some teams have two days off, some teams have no rest at all. When we get to the point where everyone is on the same schedule we wouldn’t have to work against this issue.”

Visiting teams will be lodged at the Courtyard Marriott Downtown.

The Queen’s College Comets and St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine claimed the first national high school soccer champions in Bahamian high school sports history.

GOLF PROGRAMME LOOKS FOR ‘DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH’

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE Fourteen Clubs Golf Academy continues its mission of looking to implement golf in public primary schools and expose more student-athletes to the sport.

The Academy will begin its scouting programme with three select schools next week in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Palmdale Primary will be sponsored by McDonald’s while TG Glover and Eva Hilton will be sponsored by Scotiabank.

Fourteen Clubs Program Director and Lead Coach Georgette Rolle said the programme was created out of a need to target an underserved segment of potential golfers.

“We’re a programme with two main initiatives. We teach a year-round programme to about 60 golfers and in the first years of the programme we realised a lot of the students were from the private schools. Through our nonprofit golf camps we saw the talent of a lot of our kids from those public schools and it was a golden opportunity for us to pursue. In the first year of the programme, two of the students have been progressing tremendously in the game despite just starting with us in September. It’s fun to see

the kids blossom that quickly,” Rolle said.

“What we do is we go in for 10 weeks and teach golf in the PE classes. After a few weeks we identify 2-3 of the kids who are excelling and who seem to have the right characteristics to swing the gold club. We then place them in our programme on a scholarship. That is the start of our feeder programme. Our plan is to continue to expose these kids to the game and indirectly we expose others who want to be involved. We want to show them that you don’t have to have a lot of money to play golf, I certainly didn’t.”

Students The pilot programme reached hundreds of students in its first edition and has inspired others to join Rolle at Fourteen Clubs. Several of those players now compete regularly on the club’s Front Nine Junior Golf Tour.

“We have our junior programme called the Front 9, where we have our juniors play in courses around the Bahamas, here in New Providence, in Grand Bahama, Abaco and Exuma later in the year.

“We just sent eight kids to play in Trinidad and Tobago. For many of them it was their first international event so that exposure got them

eager to ply even more,” she added.

“The talent in the public schools has been progressing rapidly. Just like the other sports a lot of our talent lies in the public school system, they just need someone to provide the opportunity for them to showcase that talent. Hopefully within the next few years they progress to the high schools and university level, but for now we are thankful to continue this relationship with the ministries of Education and Youth, Sports and Culture.”

Rolle, who has competed several times at the LPGA Pure Silk Classic, currently serves as a pro at the Baha Mar Royal Blue Golf Course in addition to her role with Fourteen Clubs.

“We are hoping that this blossoms into many professional golfers and they continue to be encouraged and grow in the game of golf. It is envisioned that through these programmes we are able to find diamonds in the rough in these schools,” said Evon Wisdom Senior Education Officer at the Ministry of Education.

“We started at the primary level for the children to blossom from there and we look forward in the future to start a system where these young persons enter the senior high and can continue their path in the sport.”

FREEPORT RUGBY CLUB SET FOR BAILLOU CLASH JUST one game stands in the way of a spot in the Heineken Cup finals for Freeport Rugby Club. But before the final showdown, Freeport must take care of business this Saturday the 14th against Nassau’s Baillou squad that has proven to be a tough competitor all season.

Though Freeport emerged victorious in two regular-season games against Baillou, the Nassau club has not gone away quietly. After escaping with a 43-35 win in Nassau, Freeport barely edged out Baillou at home on March 24 in a 29-28 nail-biting win. That victory gave Freeport a 4-1-1 record, with the one tie coming against the Nassau Cuckoos in January.

“This Saturday represents a great opportunity for our club to take

the next step forward and prove something to themselves and our supporters” said club president Rob Speller. “We’re really proud of our established veterans like Justin Lewis, Ben Power and Kyle Charlton who have helped lead a very young squad.”

Stars With several veteran players falling out of the mix, a young group of future stars has stepped up admirably. According to Speller, Travis Sherman has been a standout at lineout time, where his strong hands and leaping ability have been tremendous assets. Liam McCrea, a soon-to-be graduate at Lucaya

International School, has emerged as a solid ball carrier with underrated speed for a player who dons the No. 5 jersey.

“The backline is an equally dangerous group punctuated by a plethora of playmakers on the wing,” noted Speller.

“This group includes Michael Watkins, Jethro Bullard and Dawayne Deveaux, who earned Man of the Match in an earlier matchup against Bucs after scoring four tries.

Like the forward pack, the backline has also seen the emergence of a few up-and-comers. “Centre/ wing Tyriq Forbes is an excellent athlete who has gained valuable experience this season,” Speller note. “Fullback Mario McPhee has

shown great improvement and has underrated speed. Scrumhalf Nicholas Lane, another LIS student, is an adept playmaker and distributor and a rock-solid kicker.”

Under the watchful eye of head coach Nigel Kirkby, the Freeport senior team has put together a brilliant regular season.

But this youthful team are far from finished, the Saturday showdown with Baillou is simply the next test for a team that’s overcome injuries and line-up changes throughout the season.

With kick-off set for 2 p.m., everyone on the island is encouraged to come out to the rugby club and support their local Freeport rugby team in its quest to lock up a spot in the Heineken Cup Championships.

THE TRIBUNE

BAHAMIAN PLAYERS MAKE IMPACT IN MINOR LEAGUE

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN baseball players have had an early impact on their minor league clubs as we near the end of week two in the Minor League season.

Todd Isaacs hit his first home run of the season Wednesday night for the Lake County Captains in the Class A Midwest League.

Batting sixth in the lineup, he finished 3-4 at the plate with two RBI in a 9-3 loss to the Dayton Dragons.

Isaacs has a current four game hit streak going on, and through seven games this season is hitting .320 with five runs, five RBI and two stolen bases.

Last season, Isaacs set personal milestones, but the Captains also missed the playoffs.

Isaacs returned from nearly a month sidelined by an injury to finish strong in the Cougars’ final series of the season against Great Lakes.

In the opening game, he finished 2-5 and scored two runs and in the season finale, went 1-5 with three RBI and scored one run with one stolen base.

In 82 games last season, his first with the club, Isaacs hit .224 with, 18 stolen bases, slugging .376, an onbase percentage of .260, an OPS of .636, 33 RBI and nine home runs.

Jazz Chisholm also hit his first home run of the season in the second game of a three game series with the Quad Cities River Bandits.

Chisholm went 3-5 with a home run, two runs scored and an RBI. It was his second multi hit game of the of the year after he opened 2-4 with two RBI in the season debut Through six games, Chisholm is hitting .261 with three hits, three RBI. Injuries cut short Chisholm’s debut season in Single A baseball with the Cougars in the Midwestern League’s Western Division.

He played in just 29 games - hit .248 with, three stolen bases, slugging .358, an on-base percentage of .325, an OPS of .683, 12 RBI and one home run.

Chavez Young is also in the Class A Midwest League, with the Lansing Lugnuts.

Through five games he is hitting .286 with four hits and two RBI. Young made his debut with his only multi hit game of the season, 3-5 with one run and one RBI. He spent last season with the Bluefield Blue Jays of the Appalachian League.

Young led the Appalachian League with eight triples, was second in runs scored with 55, and seventh in total bases with 118.

In 67 games this season, Young hit .283 with, four stolen bases, slugging .445, an on-base percentage of .336, an OPS of .781 and four home runs.

Lucius Fox is in his second season with the Charlotte Stone Crabs of the Single A-Advanced Florida State League.

In his latest outing, Fox hit 2-5 with one RBI and scored two runs to bring his average to .250 for the season.

In 30 games with the club last season, he hit .235 with a .608 OPS, .350 OBP, one home run, three stolen bases, 12 RBI and 19 runs scored.

The 20-year-old shortstop spent the previous 77 games with the Bowling Green Hot Rods of the Midwest League at the Single A-Full level.

For the Hot Rods, Fox hit a career-best .278 and ranked third in the Midwest League with 27 stolen bases. He also ranks second on the team with 45 runs scored, collected 27 RBI and totalled a .362 OBP and a .722 OPS with two runs. Fox was also featured in the annual showcase of Major League Baseball’s top minor league prospects during the midseason AllStar classic.

Anfernee Seymour is also in the Florida State League, in his second season with the Florida Fire Frogs.

After beginning the season with just one hit in his first four games, Seymour went 2-4 with two stolen bases in the second of a three game series against the Fort Myers Miracle.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, April 13, 2018, PAGE 5

CLEVELAND Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) talks with head coach Tyronn Lue. The Cavaliers are slated to take on the Pacers in the Eastern Conference first round at 3:30pm Sunday.

(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

UTAH Jazz forward Royce O’Neale (23) guards Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) earlier this week in Salt Lake City. The Warriors face the Spurs in the Western Conference first round at 3pm Saturday.

(AP Photo/Alex Goodlett)

NBA first-round playoff series capsules

By The Associated Press CAPSULES for the first-round NBA playoff series in the Eastern and Western conferences:

EASTERN CONFERENCE No. 1 TORONTO RAPTORS (59-23) vs. No. 8 WASHINGTON WIZARDS (43-39) Season series: Split, 2-2 Story line: It was the best regular season in Toronto history and its first time going into the playoffs as a No. 1 seed, but the Raptors know it’s the playoff result that will determine if 2017-18 was a success. The Raptors got out of the first round once in their first 20 seasons; they’re now trying to do so for a third straight season. Washington was inconsistent all season, but now has All-Star John Wall back from injury, and he’ll be needed.

Key Matchup: Toronto’s Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan vs. the Wizards’ Wall and Bradley Beal. The teams mirror each other in that their backcourt stars lead the way. Lowry and DeRozan have risen to challenges all season, and their playoff run starts with a very stiff matchup.

Prediction: Raptors in 5.

No. 2 BOSTON CELTICS (55-27) vs.

No. 7 MILWAUKEE BUCKS (44-38) Season series: Split, 2-2 Story line: The Celtics won’t have Kyrie Irving, probably won’t have Marcus Smart for much of the first round, and haven’t had Gordon Hayward since the sixth minute of the season. But they earned the No. 2 seed anyway, and hear the whispers of naysayers suggesting they’re vulnerable. The Bucks will try to win their first playoff series since 2001 — when star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was 6.

Key Matchup: Celtics coach Brad Stevens vs. Bucks coach Joe Prunty. The chess match will be fun; Stevens is easily one of the NBA’s best at scheming, especially on the fly, and Prunty has done a strong job since taking over for Jason Kidd around the midseason mark.

Prediction: Celtics in 6.

No. 3 PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (52-30) vs. No. 6 MIAMI HEAT (44-38) Season series: Split, 2-2 Story line: The 76ers finished on a 16-game winning streak, although 13 of those wins came against non-playoff teams.

In their last 24 games, Philadelphia was

20-2 against everyone other than Miami — and 0-2 against the Heat, including one game where Dwyane Wade hit a gamewinning shot. The 76ers are young, brash and backing it up, while the Heat have the confidence of knowing that they can knock off Philly.

Key Matchup: Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid vs. Miami’s Hassan Whiteside.

Embiid says he doesn’t think he’ll play in Game 1 while continuing to recover from an orbital fracture. But the lure of facing Whiteside — they simply don’t like each other — should get him back out there as soon as possible. Miami’s best chance is for Whiteside to be great.

Prediction: Heat in 7.

No. 4 CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (50-32) vs. No. 5 INDIANA PACERS (48-34) Season series: Pacers, 3-1 Story line: LeBron James is bidding for his eighth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals, and the Cavs are trying to get there for a fourth straight year. They will be tested from the outset by an Indiana team that many thought would be rebuilding this season. And the Pacers indeed did rebuild, but managed to do so on the fly behind Victor Oladipo, probably the NBA’s Most Improved Player.

Key Matchup: James vs. Oladipo. The best players on each team, and while they may not go head to head all that much, Oladipo surely knows he has to be fantastic in this series. James is coming off perhaps his most complete regular season, and everyone knows that his motivation level, always high, gets cranked up several notches at playoff time.

Prediction: Cavaliers in 6.

WESTERN CONFERENCE No. 1 HOUSTON ROCKETS (65-17) vs. No. 8 MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (47-35) Season series: Rockets, 4-0.

Story line: After rolling to the best record in the league, the Rockets get started toward what they hope could be the first championship for Mike D’Antoni, James Harden and Chris Paul. They open against the Timberwolves, back in the postseason for the first time since 2004 after ending what was the NBA’s longest active playoff drought.

Key Matchup: Harden vs. Jimmy Butler.

Nobody really slows down the Rockets — the Wolves sure didn’t, yielding 122.8 points per game in the four games — but the best hope of doing it comes if Butler, their top defensive player, can slow down the league’s leading scorer and MVP candidate.

Prediction: Rockets in 5.

No. 2 GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (58-24) vs. No. 7 SAN ANTONIO SPURS (47-35) Season series: Warriors, 3-1.

Story line: The Western Conference finals matchup last season comes in the first round now after Golden State struggled down the stretch without Stephen Curry, and the Spurs had a difficult time playing almost all season without Kawhi Leonard.

HOUSTON Rockets guard Gerald Green, right, shoots over Sacramento Kings forward Justin Jackson (hand) in Wednesday night’s game. The Rockets are paired against the Timberwolves in the Western Conference 1st Round at 9pm Saturday.

(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) Curry is not expected to play in this series, while the Spurs haven’t ever ruled out Leonard, but also given no indication he could play.

Key matchup: Draymond Green vs.

LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge had his best season in San Antonio in carrying the Spurs as best as possible without Leonard, and the Warriors’ task in trying to limit him probably begins with Green, the Defensive Player of the Year last season and one of the league’s best defensive forwards.

Prediction: Warriors in 5.

No. 3 PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (49-33) vs. No. 6 NEW ORLEANS PELICANS (48-34) Season series: Split, 2-2.

Story line: Two of the NBA’s top scorers lead their teams into what could be a highscoring shootout in the first round.

Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers won on the final night of the season to grab the Northwest Division title and finish a game ahead of Anthony Davis and the Pelicans, who surged into the postseason on a five-game winning streak.

Key matchup: Lillard and CJ McCollum vs. Rajon Rondo and Jrue Holiday. Portland has one of the most potent backcourts in the league but New Orleans, with a pair of good defensive guards, at least has some hope of slowing them down.

And Holiday will score quite a bit himself.

Prediction: Trail Blazers in 7.

TORONTO Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan, centre, drives to the basket against Miami Heat centre Hassan Whiteside, left, guard Rodney McGruder, rear, and forward James Johnson, right, during the first half of a game on Wednesday in Miami.

(AP Photo/ Wilfredo Lee)

No. 4 OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (48-34) vs. No. 5 UTAH JAZZ (48-34) Season series: Thunder, 3-1.

Story line: Despite some tough times after acquiring Paul George and Carmelo Anthony to play with Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City won its final three games to get home-court advantage in the first round, with a new chance to prove it can be the team it hoped when it made the highprofile acquisitions.

Key matchup: Westbrook vs. Donovan Mitchell. The reigning NBA MVP and the potential Rookie of the Year have shown they can do whatever is necessary to carry their teams offensively. Westbrook probably has more help, which could make the difference in this series.

Prediction: Thunder in 6.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, April 13, 2018, PAGE 7

Arsenal overcomes Europa scare, Salzburg stages fightback

By JAMES ELLINGWORTH AP Sports Writer MOSCOW (AP) — Arsenal overcame a scare against CSKA Moscow yesterday to reach the Europa League semi-finals, while Salzburg staged a stunning comeback to knock Lazio out with four goals in a 20-minute burst.

Played at a time of growing political tension between the Russian and British governments, there was no sign of trouble on the streets outside the VEB Arena in Moscow.

CSKA went 2-0 up to put Arsenal under pressure but the London club hit back to draw 2-2 on the night and progress 6-3 on aggregate.

Lazio seemed poised to clinch a place in the last four when Ciro Immobile struck in the 55th minute to give the Italian team a 5-2 advantage on aggregate.

Salzburg, though, produced a spectacular recovery to become the first Austrian team to reach the semi-finals of the

competition in its current form.

Marseille also qualified after losing the first leg, beating Leipzig 5-2 to win 5-3 overall, while Atletico Madrid lost 1-0 at Sporting Lisbon but scraped through 2-1 on aggregate.

Thursday’s Europa League fixtures continued a week of dramatic Champions League comebacks, after Roma beat Barcelona and Juventus came close to knocking out Real Madrid.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said it was a sign European competition is becoming more evenly matched. “The games are very open and everything is possible in every game,” he said.

The Europa League semi-final draw will be today.

CSKA’S ALEKSANDR GOLOVIN, right, battles for the ball with Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey at the CSKA Arena yesterday.

(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) big difference from the first game, it’s hard to turn up with the same urgency,” he said.

Despite the political tension between Russia and Britain over the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal last month and this week’s developments in Syria, there was no sign of anger outside the sold-out VEB Arena.

The game was the last major European fixture to be played in Russia ahead of the World Cup and highlighted the country’s strategy of flooding

night in Moscow, going 2-0 down after 50 minutes following goals from Fedor Chalov and Kirill Nababkin.

Danny Welbeck came to the rescue with a 75th minute goal before Aaron Ramsey went charging through the middle of the defence to grab Arsenal’s second goal in stoppage time and extend his team’s unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions.

Wenger said Arsenal’s three-goal lead from the first leg had led to complacency. “When you have a

ARSENAL THROUGH Arsenal had to show some second-half grit to help Wenger move within three games of winning his first European trophy.

Wenger’s team initially struggled on a cool spring

city districts with security forces. There was a heavy police presence outside the ground and in much of the surrounding areas, with officers lining the streets and keeping fans in the open by barring access to alleyways.

With Arsenal sixth in the Premier League, 13 points off fourth place, winning the Europa League is its best chance of a Champions League spot next season.

meeting in the semis and a resulting conflict of interest.

But it was the lesserknown of the two clubs that made the semis, with Salzburg taking advantage of a shock Lazio collapse.

Munas Dabbur, Amadou Haidara and Hwang heeChan were on target for the home team before Stefan Lainer capped a remarkable four-goal flurry when he netted with a diving header in the 76th minute.

ATLETICO ON TRACK Atletico remains on course for a third European final in five seasons after holding off Sporting.

Fredy Montero’s 28thminute header gave the home crowd hope in Lisbon but Atletico held on with the help of Jan Oblak’s excellent goalkeeping.

MARSEILLE RALLY In France, Leipzig went into the game against Marseille with a one-goal lead and opened up a 2-0 advantage on aggregate thanks to Bruma’s second-minute goal.

However, Marseille hit back via an own goal from Stefan Ilsanker and strikes

by Bouna Sarr and Florian Thauvin.

Leipzig regained the advantage with JeanKevin Augustin’s curling 55th-minute shot before Marseille scored again through Dimiti Payet and Hiroki Sakai.

SALZBURG ENERGETIC The UEFA organisers had been faced with the awkward prospect of two Red Bull-branded teams, Salzburg and Leipzig,

THE WEATHER REPORT

5-Day Forecast

TODAY

ORLANDO

High: 84° F/29° C Low: 64° F/18° C

TAMPA

TONIGHT

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

Partly sunny with a shower in spots

Partly cloudy with a shower

Partly sunny, a shower; breezy

A p.m. shower or thunderstorm

Thunderstorms, mainly early

Sunshine and nice

High: 87°

Low: 74°

High: 89° Low: 75°

High: 89° Low: 74°

High: 86° Low: 68°

High: 83° Low: 69°

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

90° F

75° F

94°-77° F

94°-76° F

91°-68° F

87°-66° F

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 69° F/21° C

The exclusive AccuWeather RealFeel Temperature® is an index that combines the effects of temperature, wind, humidity, sunshine intensity, cloudiness, precipitation, pressure and elevation on the human body—everything that affects how warm or cold a person feels. Temperatures reflect the high and the low for the day.

N

almanac

E

W

ABACO

S

N

High: 77° F/25° C Low: 74° F/23° C

10-20 knots

S

WEST PALM BEACH High: 82° F/28° C Low: 73° F/23° C

10-20 knots

FT. LAUDERDALE E

W

FREEPORT

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 74° F/23° C

N

S

E

W

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 70° F/21° C

MIAMI

High: 84° F/29° C Low: 73° F/23° C

10-20 knots

Statistics are for Nassau through 2 p.m. yesterday Temperature High ................................................... 86° F/30° C Low .................................................... 72° F/22° C Normal high ....................................... 81° F/27° C Normal low ........................................ 69° F/20° C Last year’s high ................................. 83° F/29° C Last year’s low ................................... 69° F/21° C Precipitation As of 2 p.m. yesterday ................................. 0.00” Year to date ................................................. 6.79” Normal year to date ..................................... 5.23”

ELEUTHERA

NASSAU

High: 87° F/31° C Low: 74° F/23° C

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018

High: 79° F/26° C Low: 76° F/24° C

N

KEY WEST

High: 84° F/29° C Low: 78° F/26° C

tiDes For nassau High

Ht.(ft.)

Low

Ht.(ft.)

Today

6:40 a.m.

7:03 p.m.

2.6 2.7

12:32 a.m. 0.1 12:58 p.m. 0.0

Saturday

7:22 a.m.

7:45 p.m.

2.7 2.9

1:18 a.m. 0.0 1:37 p.m. -0.2

Sunday

8:03 a.m.

8:27 p.m.

2.8 3.0

2:02 a.m. -0.2 2:16 p.m. -0.4

Monday

8:45 a.m.

9:09 p.m.

2.8 3.2

2:46 a.m. -0.4 2:56 p.m. -0.5

Tuesday

9:28 a.m.

9:54 p.m.

2.7 3.2

3:31 a.m. -0.4 3:37 p.m. -0.5

Wednesday 10:13 a.m.

10:41 p.m.

2.7 3.2

4:18 a.m. -0.4 4:22 p.m. -0.5

Thursday

2.6 3.2

5:08 a.m. -0.3 5:10 p.m. -0.4

11:02 a.m.

11:32 p.m.

sun anD moon Sunrise Sunset

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 76° F/24° C

N

S

E

W

8-16 knots

S

8-16 knots

ANDROS

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

The higher the AccuWeather UV IndexTM number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.

6:50 a.m.

7:31 p.m.

Moonrise Moonset

5:27 a.m.

5:28 p.m.

New

First

Full

Last

Apr. 15

Apr. 22

Apr. 29

May 7

CAT ISLAND

E

W

uV inDex toDay

SAN SALVADOR

GREAT EXUMA

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 76° F/24° C

High: 81° F/27° C Low: 77° F/25° C

N

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 76° F/24° C

S

LONG ISLAND

insurance management tracking map

High: 81° F/27° C Low: 77° F/25° C

10-20 knots

MAYAGUANA High: 81° F/27° C Low: 76° F/24° C

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

H

E

W

CROOKED ISLAND / ACKLINS RAGGED ISLAND High: 81° F/27° C Low: 78° F/26° C

High: 81° F/27° C Low: 77° F/25° C

GREAT INAGUA High: 84° F/29° C Low: 77° F/25° C

N

E

W

E

W

N

S

S

10-20 knots

8-16 knots

marine Forecast ABACO ANDROS CAT ISLAND CROOKED ISLAND ELEUTHERA FREEPORT GREAT EXUMA GREAT INAGUA LONG ISLAND MAYAGUANA NASSAU RAGGED ISLAND SAN SALVADOR

Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday:

WINDS E at 10-20 Knots SE at 8-16 Knots E at 8-16 Knots SE at 10-20 Knots E at 8-16 Knots ESE at 10-20 Knots E at 8-16 Knots E at 10-20 Knots E at 10-20 Knots SE at 10-20 Knots E at 10-20 Knots SE at 8-16 Knots E at 8-16 Knots SE at 10-20 Knots E at 8-16 Knots E at 10-20 Knots E at 8-16 Knots ESE at 12-25 Knots E at 8-16 Knots E at 8-16 Knots E at 6-12 Knots SE at 6-12 Knots E at 10-20 Knots ESE at 12-25 Knots E at 10-20 Knots SE at 10-20 Knots

WAVES 3-6 Feet 3-6 Feet 1-2 Feet 1-3 Feet 3-6 Feet 4-7 Feet 3-5 Feet 4-7 Feet 3-5 Feet 3-5 Feet 3-5 Feet 2-4 Feet 1-3 Feet 2-4 Feet 3-5 Feet 4-7 Feet 2-4 Feet 3-6 Feet 4-8 Feet 5-9 Feet 2-4 Feet 2-4 Feet 1-3 Feet 3-5 Feet 3-5 Feet 3-5 Feet

VISIBILITY 8 Miles 8 Miles 8 Miles 8 Miles 8 Miles 8 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 8 Miles 8 Miles 8 Miles 8 Miles 10 Miles 8 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 8 Miles 8 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 8 Miles 8 Miles

WATER TEMPS. 75° F 75° F 82° F 82° F 79° F 79° F 80° F 80° F 78° F 78° F 74° F 74° F 82° F 82° F 81° F 81° F 82° F 82° F 80° F 80° F 79° F 79° F 82° F 82° F 79° F 80° F

Covering The Bahamas for over 40 years.

NEW PROVIDENCE | GRAND BAHAMA | ABACO | ELEUTHERA | EXUMA

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PAGE 8, Friday, April 13, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

A GOLDEN MOMENT

TEAM Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller-Uibo (also on the medal podium and celebrating) crosses the line to win gold in the women’s 200m final yesterday.

(AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

SHAUNAE Miller-Uibo hugs her mother after winning the race.

USAIN Bolt presents Miller-Uibo with hewr gold medal.

(AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

GOLDEN GIRL: Women’s 200m gold medallist Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller-Uibo, right, embraces bronze medallist England’s Dina Asher-Smith, centre as silver medallist Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson left, looks on after the race in the Carrara Stadium at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia, on Thursday, April 12, 2018.

(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)