Guyana’s Golden Jaguars four-game Caribbean tour which forms part of the training and developmental plan ahead of stage-three of the CONCACAF FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 qualifying has been bearing fruit despite the losses so far according to head coach Jamaal Shabazz.

Jamaal Shabazz

The Guyanese were scheduled to oppose Grenada last evening in the spice Isle in their final game before returning home tomorrow for next week’s International friendly at the Providence Stadium against Guatemala.
Shabazz said that the Technical staff of the Golden Jaguars has chosen five locally based players from their current developmental Caribbean Tour for the game against Guatemala next week. Shabazz revealed that Konata Manning, Anthony Benfield and Kester Jacobs have all done well enough on the trip to make the 20-man squad for the Guatemala game.
Two other players in midfielder, Trayon Bobb and defender Colin Nelson have also gained the nod of approval from the Technical staff.
“We made a huge step towards securing Guyana’s football future. Our guys showed good organizational discipline and fighting spirit after going down to an early goal. We created our chances but did not take them and things are starting to take shape with these lads”, stated Shabazz.
Meanwhile, as the Jaguars prepared for their final match of the trip Shabazz told them the game’s will also be used as a means for selection.
“There are a couple boys who are borderline picks and this game against Grenada is their avenue to get into the team, explained Shabazz.
The Jaguars lost 0-1 to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in their third match on Saturday. They also lost 0-2 and 1-3 to Tobago XI and T&T Under-23 respectively.

– Vows to win back his Test place

By Rajiv Bisnauth

Following his recall to the national team, embattled former Guyana and West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan believes the target now for him will be to stay ahead of his game.
Sarwan will don national colours for the last three preliminary games of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional Four-Day tournament after being sidelined for selection for the first three rounds. He will then move to England where he signed a deal with County side Leicestershire as their overseas player for the upcoming season.

Ramnaresh Sarwan

“I want to make sure that I stay ahead of my game and move from one step to another,” Sarwan said in an interview with Guyana Times Sport before he departed for Antigua yesterday.
He added, “First and foremost I will try and utilize this opportunity with a good start against Jamaica and hope it flows from there on.”
Sarwan, however, hoped that his physical fitness can be maintained for a prolonged period. The elegant right hander’s career for the past few years has been mired in controversy and allegations of poor fitness, often drawing consternation from both the Guyana and West Indies Cricket Boards.
For the past three months he was embroiled in a heated tit-for-tat battle with the GCB that saw him being dropped by the local selection panel for the Caribbean T20 tournament due to poor fitness. He was also omitted from the squad for the ongoing regional first-class championship for the first three rounds.
He has also not played for the West Indies since last June.
However, the experienced stroke-maker who averages 40 from 87 Tests and 41 from 173 One-Day International matches, vowed to regain his Test place after he was dropped for the final Test against India last year because of a lack of form. He has been in and out of the team over the past couple of years and has clashed with the WICB over a number of issues.
Primarily, Sarwan and the WICB fell out over his perceived lack of fitness, and more recently over him and Coach Otis Gibson not seeing eye-to-eye.
“Everything else is behind me, what happened in the past has stayed in the past. There’s nothing that will get in my way from here on. I will put everything aside and show myself, and continue to be the old Ramnaresh Sarwan who first started my career in 2000.” Sarwan stated.
“I have not retired from international cricket so I can still represent the West Indies at any level, but what is happening in West Indies cricket with certain players being targeted, I feel the only way to answer that is to perform” Sarwan added.
“The past three years it’s been disappointing. Obviously I’ve had my problems with the Board in terms of my fitness issue, then I have been out of form. I have been in and out of the team, but I think it’s just a test of my character. I think I have a lot more cricket in me and I’m determined to gain back my position, and do whatever is necessary cricket-wise to get back there” the 31-year-old noted.
Sarwan, who has scored 11,822 runs in First Class cricket at an average of 39.40, will be in Guyana’s line up against four-time defending champions Jamaica in the day/night encounter at the Sir Vivian Richards grounds in Antigua from February 24-27. Guyana will then move to Barbados for their fifth game from March 9-12 before moving on to play their final preliminary game in Trinidad and Tobago from March 16-19.
Sarwan and Trevon Griffith replaced the struggling former West Indies opener Sewnarine Chattergoon and West Indies A opener Rajendra Chandrika in Guyana line-up for the remainder of the Regional Four-Day tournament.
Meanwhile, Sarwan’s international career will be further put on pause after the deal with Leicestershire as their overseas player, but the elegant right-hander’s availability for the entire 2012 county season will be subject to approval from the WICB and the United Kingdom immigration authorities.
Sarwan’s commitment to the club rules him out of Australia’s tour of the Caribbean, which runs from March 16 to April 27, and the subsequent tour of England that bowls off May 5 and ends June 24.
West Indies also host New Zealand in the Caribbean from June 23 to August 2.
Sarwan, who has played for Gloucestershire in the past, is expected to join the Leicestershire squad on their pre-season tour of Barbados next month before flying to the UK for the start of the season on April 5.
Leicestershire will compete in Division Two of the County Championship and will open their season against Glamorgan at their home ground at Grace Road.

By: Melinda Bishundyal

Director of Sports Neil Kumar declared yesterday that that the newly installed synthetic floor at the National Gymnasium cannot accommodate rugby, clearing the air on comments made by Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) president Kit Nascimento that they were refused permission to use the facility to train.

Neil Kumar

Nascimento, at a press conference on Monday, expressed his displeasure at the Sport Ministry’s refusal to the GRFU for the national rugby Sevens team to use the Gymnasium, prior to the recently-concluded Las Vegas Invitational Sevens tournament. The team eventually was declared joint champions of the Bowl round with the Denver Barbarians
Kumar said it took a lot of effort and money from the ministry and Guyana Volleyball Federation (GVF) to set up the floor. Therefore, they cannot allow it to be damaged by rugby.
The floor was commissioned last year November at a cost of approximately G $5.5M for the aim of developing volleyball.
The seventh International Diamond Mineral Water Hockey Festival was held at the same venue last December.
Nascimento contended that the inclement weather prevented the team from being adequately prepared; hence they sought the permission to train indoor at the National Gymnasium.

Kit Nascimento

He noted that the boys did not have much training during their Barbados tour late last November.
Nascimento explained that after the GRFU was denied permission, the association managed to acquire the Queen’s College indoor facility for a few days, before resorting to the wet National Park.
The national team now shifts their attention to Hong Kong where they will compete among 15 other teams in the HBSC Sevens World Series slated for March. The team will travel to the USA to train for one week at the US Olympic Centre from March 11.

Namilco Football Festival…

The fifth annual Namilco Football Festival is down to eight teams, two of which will move forward to the semi-finals of the knockout of the competition, which continues this evening at the Tucville ground.
In the first set of quarter-final matches this evening, Beacon FC will face Sunburst Camptown, while Alpha United will take on Riddim Squad at 21:00 hours.
The other two quarter-final games are billed for Friday with Fruta Conquerors facing GFC at 19:00h and Guyana Defence Force tackling Santos FC at 21:00 hours.
The semi-finals are slated for Sunday, while the final and third place playoff will be hosted on March 4.
Marlan Cole, president of the organising club, Fruta Conquerors FC, said two exciting matches are carded for this evening and fans should be in for a treat.
In the matches played so far in the competition, Beacon FC thrashed Northern Rangers 4-0; Sunburst Camptown defeated the University of Guyana 3-1; the Guyana Defence Force outplayed Black Pearl 4-0; Santos FC overcame the Guyana Police Force 3-1; Alpha United dominated Banks DIH All-Stars 6-1; Riddim Squad inflicted a 4-0 drubbing on Houston Stars; the Georgetown Football Club needled Flamingo 1-0; and Fruta Conquerors prevailed 3-1 over Charlestown United.
So far a total of 32 goals have been scored in the competition at an average of four goals per game. Below are the squads for tonight’s quarter-finals.

By: Melinda Bishundyal

Elishaba Johnson and Jomaali Homer, who were crowned the 13-and-Under male and female champions respectively of the Guyana Table tennis Association (GTTA) /National Sports

Elishaba Johnson in action

Commission (NSC) table tennis championship, believe their focus is the key to their dominance.
Johnson told this publication yesterday that the competition was not a challenge for him as he has been ruling the 13-and-under category for the longest while. He said his major competition as a player was Shemar Britton who beat him a few times, however, Britton moved up to the Under 15 category this year.
“With Shemar leaving the 13 and Under category, I knew the title would have been mine”, boasted the St. Stanislaus College student.
He added that although his confidence was booming, he never allowed his focus to go astray, even though his opponent in the final had a hand injury.
“When I heard that Kyle had an injury, I told myself at first that the match will finish early but after some thinking I decided to go out and play as if nothing happened to him”, explained Johnson.

Jomaali Homer

At age 13, Johnson has been playing the racquet sport for the past seven years. He is now looking forward to the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) competition next month.
Homer, on the other hand, was not as confident. She said her matchup against Priscilla Greaves was a tough one and she was nervous but managed to concentrate and remained focus. She stressed that Greaves is a strong player and it was a satisfying feeling to beat her.
“When Prescilla came back to win the third and fourth sets I was panicking, but my coach kept talking to me, assuring me that I am in control and I managed to keep my cool and win the fifth set”, revealed Homer.
Homer has been playing competitive table tennis for the past three years and she is the current 13 and Under national champion. She is expected to leave for Cuba in April to participate in the Cadet and Pre-Cadet competition.

Cyclists in Berbice will resume rivalry tomorrow when the Flying Ace Cycling Club stages their annual 45-miles cycle road race in observance of Mashramani celebrations.

Neil Reece

According to coordinator and cycling coach Randolph Roberts, the race is open to Berbicians only and members of the Flying Ace Cycling Club. The race will pedal off at 08:30 hours from the Marks Bridge at Lot 60 Stanleytown and proceed to Adventure on the Corentyne Coast before returning to finishing point at Main and Alexander Streets in New Amsterdam.
Roberts revealed that the juvenile and female riders will proceed to Tain before returning to the original finishing point, covering a distance of 30 miles.
The cyclist will compete in five categories: Open, Juniors, Juveniles, Veterans and Females.
There are ten Prime point prizes up for grabs while prizes will be available for the first six finishers, the first two juniors, the first three Juveniles while the Female and Veteran categories will depend on the number of starters.
Interested persons are asked to get in touch with Roberts or any member of the club.
Last year the race was sponsored by the Region Six administration. Top Cyclist Neil Reece is the defending champion.

GBA/NSC annual Junior Mash Badminton…

Ten-year-old Priyanna Ramdhani continued with her form that brought her the 2011 Junior Sportswoman-of-the-Year accolade by storming to victory in one category and a place in the final of two others at the annual National Sports Commission’s (NSC) Junior Mashramani championship.

Priyanna Ramdhani

Playing in the Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) organised event on Monday evening at the Queen’s College Courts, the pint-sized badminton sensation won the Under-11 Singles final by whipping Aliyah Seeram 21-2, 21-2.
Later in the night, she booked a place in the final of the Under-13 Girls’ Singles competition by beating Elmira Persaud 21-4, 21-5. Ramdhani will take on Kara Abrams in the final this evening.
Abrams got the better of Crystal Dey 22-20, 21-15 in their semi-final matchup.
As if that were not enough, Ramdhani later secured a place in the final of the Under-15 Girls’ Singles by outplaying Nadine Jairam 21-4, 21-8. Ramdhani will next face Varsha Boodram in the final, after Boodram earned a hard-fought victory over Ambika Ramraj 21-10, 18-21, 21-15.
Priyanna’s brother, Narayan Ramdhani, was also in imperious form, completely outplaying Omari Joseph 21-7, 21-5 in the Under-15 Boys’ Singles quarter-finals.
The other two matches in that category resulted in victories for Ryan Amir and Cecil Abrams over Shane Shewjattan and Josh Oudit respectively.
Shewjattan’s night did not get any better, as he suffered a 21-8, 21-4 defeat at the hands of Jonathon Mangra in the round-robin stage of the Under-13 Boys’ Singles competition.
In the Under-17 Boys’ Singles quarter-finals, Ryan Amir defeated Omari Joseph 21-16, 21-10; Cecil Abrams got the better of Anthony Murray 21-12, 21-12; and Noel Shewjattan gained a close 21-16, 23-21 victory over Jonathon Mangra.
In the Under-17 Girls’ Singles quarter-finals, Greer Jackson outplayed Arian Kayume 21-7, 21-9, while Angelica Holder defeated Ambika Ramraj 21-18, 21-12.
More matches are billed for this evening at the same venue. (Avenash Ramzan)

WBC CABOFE Caribbean Cup Eliminators…

By Avenash Ramzan

With four days to go before the historic staging of the World Boxing Council’s (WBC) Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) Caribbean Cup Eliminators, the participating overseas boxers are expected to start arriving today for the five-fight title card at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Wayne ‘Big Truck’ Braithwaite

A source close to the Guyana Boxing Board of Control told this publication that Guyana’s former world champion, Wayne ‘Big Truck’ Braithwaite, and the Barbados trio of Revlon Lake, Shawn Cox and Miguel Antoine are scheduled to touch down today.
United States of America-based Guyanese, Elton Dharry, is expected in early tomorrow morning; while Kevin Placide of Trinidad and Tobago and Selwyn Lett of Barbados are due to arrive on Friday, in time for the pre-fight press conference and official weigh-in in the evening.
Guyana’s Super Middleweight champion, Lennox ‘Too Sharp’ Allen, should have arrived in the country yesterday to witness the five title fights, which are being held in celebration of the WBC’s 50th anniversary.
The card will headlined ‘Big Truck’ Braithwaite, against Cox of Barbados for the Heavyweight title, while Guyana’s Middleweight champion Edmond De Clou will take on Placide for the Middleweight belt.
The Bajan pair, Lake and Antoine, will clash for the Super Lightweight title, while ‘Coolie Bully’ Dharry will put his CABOFE Bantamweight title on the line against Lett, and local boys Dexter ‘The Kid’ Marques and Orlon ‘Pocket Rocket’ Rogers will tussle for the Flyweight belt.
In the feature contest, the 37-year-old Braithwaite will return to Guyana for his first bout here since July 1998 when he knocked out fellow countryman Wayne Harris in round seven of a 12-rounder to lift the national Heavyweight title.

Elton ‘Coolie Bully’ Dharry

The southpaw, who had an unbeaten record after 21 fights, has tasted victory in 24 of his 28 encounters, with 20 coming within the distance. The six-footer now campaigns in the United States of America, and his last fight was in March 2010 when he knocked out Adam Harris of the USA in the opening round of an eight-round contest at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.
Braithwaite’s four defeats have come against big names in boxing, including Jean-Marc Mormeck, Guillermo Jones, Enzo Maccarinelli, and Steve Cunningham.
His opponent, Cox, is also 37, but has tasted defeat only once in his 15-fight career.
Nicknamed ‘The Sniper’, Cox has enjoyed tremendous success against Guyanese boxers, defeating Winston Pompey, Leon ‘The Lion’ Gilkes twice, Anthony Augustin and Kurt Bess.
Fourteen of his victories have come via knockout with only Gilkes and Salvatore Erittu, against whom he suffered his lone defeat, taking him the distance.
The action will commence at 20:00h and admission to the arena is $3,000 for Ringside and $1,500 for Stands.

The Guyana Harpy Eagle Martial Arts Academy of Beterverwagting will be hosting its first Inter-Club Karate Championship on February 26 at the Beterverwagting Secondary School, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

Senseis Scven Roberts and Troy Bobb

The Prime Minister is expected to be present at the competition, which will feature seven karate clubs from across the country displaying skills in weapons, Kata, and Kumite. There will be individual and team competitions.
Senseis Troy Bobb and Scven Roberts are the coordinators of the competition.
Along with the host club, the other clubs that would be participating are Little Diamond Martial Arts, Great Diamond Martial Arts, Black Hawks Martial Arts, Uitvlught Shotokan, Guyana Amateur Karate Association, and St. Cuthberts Karate Club.
The winners will be awarded with trophies and medal, compliments of Sensi Bobb and Sensi Roberts. Action starts at 10:00 hours and admission fee is $200.
According to Bobb, Guyana has very talented young karatekas who need a push to excel. He said the aim of the competition is to select fighters to represent Guyana at the international level and at the same time improve their techniques so that they would reach international standard.
Roberts posited that not much focus is placed on Martial Arts in Guyana, and he hopes the competition will help to spread some light on it and give it more prominence.
From the competition a five-member team will be selected to go to New Mexico to compete in the US Alliance National Karate Championship from March 29 to April 1. Also, a team will be selected and trained to represent Guyana in Trinidad and Tobago for the Best of the Best Championship in September.

Following the recently-concluded Las Vegas Invitational Sevens tournament where the national rugby team was declared joint champions, the local ruggers will now shift their attention to the HSBC Sevens World Series in Hong Kong to be staged in March.

The four rugby officials at the press conference, from left; Theodore Henry, Robin Roberts ‘Kit’ Nascimento and Mike McCormack

The team was declared joint champions of the Bowl round with the Denver Barbarians. Director of the sevens team, Mike McCormack at a press conference at the Olympic House, High Street, Kingston yesterday afternoon told the media that the team will be heading to the US Olympic center for a one week training stint with the USA rugby team ahead of the Hong Kong tournament.
The team will depart Guyana on March 11 before heading to Hong Kong on March 17.
McCormack said the team will not just represent the Golden Arrow Head at the Hong Kong tournament, but the entire North America and Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA).
The team’s Director noted that apart from the one week stint in the USA, the local ruggers have commenced an intensive training regimen, which includes training two times daily. President of the Guyana Rugby Football Union, Christopher ‘Kit’ Nascimiento said the Hong Kong tournament is a huge challenge for Guyana, since the financial obligations have not yet been met. He, however, stated that another major sponsor will soon be on board.
The HSBC Sevens World Series (SWS) will be held in Hong Kong from March 23-25 and the International Rugby Board (IRB) has introduced a “transitional qualification process” to qualify three new teams from the six Rugby Regional Associations, namely Asia, Africa, South America, Europe, Oceania, North America and the Caribbean.
They will join the 12 core teams in the SWS plus one IRB invitational team to comprise a 16-team tournament, with the qualification tournament being introduced for the first time at this year’s Hong Kong HSBC Sevens World Series.
Guyana and Canada will represent the North America and Caribbean Rugby Association respectively, while the other participating teams in the Qualification Tournament are Hong Kong, Japan, China, Philippines, Portugal, Spain, Russia, Zimbabwe, Uruguay, Tonga, Canada and Guyana.
The twelve Core Teams are Fiji, New Zealand, South Africa, England, France, Australia, Wales, Samoa, Argentina, USA, Scotland and Kenya.
Beginning with the 2013 Sevens World Series, a promotion and relegation process will be implemented each year providing the opportunity for new teams to qualify.
The Sevens World Series will now become one of the tournament pathways for qualification for the twelve-team Rugby Sevens competition at the 2016 Olympics to take place in Brazil.
Guyana is, therefore, the first Caribbean country to qualify for the Hong Kong Sevens World Series qualification tournament with an opportunity to qualify as a future Core Team providing a pathway to the Olympic Games.
Las Vegas Invitational Sevens Tournament After suffering two defeats on the opening day of the three-day tournament, the local ruggers recorded victories over Mexico, the Columbus Rugby Club and the Philippines on the second day of the tournament. In their opening game against pool A foes, the Force XV Froggies, of France, the locals were narrowly beaten 19-12.
They then lost 29 to 12 against the other pool A team and eventually Cup winners the Social Vibe Pups, an English team.
The locals, however, rebounded and defeated Mexico the other pool A team, 19 to 14 and the Columbus Rugby Club and the Philippines. By virture of the two defeats the national team, however, which was seeded fourth among the 16-competing teams was knocked out of the Cup round.
However, they qualified for the final in the Bowl round by winning their quarterfinal and semi final games. The final was not played and both Guyana and the Denver Barbarians were named joint Bowl winners.
Nascimiento said all Guyana should be very pleased with the Las Vegas performance, since the elite Las Vegas Invitational Sevens tournament is the highest level of ‘American’ non international tournament.
The GRFU boss said that Guyana needs that level of competition ahead of the Hong Kong tournament.
Meanwhile, Head Coach and Player Theodore Henry have commended the application of the team during tournament. He, however, said that the performance was favorable, but could have been better.  Guyana’s participation at the Las Vegas event was possible through government’s intervention with the tune of $5M.
Other entities that came on board include; BEV Processing, New GPC, King’s Jewelry, DeSinco Trading, Bank of Novia Scotia and Correia Group of Companies.
Several individuals also came in for high praise including Marketing Director of King’s Jewelry, Ralph Persaud and Sabrina Chitram of the New GPC.