COMMONWEALTH GAMES

Source: www.newsday.co.tt

“CALYPSO GIRLS” netballers rebounded from their 75-36 thrashing by Jamaica when they narrowly edged Samoa 52-51 in a Group ‘A’ clash as the 19th Commonwealth Games continued in New Delhi, India, yesterday.

The game was a see-saw affair at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex, as Samoa led 12-11 at the end of the first-quarter and 27-26 at the half.

But the “Calypso Girls” netballers rallied with a 13-10 third-quarter, to enter the final phase 39-37 in front, and held on to the nail-biting win.

Joelisa Cooper scored 26 of 29 attempts and Anestacia Wilson 26 of 30 attempts for the Trinidadians.

Boxer Aaron Prince advanced to the second round in the welter-weight category after a convincing win over St Lucia’s Miguel Auguste at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium. The bout was stopped after one minute and 24 seconds of the third and final round, with Prince leading 9-4 on the judges’ cards.

Rifle shooters Roger Daniel and Rhodney Allen, who copped bronze on Tuesday in the 50m pistol pairs, finished ninth and 12th respectively in the men’s singles 50-metre pistol at the Dr Kami Singh Shooting Range while, at the Yamaha Sports Complex,

Trinidad and Tobago men archery team were narrowly beaten 224-219 by India in the compound team men’s elimination quarter-final.

Cyclists Njisane Phillip, Haseem McLean and Thireef Smart failed to advance past the first round of the men’s kieren

At the Dr SPM Swimming Complex, Joshua McLeod (52.07 seconds), Jarryd Gregoire (52.08) and Caryle Blondell (52.60) took the top three spots in heat four of the men’s 100m freestyle first round but failed to reach the semi- finals because of their slow times.

The TT hockey men suffered a second straight defeat at the Maj Dhyan Chand National Stadium, when they went under 4-0 to England in Group ‘B’ yesterday.

Canadian-born gymnast William Albert finished 21 out of 24 in the men’s individual all-round final, tallying 75.2 points,

There were mixed results for Trinidad and Tobago on the track, in the men and women 100m sprint, at the JN Stadium.

Marcus Duncan was the only athlete who failed to advance past the first round, clocking 10.59 seconds to finish fourth in heat two, but Emmanuel Callender, Aaron Armstrong (men) and Ayanna Hutchinson (women) progressed.

Callender won heat three in 10.29, the fastest time of the event, Armstrong won heat eight and Hutchinson was third in heat two in 11.71.

In today’s 100m semis, Armstrong will be in lane seven of the first semi, Callender in lane five of the second men’s semi while Hutchinson is in lane four of the first women’s semi.

The rifle shooting pair of Daniel and Allen will be back in action again today when they compete in the men’s pairs 10m air pistol. In track cycling, the quarter-finals of the men’s sprint will be contested today, with Phillip due to participate, while veteran Emile Abraham will be in the qualification stage of the men’s 20-kilometre scratch race.

Andrew Fermin will be aiming for success in the boxing ring, when he faces Filimaua Hala of Samoa in the first round of the light heavyweight category.

In the swimming pool, in the men’s 100m butterfly first round, Jarryd Gregoire will compete from lane eight in the fourth heat while, in heat five, Joshua McLeod is in lane one and Cadell Lyons in lane seven.

Christian Homer will feature in the first round of the men’s 100m backstroke, in lane seven of heat four and Cherelle Thompson will be in the women’s 50m freestyle first round, from lane six of heat four.

The national women’s hockey team will be seeking to avenge two lopsided losses to South Africa and Australia, when they meet Scotland in a Group ‘A’ match, while the netballers play hosts India

Despite not advancing to the semifinal round, two of the three T & T athletes achieved personal bests in the 100 metre freestyle event swum of this morning (India Time) at the Commonwealth Games in India.

All three T & T  swimmers were seeded in heat four, and copped the top three places in the heat. Caryle Blondell lead the heat up to the 50m mark where he split 25 seconds flat. However it was Joshua Mc Leod who stopped the clock first in a personal beat 52.07 seconds to win the heat, improving on his personal best of 52.11.

Jarryd Gregoire was just 0.01 behind Mc Leod, and he too surpassed his personal best which was 52.37. Blondell placed third in 52.60 seconds. The final results placed the trio 21st, 22nd and 24th respectively. The fastest qualifier for the event was Gideon Louw of South Africa in 49.24. Brothers Shaune (49.93) and Brett Fraser (50.21) of the Cayman Islands gave the Caribbean a berth in the semifinal placing 7th and 11th respectively. T & T based Guyanese athlete Jessica Stephenson placed 5th in Heat One of the 200m breaststroke female in a time of 2:49.56.  

Mc Leod, Gregoire and Cadell Lyons will compete in the 100m butterfly tomorrow. Christian Homer will also be in action in the 100m backstroke. Cherelle Thompson is also expected to compete in her pet event the 50m freestyle.

Australian sprinter Sally Pearson has been stripped of a Commonwealth Games gold medal, hours of celebrating victory in the 100m final.
Pearson crossed the line first, finishing in 11.28 seconds, but the result was protested by Englishwoman Laura Turner due to a false start.

Pearson and Laura Turner both appeared to false start but only Turner was given a red card and was disqualified. She successfully argued her case and stayed in the race, competing under protest.
Sally Pearson was the Commonwealth Games 100m champion for just four hours. Photo / AP
Turner finished eighth in 11.57, but the official results listed her as disqualified.

Turner upheld her protest after the race which led to Pearson also being disqualified after four hours of deliberation, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The gold medal will be given to Nigeria's Osayemi Oludamola who finished the race in second place.

Pearson was briefly the first Australian woman to win the 100 since Raelene Boyle in 1974.

Source: http:// www.trinidadexpress.com By Kwame Laurence in New Delhi

Shanntol Ince created history at the Dr. S.P.M. Aquatics Complex, here in New Delhi, India, yesterday, becoming the first para athlete to represent Trinidad and Tobago at a major international Games. The 15-year-old swimmer celebrated the occasion by advancing to the women's 50 metres freestyle S9 final. Ince clocked 34.07 seconds to cop fifth spot in the championship race. In the preliminary round, she had finished third in heat one and sixth overall in 34.30. Natalie Du Toit was first home in the final, the South African touching the wall in 29.82 seconds. Australia's Annabelle Williams (30.03) claimed silver, while bronze went to England's Stephanie Millward (30.09).

Joshua McLeod was the best of the three T&T swimmers on show in the men's 50m butterfly semis. He finished fifth in heat one and 10th overall in 24.88 seconds. The top eight advanced to the final. Cadell Lyons (25.13) and Jarryd Gregoire (25.54) were 12th and 15th, respectively.

In the preliminaries, Lyons was 13th fastest in 25.16 seconds, while McLeod (25.19) was 15th and Gregoire (25.57) 16th.

In the women's 100m freestyle preliminaries, Cherelle Thompson finished 27th overall in one minute, 00.46 seconds.

Gregoire, McLeod and Caryle Blondell will be in the pool today, in the opening round of the men's 100m freestyle.

T&T's hockey women lost 11-0 to champions Australia. Emily Hurtz netted a hat-trick for the Aussies.

"We are very disappointed," said T&T player Alana Lewis, after the game. "We needed more discipline. We have a lot of work to do, and we need to focus on our defence."

The T&T women were beaten 12-0 by South Africa on Monday.

At the Yamuna Sports Complex, T&T archers George Vire and Rakesh Sookoo exited in the round of 32 in the men's individual compound. Vire was beaten 2-0 by Canadian Andrew Fagan, while Sookoo lost 2-0 to Welshman Owen Kalmaru.

Both Vire and Sookoo won in the first round of the knockout phase, but their teammate, Hasmath Ali lost his opening contest. He went under 2-0 to another Welshman, James Thomas.

Sookoo edged Northern Ireland's Darran Hall 10-9 in a tie break, after they had won a set apiece and battled to a draw in the other set. Vire stopped Cypriot Marios Perdikos 2-0.

T&T do battle with hosts India today, in a men's team compound elimination match.

Emile Abraham was among the starters in heat one in the men's 40-kilometre points race, at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex. However, the T&T cyclist did not finish.

Today, Thireef Smart, Njisane Phillip and Haseem McLean will compete in the men's keirin. And in the men's sprint, Phillip, McLean and Christopher Sellier will fly the T&T flag.

Gymnast William Albert will be in action today at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, in the men's individual all-around final.

At the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, T&T sprinters Emmanuel Callender, Aaron Armstrong and Marcus Duncan face the starter in the opening round of the men's 100m dash, on day one of the Commonwealth Games athletics meet. Ayanna Hutchinson will be in action in the women's 100m.

At the Siri Fort Sports Complex, T&T squash pro Colin Ramasra faces Malta's Bradley Hindle in a men's singles classic plate quarter-final fixture.

T&T boxer Aaron Prince takes on St Lucia's Miguel Auguste in a welterweight bout, at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium.

And in netball, T&T tackle Samoa in a Group A match-up, at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex. In their opening fixture, on Monday, T&T lost to Jamaica, 75-36.

Source: www.guardian.co.tt

Shooter Roger Daniel is in India to compete in the Commonwealth Games with the hope of building on his 2010 medal count which already includes a gold and a bronze medal at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Puerto Rico. The 19th edition of the event starts on Sunday and runs until October 14 in New Delhi. Daniel will also be looking to improve on his performance from the last Commonwealth Games in Melbourne where he placed third in the 50m pistol. In his next major event, the Olympic Qualifiers in Brazil in November, Daniel will vie for his third trip to the world’s biggest sporting stage, having already represented T&T at Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.

Before he left for India, the 40-year-old T&T Defence Force Corporal spoke about what he hopes to accomplish in the next few months. “I’m really going to be pushing myself hard for this,” he said. “The most breathtaking moment of any athlete’s life is when he stands on the podium and hears his national anthem play. I’m looking forward to an experience like that.” A former national hockey player, Daniel first developed an interest in shooting when he joined the Defence Force in 1996 and now looks back on his introduction as a turning point in his life. “All soldiers are expected to be able to shoot and after being around guns so much, it felt like a natural fit,” he shared. “Shooting is a sport that changes you. It requires you to be still, calm and patient for very long periods of time and the training also requires you to take yourself to another level.

“How you are outside of the sport is how you are in the sport. So what you try to do mentally is keep yourself calm at all times and stay focused and just do what you have to do.” Daniel motivates himself by keeping tabs on the performances of the world’s best shooters and setting out to beat their scores. Since shooting is a relatively obscure sport in T&T though, he must deal with shortages in facilities, equipment, ammunition and targets. Despite the setbacks, he remains unfazed in the pursuit of his goals. “I’m not a person that allows frustration to get to me. You have to shut out all these things and stay focused,” he said. “If you get frustrated, your body can create a chemical that causes an imbalance so I try to avoid it.”

There is a feeling in some corners that the sport is dying in T&T but Daniel indicated he has seen an increase in interest following the national team’s third place finish at the 34th Copa Del Caribe in Puerto Rico in May. The real problems, according to him, stem from the local laws restricting young people from picking up a gun which he fears will keep the sport from developing to its full potential. “The outside world will always be ahead of us once their athletes are starting at an earlier age,” he said. “But if we can harness our young talent properly, I think we will see some future champions come out of the sport.” Looking ahead to his own future, Daniel said that shooting will be a part of his life for a long time to come.

Trinidad and Tobago won its first medal  at the 19th Commonwealth  Games as Singapore won the gold medal in the men's 50m Pistol Pair event here today at the Dr Karni Singh Range

Swee Hon Lim and Bin Gai had a total of 1094 shots to clinch the gold medal.

Hosts India had to settle for a silver medal with Omkar Singh and Deepak Sharma returning a total of 1087 points.

Trinidad and Tobago took the bronze medal with Roger  Daniel (548) and Rhodney Allen (533) amassed a score of 1,081.

Allen and Daniel are both members of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force. Their confidence boosting efforts on  day two of the Commonwealth Games competition has set the foundation for T&T's quest  to return home with four or more bag more medals in the ten sports.

Chef de Mission Annette Knott expressed optimism that T&T  team will be inspired by the bronze medal performance of the two soldiers.

"It is tough .Winning medals at the Commonwealth Games is not easy. Our athletes must be at the top of their game.I am very encouraged by the positive and focused mood in the camp.Congratulations to Roger and Rhodney. However they are both well aware that they still have other events to come and must therefore remain disciplined and focused.We have to have that determination and burning desire to push on for podium finishes and personal bests." added Knott.

Source: www.trinidadexpress.com
By Kwame Laurence New Delhi

Trinidad and Tobago's netballers were dominated in their Group A showdown with Jamaica, on the opening day of competition at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, here in New Delhi, India, yesterday.

Coping with six foot, three inch Romelda Aiken was always going to be difficult. The challenge proved to be beyond T&T, the lanky Jamaican goal shoot scoring 37 of her 43 attempts at the impressive Thyagaraj Sports Complex to steer her team to a big 75-36 win.

For T&T, goal shoot Anestacia Wilson scored 24 goals.

With the mighty Australians also in Group A, the loss to Jamaica almost certainly means T&T will not advance to the semi-final round.

"Each team came out here in the hope of medalling," T&T captain Janelle Barker told the Express, after the match, "and that was our hope as well. But one of our main goals was to improve our [world] ranking [from eighth], and I think we still have a chance.

"We lost, so it's a disappointing feeling, but we have other games ahead of us. Right now we have to do some homework, reassess ourselves, see where we made our mistakes, see where we need to improve, and work on it."

In yesterday's other Group A game, Australia whipped Samoa 76-39.

At the Dr. S.P.M. Aquatics Complex, T&T missed out on a berth in the men's 4x100 metres freestyle final by 54 hundredths of a second.

Swimming in the first of two heats, Carlyle Blondell, Joshua McLeod, Christian Homer and Jarryd Gregoire combined for a three minutes, 31.56 seconds clocking, good enough for third spot, behind Canada (3:22.01) and Singapore (3:31.02).

The second heat, however, was much faster, all six teams bettering T&T's time.

Trinidad and Tobago finished ninth overall, the eighth and final spot in the final going to Singapore.

T&T actually had the edge on Singapore after the opening leg, Blondell touching the wall in 52.41 seconds. On the second leg, however, the Asians edged ahead of T&T, moving into second spot and staying there till the end of the race.

In the final, Australia struck gold in a Games record 3:13.92, beating England (3:15.05) and South Africa (3:15.21) into second and third, respectively.

Homer produced a 26.99 seconds clocking to finish fifth in the first men's 50m backstroke semi-final heat. The Youth Olympic Games champion was 10th fastest, and did not advance to the final. McLeod was seventh in heat two in 27.35 for 13th spot, while Blondell--eighth in 28.24—finished 16th overall.

In the opening round, Homer was third in heat two in 27.12 seconds, while McLeod clocked 27.50 for fifth spot in the same race. In heat four, Blondell was fifth in 27.53.

Para swimmer Shanntol Ince is listed for action on day two of the Commonwealth Games swim meet, in the women's 50m freestyle--S9. McLeod, Gregoire and Cadell Lyons are entered in the men's 50m butterfly. And Cherelle Thompson is the lone T&T representative in the women's 100m freestyle.

In squash, Colin Ramasra swept aside Vincentian Jules Snagg 11-5, 11-3, 11-0, at the Siri Fort Sports Complex, in his opening men's singles contest. But the T&T player then exited in the round of 32, beaten 11-2, 11-4, 11-2 by Pakistan's Aamir Khan.

At the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, T&T gymnast William Albert finished 22nd in the men's individual all-around qualification event with a score of 74.900. The placing earned him a spot in tomorrow's final.

"I have some extra tricks that I have kept for finals," Albert said. "I will use them to boost my performance."

In archery, George Vire scored 683 at the Yamuna Sports Complex to finish 26th in the qualifying round of the men's individual compound. Hasmath Ali (677) and Rakesh Sookoo (671) were 32nd and 36th, respectively. They will all be back in action today, in the knockout stage of the event. Their combined score of 2,031 placed T&T 11th in team compound qualifying.

Cyclist Emile Abraham will be on show today, at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, in the men's 40-kilometre points race. He will ride in heat one.
And late last night (T&T time), Roger Daniel and Rhodney Allen were at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, bidding for honours in the men's 50 metres pistol pairs event.

Source- NZPA www.nzherald.co.nz-

A mix of penalty corner power and some slick outfield play saw the New Zealand men's hockey team ease to a predictable win against Trinidad and Tobago in their opening match at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi today.

Three of New Zealand's goals in the 7-1 win came from penalty corners as the power of defenders Andy Hayward (2) and Hayden Shaw proved too much for Trinidad and Tobago to handle.

New Zealand, ranked 7th in the world and third in the Commonwealth compared to Trinidad and Tobago's rankings of 27th and 10th, respectively, also scored four neatly constructed field goals through Blair Hilton - who bagged two, one either side of halftime - Hugo Inglis and Nick Haig, who returned from a knee injury.

But after Shaw had lashed in his first goal to open the scoring, it was Trinidad and Tobago who provided the individual play of the match when they equalised midway through the second half.

Wayne Legerton was seemingly trapped on the sideline but a mazy run, in which he beat five New Zealand defenders, ended with a cracking shot to draw them level against the run of play.

Perhaps stung by their lazy defending, New Zealand responded immediately, with striker Nick Wilson jinking his way through the defence and firing a shot which was saved, but the rebound was easily tucked away by Hugo Inglis.

Blair Hilton made it 3-1 at halftime, the striker scoring despite his team being a man down with Steve Edwards forced to spend two minutes in the sinbin after a stick clash.

Shaw and Hayward scored from penalty corners soon after the break before Hilton and Haig rounded out the scoring with well-taken individual efforts.

New Zealand's remaining group B matches are against Canada, England and South Africa.

New Zealand 7 (Andy Hayward 2, Blair Hilton 2, Hugo Inglis, Hayden Shaw, Nick Haig) Trinidad and Tobago 1 (Wayne Legerton). Halftime: 3-1.

Roger Daniel and Rhodney Allen won a  bronze medal for Trinidad and Tobago at the 2010 Commonwealth Games,  in New Delhi, India, today. The T&T marksmen copped third spot in the men's 50 metres pistol pairs event.

New Delhi: Coetzee Pietie marked her return from retirement by slamming four goals as South Africa pounded Trinidad and Tobago 12-0 in a pool A match of the women's hockey competition in the 19th Commonwealth Games here Monday.

Pietie, the 32-year-old forward and penalty corner specialist, came out of a self-imposed five-year absence from competitive hockey and showed she was none the worse for it by slotting home the goals as the South Africans ran riot at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

"Everything went to plan today (Monday) and it is a privilege to score a hat-trick in an international match," said Pietie, who showcased her versatility with two penalty corner conversions and as many field goals.

"I took a five-year break because I was exhausted, but I was playing in local matches. Then, my coach convinced me to return and this is my third month," she added.

Pietie began the flood of goals with two conversions in the first 10 minutes and thereafter, the Trinidadians were helpless against the South African onslaughts that were magnified by the tottering defence.

"We need to remain focused on our next match. We made too many mistakes in the defence, but we can bounce back," said a brave Trinidad and Tobago skipper Patricia Wright-Alexis.

The other goal-scorers for South Africa, who led 3-0 at the break, were: Dirkie Chamberlain (3), Jennifer Wilson (2), Kathleen Taylor, Lesle Anne George and Farah Fredericks.

Source: IANS

Source: www.nytimes.com  By HEATHER TIMMONS

After all, most of the top international athletes have withdrawn, citing everything from safety to scheduling to muscle strains, as evidence of India’s abysmal planning piled up and Delhi was hit by an outbreak of dengue fever.

But the games, a quadrennial competition of nations from the old British Empire, may be closely watched by economists and business executives around the world nonetheless. As India emerges as an economic player, the business world will view the games as something of a management competency test.

“It is India, and India is a rising power,” said Arvind Subramanian, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.

India, with its nearly 9 percent economic growth and rapidly increasing middle class, has become the latest popular destination for global companies and low-growth Western governments. That is why many of the same Western nations that were publicly upset by India’s lack of sports preparedness have recently stepped up their trade efforts with the country.

In July, Britain sent a large trade delegation that included Prime Minister David Cameron, and just last week Canada announced it would set up a chief executive forum with India and hoped to triple bilateral trade to $15 billion by 2015. Australia is pushing hard for a free-trade agreement with India, and New Zealand has secured one.

The games are the first time that India has hosted a truly global athletic competition. In fact it is the first time in decades — since the Asian Games in the early 1980s — that India has held any major multinational sports event.

Despite photos of filthy accommodations for athletes, a collapsing footbridge, a tourist shooting and allegations of corruption, not a single one of the 54 participating countries and 71 teams has backed out of India’s Commonwealth Games. India, like other emerging economic powers including China and Brazil, has become too important on the world stage, analysts say.

“Nothing will progress without the cooperation of China, India and Brazil,” said John Lee, foreign policy fellow at the Center for Independent Studies in Sydney.

Emerging markets are expected to make up just over 30 percent of the world’s gross domestic product this year, according to the International Monetary Fund figures, double their contribution in 1985. And partly because of the recession that was touched off by banks in the developed world, countries like India and China will contribute most of the global economy’s growth this year.

Emerging market countries are also increasingly hosting international sporting events, and, as developed nations are finding, they are doing things in their own way — whether it is the eerie precision of the Beijing Olympics, the glitz of South Africa’s World Cup or the chaos of India.

While developed nations seem to recognize the need to tap into India’s fast-growing economy, it still seems to be a tough transition for some to view India as a grown-up power to reckon with.

“I would hope that at the end of all of this India would have learned a great lesson,” the Commonwealth Games Federation’s president, Mike Fennell, said last week. In the past, such a remark might have been attacked as patronizing, or worse, by many of India’s top leaders and thinkers.

But in today’s India, where the number of billionaires grew by 50 percent last year — to 69 people, according to the latest Forbes list — no one in the government even seemed to notice. Rather than expressing remorse, Indian officials have started to make remarks seeming to ask what all the fuss was about in the first place.

“Anywhere, where international events take place, work continues till the very last minute,” Sheila Dikshit, Delhi’s chief minister, said last week.

Still, organization of sporting events and parades can be overrated as a measure of economic prowess, said Mr. Lee of the Center for Independent Studies.

“North Korea has great military parades with 200,000 people, but no one looks to them” to predict the future, Mr. Lee said.