Sports Week in Review

Jan 28, 2018 Sports

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We look back at the past week of local sporting activities. We had several events including boxing, cricket and football among others. We start with boxing.

Bad Blood Card lives up to the hype

The eagerly anticipated six-fight `Bad Blood’ fight card organised by a collaborative effort of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC)/NexGen Global Marketing (NGGM), lived up to the hype.
Staged at Cliff Anderson Sports Hall as Professional Boxing returned to venue for the first time in two years, a near capacity crowd watched as Guyana’s Dexter ‘De Kid’ Marques and Venezuelan Dionis Arias produced an entertaining display in the Main Event with Marques getting a unanimous decision over Arias after 10 rounds of Flyweight action.
USA based Guyanese Elton ‘Coolie Bully’ Dharry was clinical in his Bantamweight encounter over eight rounds against Jesus Barcelo of Venezuela which also ended in a unanimous verdict for the CABOFE and Inter-Continental bantamweight champion.
But it was also a disappointing night for local Boxers and fans as Dexter Gonsalves was out-jabbed by his much shorter opponent from Venezuela, Felipe Barcelo and lost my a majority decision.
Guyana’s Anson Green was stopped in 1:35 minutes of the second round in his Junior Middleweight battle with Bajan Keithland King.
Local boy Shawn Corbin was having things his own way against T&T’s WBC FECARBOX Light Heavyweight Champion Sheldon Lawrence and after eight rounds was in front on all of the Judges’ cards until he was hit with a brutal upper-cut and was knocked unconscious in 2:22 seconds of the 11th round of their 12-round title fight.
In the other fight of the night, six feet four inches James Moore was all over the heavier 35-year-old Berbician Sherwin Clarke. Both fighters were making their Professional debuts and Clarke was stopped in 2:44 seconds of the third round in the four-round match-up.

Guyanese Shawn Corbin was knocked Unconscious in the 11th round as T&T’s Sheldon Lawrence successfully defended his WBC FECARBOX Light Heavyweight Title.

CWI Digicel Regional 4-Day C/Ships
Jaguars join B’dos & Jamaica as only teams with 4 successive titles

Guyana Jaguars ended the season as the only unbeaten team to join Barbados (1977-1980) and Jamaica (2008-2012) as the only teams to win the Regional First-Class tournament for four consecutive seasons when they beat T&T’s Red Force by an innings and 81 runs on the final day of this year’s CWI Regional Four-Day competition at Providence.
Scores: Red Force 135 & 324, Jaguars 540-9 declared.
The last time the two teams met in this tournament in Trinidad, the Jaguars roared to an innings and 217-run win.
Set 405 to avoid an innings defeat, the Red Force resumed on 282-8 with Jason Mohamed on 85 and in glorious sunshine a handful of die-hard supporters, including the families of some of the players, saw Mohammed cover-drive left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul to post his seventh hundred at this level with his sixteenth boundary.
Brian Charles (15) hit Kemo Paul for three fours, before he was bowled by Permaul for his 50th wicket in what has been a truly dominating season for the Leon Johnson led side.
Paul sent Anderson Phillips’ leg stump cart-wheeling leaving Mohammed unbeaten on 103.
Guyana’s victory was set up by Man-of-the-match, Bajan Raymon Reifer who joined Roger Harper (twice), Carl Hooper and Narsingh Deonarine as the only Guyanese to score a century and claim a five-wicket haul in the same game. Reifer’s unbeaten 108 also saw Guyana breaking the 47-year-old record of Guyana’s highest total (537) against T&T.
The Jaguars, who have played consistent team cricket with everyone contributing when it most mattered, have lost just three matches in their last 40 games; to Barbados and Leewards twice.

 

GFF commission’s Rupununi FA’s Office in Lethem

The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) made another positive step towards the development of the sport locally with the historic commissioning of the Rupununi Football Association’s (RFA) office located at Middle Street, Lethem.
President (Ag) of the RFA, Curtis Buckley, was elated at the momentous occasion during the ribbon cutting ceremony and noted that the current RFA executive body which was formed merely two years ago on October 30, 2015, has grown from strength to strength despite challenges.
“When he held our election in 2015, we had only 5 clubs and today, the association is 17-clubs strong with the “Go Getters” club hailing as far away as Mahdia,” Buckley shared during his address at the simple but significant event.
Buckley further explained that despite their humble beginnings, after only two years, a total of 30 players from RFA have been called up to National squads with three of them representing Guyana; all at the under 15 level. The President (Ag) posited that his association which is the only one that runs off a senior male and female tournament simultaneously deserves to have the office.
However, despite the RFA’s quick successes, the association still has challenges. Headlining those challenges is the local sports fraternity’s bugbear of insufficient facilities. In addition to the GFF’s and RFA’s presidents, also present at the ribbon cutting ceremony were Region 9 Chairman Brian Allicock and Mayor of Lethem, Carlton Beckles, a former association Secretary.
Beckles who is a former FIFA Referee while enjoying the opportunities to interact with some of the best officials in the game, noted that in order to have success, one must be committed: “We being here today at the opening of the RFA office is the first step towards committing to the continuous development of football in the region.”
“A historic occasion for football development in the Rupununi”, was how Wayne Forde described the event. “There is no doubt in my mind in the amount of talent in this region but unless you have the administrative mechanisms to develop those talents, they will remain nothing more but just talents,” Forde posited as he iterated the importance of the office.

 

Narayan Ramdhani again a gold medalist in Canada

Guyana’s National Badminton Champion and most definitely an Olympic Prospect won the Championship at the Jack VCR Jack Underhill Open Singles Tournament played at the Vancouver Rackets Club in Vancouver BC, Canada.
Narayan won the Gold Medal in the Open Men Singles Competition and Bronze in the Open Men’s Doubles.
This is a great achievement considering last year he got the Bronze Medal in Singles at this tournament and this year he won the Gold shows that his training is progressing at the Shuttlesport Badminton Academy in Vancouver where he is based for over a year and a Half.
This is also his second Gold in a stretch as he won the Under-23 Men’s Singles at the 2017 VRC Remembrance Day Open Badminton Tournament in Vancouver, BC, Canada last year (2017).
In the final Narayan Ramdhani defeated Mandinu Desilva 21-19, 21-16.

 

Natrena Hooper and Winston George top athletes for the year 2017

When the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) held their annual awards ceremony at the Umana Yana in Kingston, two-time Olympian Winston George and Natrena Hooper received the accolades of Senior Male and Female athletes of the year 2017, respectively.
Both the recipients of the senior awards were unable to attend due to overseas commitments. George is currently competing on the United States Track and Field circuit, while Hooper is currently on Scholarship at the University of the West Indies Mona Campus in Jamaica.
Winston George, who lowered Guyana’s 400m record while winning gold at the South American Senior Championships in Paraguay last year, won the senior athlete of the year award out of a pool of outstanding sportsmen that included National triple jump record holder, Troy Doris and national javelin record holder, Leslain Baird.
Tenisha Cort who holds that national record for the Javelin throw was runner-up to Hooper who won the senior female athlete of 2017 award.
Natrena’s sister, Natricia Hooper, who won Gold in the under-20 Triple Jump event at the CARIFTA Games last year, was awarded Junior female athlete-of-the-year. While Compton Caesar, who won the first Gold Medal for Guyana in the boys’ under-20 100m at CARIFTA Games, in addition to Gold at the South America Junior Championships, was awarded Junior male athlete-of-the-year.
Predictably, Daniel Williams who became Guyana’s second athlete to win a medal on the world stage after sprinting to a silver medal berth in the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World under-18 championships in Nairobi, Kenya, won the best male youth accolade.
Chantoba Bright, who finished 5th in the triple jump in the IAAF youth games in Kenya last year while winning gold in the same event at the South American Junior Championships which was held in Guyana for the first time, was adjudged best female youth for 2017.
Other winners included: Natricia Hooper (best junior female athlete), Compton Caesar (best junior male), Daniel Williams (best youth male) and Chantoba Bright (best youth female).
Johnny Gravesande who trains Daniel Williams and Chantoba Bright was named Coach-of-the-Year.
Coach, Moses Pantlitz was the recipient of the President’s Award, while sponsors of various AAG meets during the year 2017 were presented with plaques of appreciation.

 

 

Max-I-Do pair becomes 1st Guyanese “Academy of Martial Arts” Hall-of-Honor Awardees

Max Massiah (who in September of 2017 became Guyana’s only 3-time HALL-OF-FAMER at the “Legends of Martial Arts Celebrity Fest & International games, held in Fresno, California) was nominated for the Hall-Of-Honor Award by the host of the Event, Sifu Alan Goldberg (known as the “Godfather” of Martial Arts).
Mr. Massiah then nominated a fellow Guyanese Martial Artist, the President of the Guyana Amateur Karate Association (GAKA), 5th Dan Black Belt Sensei Anthony Durjan Snr, of which the Board of Directors approved, therein creating history in becoming the first Guyanese to be presented with such a coveted and prestigious award, the Martial Arts Hall- Of-Honor.
The Ceremony is set for Saturday 27th January 2018, during the World’s largest mega event, the “Ultimate Destination”, Jan. 26th to 28th, at the TROPICANA Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey.
“Mr. Max”, as he is popularly called, a Martial Arts practitioner with 45 years experience, is the Founder of Max-I-Do Adult Self-Defence System, which was specifically structured for Business owners, professionals, workers, elderly, and females – all who may be subjected to stick-ups, bullyism, or unlawful assault.
According to Massiah, the system is a 4-second application of submission, breakage, or dislocation of the arm/s (shoulder, elbow, wrist, & fingers, and is strictly for adults.

 

Joshua Gopaul wins GCF Junior Chess Qualifier

Joshua Gopaul played unbeaten to emerge champion of the Guyana Chess Federation’s (GCF) seven-round, National Junior Qualifier, last weekend at the National Aquatic Centre, Lilliendaal.
Young Gopaul notched up six wins and a draw to finish the competition as the only undefeated player, totaling 6.5 points during the feat with his only draw coming against Jaden Taylor.
Ethan Lee, whose only defeat came at the hands of Gopaul, took second spot with six points, followed by Ghansham Allijohn, Nellisha Johnson and Roshawn Washington, who all locked five points each.
Taylor, Sasha Shariff and Dwayne Bess, all with four points apiece, rounded out the top eight, who will contest the National Junior championship later this year.

 

GCB Dave West Indian Imports NY Inter County U-15 tourney launched

By Zaheer Mohamed
As part of their preparation for the 2018 Cricket West Indies Regional U-15 tournament, the Guyana Cricket Board has partnered with Dave West Indian Imports, New York for the third consecutive year for the staging of the upcoming inter county U-15 50-over tournament.
This partnership was announced during the launching of the tournament at the Guyana Cricket Board office at Regent Road, Bourda.
Marketing Manager of the GCB, Rajendra Singh, who chaired the proceedings expressed gratitude to the sponsors for their continued support and stated that this venture has greatly assisted the GCB in the staging the tournament since it costs over Three Million Dollars. He further encouraged the youngsters to place a special emphasis on their nutrition and touched on the importance of fitness. Singh added that this tournament serves as the foundation of their careers as they look to achieve greater heights.
GCB Vice President Fizul Bacchus thanked the sponsors and noted the importance of the tournament. Bacchus, who was recently re-elected President of the Essequibo Cricket Board, told the gathering which included several players that this is a stepping stone for greater things to come once they remain committed the sport.
Amar Ramraj, a representative of the sponsor, said that they are happy for the opportunity to be part of the tournament, while stating that it is at this level where stars are born. He stated that he is looking forward for a successful tournament and wished the teams well.

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