GAMES

Source: www.trinidadexpress.com By Kwame Laurence

Nothing in sport is guaranteed. Absolutely nothing. Rhonda Watkins was a victim of this undeniable truth, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, here in New Delhi, India, yesterday.
The Trinidad and Tobago athlete was tipped for gold in the Commonwealth Games women's long jump, following her 6.56 metres leap in Saturday's preliminaries. She had led all qualifiers into the final, none of the other jumpers reaching the 6.50m automatic qualifying distance.

Watkins, though, could only manage fourth spot yesterday, missing out on a trip to the rostrum.

Source: www.trinidadexpress.com By –Kwame Laurence

Trinidad and Tobago para-swimmer Shanntol Ince completed her historic participation in the 2010 Commonwealth Games with a sixth-place finish in the women's 100 metres butterfly S9, at the Dr SPM Aquatics Complex, here in New Delhi, India, yesterday.
Ince returned a time of one minute, 22.64 seconds.

South Africa's Natalie Du Toit dominated the field, touching the wall in 1:07.32 to complete a clean sweep of the three S9 races. England's Stephanie Millward was a distant second, in 1:13.11, while bronze went to Australian Ellie Cole (1:14.04).

T&T's hockey men lost 2-0 to Canada, at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. Scott Tupper scored a first half double for the Canadians.

T&T have now completed their Group B schedule, losing all four matches to finish without a point. After yesterday's clash with Canada, T&T captain Kwandwane Browne was a disappointed man.
"We started off way too slow. We didn't play with as much intensity as we could have. If we had played half the way we played against South Africa or England, this would have been a much easier game."

Though T&T lost 4-0 to England and 5-3 to South Africa, they fought well, earning the respect of their highly-regarded opponents.

"We didn't really care so much about results," Browne explained. "The main thing for us is to qualify for the Olympics, and we need to beat teams like Canada and Argentina. That's why we're so disappointed today. We needed to win, and it just shows that we still have a little more work to do." The skipper said Friday's clash with South Africa was the highpoint of T&T's Group B campaign.
"We really played with some heart and we were really critical with our execution of set pieces."

On Tuesday, T&T face Group A table-proppers Scotland in the ninth place playoff.
T&T's netballers suffered a 61-50 defeat at the hands of Malawi in a Group A match-up, at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex.

T&T goal shoot Anestacia Wilson scored 26 of her 30 attempts.
Today, T&T tackle the mighty Australians.

At the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, Roger Daniel and Rhodney Allen combined for tenth spot in the men's 25 metres centrefire pistol pairs event. Daniel scored 566 and Allen 552 for a total of 1,118.

India (1,159), New Zealand (1,140) and Singapore (1,139) earned gold, silver and bronze, respectively.

Daniel and Allen will compete today, in the 25m centrefire pistol singles event.
T&T's Robert Auerbach scored 71 in stage one of the men's singles trap, yesterday. Stage two and the final will be contested today.

Full bore shooters Norris Gomez and Justin Lall were in action yesterday in both singles and pairs. Those events continue today.

Super heavyweight boxer Tariq Abdul Haqq takes on New Zealand's Joseph Parker in a quarter-final bout, at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium.
And Emile Abraham is the lone T&T cyclist in the men's 168-kilometre road race.
–Kwame Laurence

Source: www.trinidadexpress.com By –Kwame Laurence

Trinidad and Tobago para-swimmer Shanntol Ince completed her historic participation in the 2010 Commonwealth Games with a sixth-place finish in the women's 100 metres butterfly S9, at the Dr SPM Aquatics Complex, here in New Delhi, India, yesterday.

Ince returned a time of one minute, 22.64 seconds.
South Africa's Natalie Du Toit dominated the field, touching the wall in 1:07.32 to complete a clean sweep of the three S9 races. England's Stephanie Millward was a distant second, in 1:13.11, while bronze went to Australian Ellie Cole (1:14.04).

T&T's hockey men lost 2-0 to Canada, at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. Scott Tupper scored a first half double for the Canadians.
T&T have now completed their Group B schedule, losing all four matches to finish without a point.

After yesterday's clash with Canada, T&T captain Kwandwane Browne was a disappointed man.
"We started off way too slow. We didn't play with as much intensity as we could have. If we had played half the way we played against South Africa or England, this would have been a much easier game."

Though T&T lost 4-0 to England and 5-3 to South Africa, they fought well, earning the respect of their highly-regarded opponents.

"We didn't really care so much about results," Browne explained. "The main thing for us is to qualify for the Olympics, and we need to beat teams like Canada and Argentina. That's why we're so disappointed today. We needed to win, and it just shows that we still have a little more work to do."

The skipper said Friday's clash with South Africa was the highpoint of T&T's Group B campaign.
"We really played with some heart and we were really critical with our execution of set pieces."

On Tuesday, T&T face Group A table-proppers Scotland in the ninth place playoff.
T&T's netballers suffered a 61-50 defeat at the hands of Malawi in a Group A match-up, at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex.

T&T goal shoot Anestacia Wilson scored 26 of her 30 attempts.
Today, T&T tackle the mighty Australians.

At the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, Roger Daniel and Rhodney Allen combined for tenth spot in the men's 25 metres centrefire pistol pairs event. Daniel scored 566 and Allen 552 for a total of 1,118.
India (1,159), New Zealand (1,140) and Singapore (1,139) earned gold, silver and bronze, respectively.

Daniel and Allen will compete today, in the 25m centrefire pistol singles event.
T&T's Robert Auerbach scored 71 in stage one of the men's singles trap, yesterday. Stage two and the final will be contested today.

Full bore shooters Norris Gomez and Justin Lall were in action yesterday in both singles and pairs. Those events continue today.

Super heavyweight boxer Tariq Abdul Haqq takes on New Zealand's Joseph Parker in a quarter-final bout, at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium.
And Emile Abraham is the lone T&T cyclist in the men's 168-kilometre road race.
–Kwame Laurence

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

Throwing first at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, yesterday, the Trinidad and Tobago field athlete landed the iron ball 19.03 metres.

Fully aware there was just one woman in the field capable of bettering that mark, Borel-Brown knew she would improve on the bronze medal performance she had produced in Melbourne, Australia back in 2006.

It happened so easily. I was just trying to make sure that I didn't mess up, that I got a throw in that could get me into the final and into the medals. When I saw it was 19 I was really excited. And I knew that I didn't exert a lot of effort. It was technically good, so then I thought I would break the world record," she joked.
None of the throwers came close to the 22.63m world record. Valerie Adams, though, established a new Commonwealth Games standard. The reigning champion threw 20.47m in the first round to erase her own 19.66m Games record from the books, seizing the lead from Borel-Brown in the process.

Like Borel-Brown, Adams' first throw turned out to be her best. But while there was no improvement on her opening mark, the champion had the satisfaction of bettering 20 metres in each of the six rounds.

Bronze went to Samoa's Margaret Satupai, who threw a personal best 16.43m.
After receiving her silver medal, Borel-Brown draped the T&T flag across her shoulders, posing for a series of photos as she basked in the moment, the 31-year-old thrower having completed another chapter of T&T track and field history.

In Melbourne, Borel-Brown became the country's first female Commonwealth Games medallist. She remained the lone member of the club up until Friday, when Ayanna Alexander earned triple jump silver to seize the "Most Successful T&T Female" title.

But Alexander's reign was short-lived, Borel-Brown reclaiming the crown less than 24 hours later with her big 19.03m effort. And while 19 metres eluded her for the rest of the competition, there was never any doubt the US-based athlete would join T&T's "Commonwealth Games Multi-Medallist Club".
She is the first female member and the 11th overall, joining the likes of Hasely Crawford, Wendell Mottley, Edwin Roberts, Roger Gibbon and Rodney Wilkes.

There is every likelihood another first will be recorded at the Nehru Stadium today. Rhonda Watkins is the favourite in the women's long jump final, following her 6.56 metres effort in yesterday's qualification event. She was the only jumper to attain the 6.50m automatic qualifying distance.

Alexander, who jumped 6.02m in qualifying, will also compete in today's final.
Borel-Brown told the Sunday Express the strong showing from T&T's female athletes here in New Delhi is not a chance occurrence. "It's the people that came before us. Candice [Scott], people like Ayanna [Hutchinson], people like Fana Ashby, all the female athletes that came, and even before that time. We're more like a team now, we can depend on each other, we can talk to each other more. We could talk about stuff, we could talk about track, and we support each other. We've just been building on the shoulders of the past, just been building and building and building."

Another T&T woman, Aleesha Barber, is listed for action today. She competes for a lane in the 100m hurdles final.
Emmanuel Callender missed out on a medal in the men's 100m by just one-hundredth of a second, the T&T sprinter finishing fourth in Thursday's final in 10.25 seconds. Today, he runs in the first 200m semi-final heat, and hopes to return to the track some two hours later for the championship race.

In the second round, yesterday, Callender finished third in heat two in 20.91 seconds to advance automatically to the semis.

Earlier, in the eighth and final heat in the opening round of the half lap event, the T&T sprinter gave himself a bit of a scare. He shut down too early, and had to step on the gas pedal to claim third spot and a guaranteed lane in the second round. Callender clocked 21.16 seconds.

"I'm just trying to save as much energy as I can," he told the Sunday Express, after his first round heat. "I had only one day's rest [after the 100] so I'm still sore. I'm trying to take it easy and not push myself too hard and burn up all my energy.
"All this is preparation," Callender continued, "for [London] 2012. My coach (John Smith) insisted I run both [sprints] plus the relay, so that I could get the experience of what four rounds feel like."

Callender said he expected to strike gold in the 100m.
"But I ended up cramping up in the blocks and it caused me to pause. When I finished running, my hand cramped up too. Dehydration."

Callender's teammate, Aaron Armstrong, bagged bronze in the 100m in 10.24 seconds.
The haul for Team T&T, ahead of today's action, is four—two silver medals and two bronze. Watkins and Callender are hoping to add a new colour to the collection.

Source: www.newsday.co.tt by Walter Alibey

FORMER national rugby player and coach Rhett Chee Ping has said he is elated at his appointment as chairman of the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago (Sportt).

Yesterday the 44-year-old Chee Ping, who guided Trinidad and Tobago to the Caribbean Rugby Championship both as a player and coach, said he wants to make a difference in the lives of many young people through the avenue of sports.

Only two days ago he got the nod from Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar for the post as Sportt Company chairman, along with numerous others including former manager of the national cricket team Omar Khan, who has been appointed as chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (TTEC).

Chee Ping told Newsday he sees the appointment as an opportunity to make a difference.

“So many people talk about making a difference but when they are given an opportunity they back out. I am not going to be like that,” Chee Ping said. “There is a lot of talent in TT and the challenge is to turn this into something valuable. It’s about how can we develop the youths in TT holistically.”

Chee Ping carries a strong background in the field of sports, having began as a swimmer at the age of nine and graduated to rugby soon after completing studies at the Barry University in the United States in 1990/91 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Management.

He was forced to give up his position as coach of the national rugby team because of the increasing workload and responsibilities as a counsel member of the Caribbean Shipping Association; and on the board of directors at Medway Ltd — a local and regional shipping company.

In addition to being the president of the Shipping Association of TT, Chee Ping is also a director of Gordon Grant and Company Ltd.

He believes that while other responsibilities such as being at the helm of clubs in the domestic rugby league might be a challenge, he holds closely to his heart the duty of national coach as one that cannot be compromised.

“It’s much easier to make time for your club teams, but the difficulty in shouldering that responsibility as coach of the national team, is that you may have to keep people waiting for you etc, because of other responsibilities.”

As such he is still coach of rugby giants Trinidad Northerns, a team that has, along with rivals Caribs RFC, has dominated rugby in Trinidad and Tobago. He is hopeful of using his strong management background, as well as his ability and knowledge of moulding talent, to take development of the youth and the country by extension, to another level.

He explained that while accountability is critical, one can hardly put a price tag on the development.

He is awaiting the completion of a special audit being done on the Sportt Company before work can be started. “I intend to change things around. A simple assignment will be to recognise people’s intention to work at the company through their applications. We must at least say that we have acknowledge their applications.”

He noted that despite the scandal that has tarnished the reputation of the sport company, he will enter with a pure mind. “I will be expecting nothing when I go there to start work,” Chee Ping concluded.