Regal set sights on Florida Cup

Jan 15, 2017 Sports

By Zaheer Mohamed
Regal of Georgetown will look to add to their collection of prizes when they journey to Florida next month to compete in the 2017 Florida Cup softball cricket championship.

Mahendra Hardyal

The tournament which will be played in two categories, the Open and Masters (over 45) is being organised by the Honorary Consul of Guyana in association with the South Florida Softball Cricket League as part of Guyana’s Republic Day celebration there.
The competition will commence at the beautiful Brian Piccolo Park, Cooper City, Florida on Friday February 24th and continue on Saturday February 25th at the said venue. The finals will be played on Sunday February 26th, at the Central Broward Regional Park and Stadium, Lauderhill, Florida.
The finals will be televised on ESPN3 and MaqTV and will also be streaming the games live on You Tube. In addition to the various teams and individual prizes, there is a cash prize of US$3,000 for the winner of the All Star competition and US$2,000 for the Masters Champion.
Regal last overseas outing saw them winning the annual New York Softball Cricket league (NYSCL) Independence and Legends Cup that was held at Roy Wilkins Park in July last. Their success meant that they became the first Guyanese team to win an unprecedented double on foreign soil.
Both Regal Open and Masters’ teams will commence preparation for the Florida Cup on Wednesday at the GNIC SC under the guidance of Coach Clive Grimmond.
Speaking with Kaieteur Sport yesterday, Richard Latif who was named the MVP in NYSCL Independence Cup and more recently concluded Regal Sport T20 tournament said they are confident of going all the way in the Florida Cup.
He added that the players are prepared to work hard and once they stick to the basics and play as a unit they will be hard to beat. “Our players are riding high in confidence, but we will not be taking any team for granted,” he stated.
Regal will be without some of their more experience players for the tournament due to work and family commitments, however Latif said the new faces in the team can hold their own. Among the players in the Open line up are Safraz Esau, Rohit Dutchin, Patrick Rooplall, Sewchand Budhu and Navin Singh.
Regal Masters all-rouder Mahendra Hardyal said they know what to expect and his players are eager to go. He pointed out that the unavailability of some of the more experienced players for the tournament gives others a chance to prove themselves. When quizzed as if this will affect the team’s chances, Hardyal said that they have a large pool of players to choose from, so the competition for places in the team will improve their performances.
Apart from Hardyal, the Masters’ team will depend on the likes of Eon Abel, Eric Thomas, Mahase Chunilall, Rudolph Baker, Troy Kippins, Laurie Singh, Fazleem Mohamed, Raymond Harper and Mahendra Arjune.

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