The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) has submitted its entire roster for the 2015 Pan American Games, which will be held from July 10 to July 26 in Toronto.

The entire Trinidad and Tobago team, which will be led by Chef de Mission Diane Henderson, is as follows:

Athletics: Keston Bledman, Marcus Duncan, Rondel Sorrillo, Mikel Thomas, Emmanuel Callender, Dan-Eil Telsford, Kyle Greaux, Machel Cedenio, Emanuel Mayers, Elton Walcott, Steve Waithe, Quincy Wilson, Emmanuel Stewart, Shakeil Waithe, Renny Quow, Jarrin Solomon, Lalonde Gordon, Jehue Gordon, Keshorn Walcott, Kelly- Ann Baptiste, Semoy Hackett, Reyare Thomas, Kamaria Durant, Lisa Wickham, Peli Alzola, Janeil Belille, Romona Modeste, Jessica James, Alena Brooks, Sparkle McKnight, Josanne Lucas, Ayanna Alexander, Deandra Daniel, Cleopatra Borel, Marsha Mark Baird;



Aquatics: George Richard Bovell III, Dylan Carter, Christian Marzden;



Badminton: Nicholas Bonkowsky;



Beach Volleyball: Daneil Williams, Fabien Whitfield, Ayana Dyette, Malika Davidson;



Boxing: Chimere Taylor;



Cycling: Njisane Phillip, Quincy Alexander, Jude Codrington, Justin Roberts, Varun Maharajh, Emile Abraham;



Football (Men): Montell Joseph, Shannon Gomez, Maurice Ford, Alvin Jones, Jesus Perez, Neveal Hackshaw, Jomal Williams, Tristan Hodge, Nathaniel Garcia, Kadeem Corbin, Shackiel Henry, Xavier Rajpaul, Dwight Quintero, Jelani Felix, Neil Benjamin, Dario Holmes, Aikim Andrews, Jovan Sample;



Football (Women): Kennya Cordner, Tasha St Louis, Karyn Forbes, Kimika Forbes, Maylee Attin-Johnson, Rhea Belgrave, Janine Francois, Arin King, Patrice Superville, Dernelle Mascall, Mariah Shade, Khadidra Debesette, Ayanna Russell, Ahkeela Mollon, Brianna Ryce, Shalette Alexander, Lauryn Hutchinson, Shenelle Henry;


Golf: Monifa Sealy, Christina Ferreira, Talin Rajendranath, Sachin Kumar;



Gymnastics: William Albert, Marisa Dick;



Hockey: Darren Cowie, Solomon Eccles, Shaquille Daniel, Mickel Pierre, Akim Toussaint, Che Modeste, Christopher Scipio, Dillet Gilkes, Jordon Reyos, Aidan De Gannes, Kiel Murray, Stefan Mouttet, Tariq Marcano, Andrey Rocke, Kristien Emmanuel, Ishmael Campbell;



Judo: Christopher George;



Sailing: Andrew Lewis, Kelly-Ann Arrindell.

Shooting: Marlon Moses, Anthony Maraj, Roger Daniel;



Taekwondo: Dorian Alexander.

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Japan set-up a rematch of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup final with the United States as Laura Bassett’s late own goal handed them a tense 2-1 victory over England at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

Just as the hard-fought contest looked set for extra-time, Bassett inadvertently sliced her clearance into her own net via the crossbar in the second minute of time added on at the end of the match to hand the defending champions a dramatic victory.

The dramatic conclusion, which was harsh on an England team that had more than held their own throughout the match, came after both sides scored penalties in a thrilling first-half.

Japan's Aya Miyama had broken the deadlock from the spot just after the half-hour mark.

England responded quickly and restored parity on 40 minutes when Fara Williams also converted a penalty.

But, despite England's best efforts, Bassett’s cruel misfortune ensured their World Cup dream ended at the semi-final stage as Japan progressed to the tournament’s showpiece match, where they will have the chance to defend the title they won on penalties in Frankfurt four years ago.

The United States will be out for revenge following their defeat four years ago.

They reached the final by virtue of a 2-0 success against world number one ranked Germany in Montreal yesterday.

The English team began brightly and Jodie Taylor was unfortunate to see her effort from distance fly just wide of the post.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the Olympic silver medallists went in front as Claire Rafferty was adjudged to have fouled Saori Ariyoshi in the penalty-area, despite replays clearly showing the incident occurred outside.

Japan captain Miyama stepped up to coolly convert the resulting penalty but England hit back with a leveller five minutes before the interval.

Yuki Ogimi was the guilty party as she was pulled up for a foul on marauding full-back Steph Houghton and Williams followed Miyama’s lead, crashing home her penalty.

The evenly-poised nature of the semi-final continued after the break, although England could have turned the contest on its head but Toni Duggan’s shot cannoned back off the crossbar.

Jill Scott then had a decent chance but she guided her header wide of the post before the introduction of Mana Iwabuchi brought about a momentum change in favour of Japan.

She jinked her way into the area but hit her shot the wrong side of the posts.

With the scores level, Bassett accidentally diverted the ball into her own net, prompting desolate tears from the England defender and elation for Japan, who will meet the United States in the final at BC Place in Vancouver on Sunday (July 5).

England, meanwhile, will return to the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton to take on Germany in the third-place play-off on Saturday (July 4).

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VETERAN TRINIDAD and Tobago rifle shooter Roger Daniel is bracing for the challenge he will expect at the Pan American Games, scheduled to take place in Toronto, Canada, from July 10-26.

At the 2011 edition in Guadalajara, Mexico, the 45-year-old Daniel earned a silver medal in the men’s 10-metre air pistol and, this month, he will be seeking another piece of silverware, in his third Pan Am Games.

During an interview on Monday, the Defence Force standout said, “this time around, I know it’s even more challenging because the rules in the sport (have) changed.

“But I believe this time, a gold is the goal. I feel more confident, I feel stronger, much more secure in the sport,” he added.

The 10-metre air pistol will take place on July 12 at the Pan Am Shooting Centre in Innisfil.

The event consisted of two rounds — a qualifier and a final. In the qualifier, each shooter fired 60 shots with an air pistol at 10 metres distance. Scores for each shot were in increments of one, with a maximum score of 10.

The top eight shooters in the qualifying round moved on to the final round. There, they fired an additional 10 shots. These shots scored in increments of .1, with a maximum score of 10.9. The total score from all 70 shots was used to determine final ranking.

Daniel commented, “the way it has changed, you’ll definitely have to increase (your) training and muscular endurance because it’s more crowd-orientated. No longer it’s points going forward to the finals, now it’s more concentration, it’s a longer time.”

Stating that his preparations has been “very good”, Daniel does not see himself retiring from competitive rifle shooting anytime soon.

“The sport affords you to go as long as you can hold the unit, really and truly,” he said. “Look Joe Costa just won in the United States and he’s aged 50. So he has won the World Championship twice, back-to- back.

“So I’m not putting it past (me). My sport allows me to go at that age and beyond, so if I’m afforded to go, I will do it,” he ended.

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…locals second on medal table, third overall

T&T 15 & Under boys and girls water polo teams added to this country’s gold medal tally at the 2015 edition of the Central American and Caribbean Championship which ended on Tuesday with Water Polo and Open Water competition in Puerto Rico.

The Water Polo competition was contested from Saturday, T&T led by Most Valuable Player and Best Goalkeeper award recipient Zoe Van Reeken as the visitors defeated the host country 7-3 in the final.

On Monday, the Puerto Ricans had secured their spot in the final with a 14-7 win over Jamaica, with the latter taking the bronze medal.

In the round-robin phase, T&T also got the better of Puerto Rico 11-7 and Jamaica 14-2 to end with a 3-0 record.

The 15 & Under Boys gold medal decider was a much closer affair as T&T inspired by the tournament’s Most Goal and Most Valuable Player awardee Chad Rowley (28 goals), 15-13.

The win capped off an impressive tournament for the T&T 15 & Under boys who avenged a 12-17 loss to Puerto Rico in the round-robin while they blasted Jamaica 32-5 in their other match.

On Monday, T&T secured its place in the final by beating the Jamaicans 27-7 for the latter’s second bronze medal.

However, in the 18 & Under boys and girls finals, the Puerto Ricans were able to turn the tables on.

T&T, by capturing both titles, 12-8 over T&T boys and a narrow 11-10 triumph against the girls in the red, white and black swim caps.

Over in Barbados where the 5K Open Water took place, T&T failed to add to its medal tally while the day ended with the Duet and Team competitions in Synchronized Swimming.

In the 14-17 Girls Open Water 5k swim, T&T’s Sabrina David was fourth in 1:22:38.38 to trail Barbadian Alexis Clarke (1:14:41,77); Cost Rica’s Nicole Franco ((1:19:07.56) and Puerto Rico’s Karla Otero (1:20:46.61).

Briana Patterson (1(22:52.39), and Chisara Santana (1(27:18.43), T&T’s other entrants in the event got home, sixth and eighth respectively.

Gabriel Bynoe (1:16:37.52) and Sebastien Marchand (1:23:08.27) were seventh and tenth in the 14-17 boys age-group while Aleem Mohammed (1:18:37.27) sixth in the 18 & Over boys category. Keanu Otero did not finish.

In the end, Puerto Rico topped both the medal and points tables from the four disciplined contested.

In the medals race, Puerto Rico tallied 72 medals (30 gold, 23 silver, 19 bronze) ahead of T&T with 47 (29 gold, 16 silver, two bronze); Barbados with 56 (22 gold, 18 silver, 16 bronze) while Costa Rica which won the most medals overall 73 was fourth with 17 gold, 23 silver and 33 bronze.

And on the points table, Puerto Rico was a clear winner with a whopping 1,300.33 points well clear of second placed Costa Rica (1044) and T&T (808.83) which ended second and third respectively.

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This country’s senior men’s hockey team continued its build-up towards the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada later this month with 3-3 draw against host Mexico in Guanajuato, Mexico on Tuesday to conclude a four-match tour.

Getting the goals for the T&T squad was Defence Force forward Mickell Pierre, inform Paragon player Kiel Murray and Courts Malvern teenager Tariq Marcano.

With the draw, T&T ended the four match series which also included Central American and Caribbean Games champions Cuba, with one and three defeats.

On Monday, T&T, beaten by Cuba 6-1 in the CAC final last November suffered a 5-2 loss against the same with Pierre and Murray the players on target in the loss for the T&T.

The other loss for the Darren Cowie-led world 29th ranked T&T, was 1-0 to Mexico, despite having a number of chances which included a Murray penalty-stroke that was saved by the Mexican custodian.

When the three-team warm-up series flicked off on Friday last, T&T and Courts Malvern goalkeeper Andrey Rocke pulled off a number of saves in the penalty shoot-out to earn his team victory after a 1-1 draw with Cuba at the end of regulation time with Murray scoring the decisive penalty.

Speaking just before the team left Mexico for their pre-Pan Am Games camp in Canada, national coach Francis said the Mexico camp was very beneficial to his team.

A former national goalkeeper, Francis said, “The camp was very productive and we were able to play high quality matches where they were able to see the speed of the game at the international level and we were adapted to it with great effect.”

He added, “It is also noteworthy that we have some very young players and they also adapted pretty well to the level. We are still in the process of working on a lot of stuff tactically and using players in different roles and positions to see how they will react to match situations at the Pan American Games and it was really great to see how they responded.”

Yesterday, the T&T squad departed Mexico for Toronto for another camp before entering the Games Village on July.

For the tri-nation series in Mexico, T&T was without Australian-based duo, Akim Toussaint and Stefan Mouttet as well as Aidan De Gannes with the reserve trio of Lyndell Byer, Teague Marcano and Jordan Vieira making the trip,

But barring any injuries to any member of the team, Byer, Marcano (Teague) and Vieira will return to T&T tomorrow with Toussaint, Mouttet and De Gannes joining the team in Canada.

For the eight-team Pan American Games, T&T will be without injured standout and most capped player, Kwandwane Browne, who will serve as an assistant to Francis will campaign in Pool A against Argentina, Cuba and USA.

Browne’s Olympic Games hopes and T&T chances of a medal finish at the Pan American Games suffered a blow early last month when he sustained a torn achilles tendon left leg injury, forcing the 18-year national team veteran with over 300-appearance to his name, out of the tournament in Canada.

However, having completed his surgery and started his recovery which will take between six and nine months, Browne, the current England Under-21 assistant coach and coach for National League Premier Division’s Canterbury, will now serve the T&T men’s team in the role as an assistant coach to Francis.

He has represented T&T at four Commonwealth Games as well as four Pan American Games and three Pan American Cup, and in 2012/13 won the award for England Hockey High Performance Coach of the Season.

His last competitive outing for T&T at the FIH World League Round Two qualifiers in San Diego, California in March.

Squad

T&T men: Stefan Mouttet, Akim Toussaint, Dillet Gilkes, Aidan De Gannes, Ishmael Campbell, Darren Cowie, Shaquille Daniel, Solomon Eccles, Kristien Emmanuel, Tariq Marcano, Che Modeste, Kiel Murray, Mickell Pierre, Jordan Reynos, Andrey Rocke, Christopher Scipio.

Technical staff: Glenn “Fido” Francis (coach), Kwandwane Browne (assistant coach), Kirth Davis (manager), Nicholas Baldeosingh (videographer)

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Prisons Commissioner Sterling Stewart says NGOs like Vision on Mission (VoM) were very important for the reintegration of ex-offenders into society.

In a passionate address, Stewart, at VoM’s award ceremony at Central Bank auditorium on Tuesday night, said in his 37 years in the prisons, he recognised one of the weaknesses of the system was after-care.

“When I speak and interact with the offenders, they always have good intentions, but the road to hell is always paved in good intentions. When they are released, that re-integration part of it, what do they have to go back to? No family support, no jobs and that is why this partnership with NGOS like Vision on Mission is so important, because we have the same mission,” he said.

He noted one of the main missions of a prison officer is to prepare the prisoners for reintegration into society as law-abiding citizens, but he admitted that was a challenge as some of the prisoners were “out of timing”.

“They come in here and want to tell you how to run your area, don’t search them, don’t touch them, don’t talk to them. It’s the last stand, I have to protect, the community, I have to protect society and I have an opportunity to do that through programmes, through the way we interact with them, through Vision on Mission,” he said.

As he spoke, Stewart had the support of the audience as they clapped and cheered him on. He admitted that the job as a prison officer was a risky one, but he was not afraid as he quoted a scripture from the Bible. “The Lord is on my side, I will not fear what can man do unto me?” he said.

“They are rebelling against authority...for us to carry out our lawful duties, our life is at risk and it’s time people recognise correctional officers and the sacrifice they have to make on a daily basis,” he said.

Thirteen minutes into his speech, Stewart was about to be notified by a VoN official that his time was almost up, but he quickly backed away and said, it was his time to talk and he continued quoting scriptures.

“When you’re talking about restoration, rehabilitation, reformation, you have to talk about God. When you leave prison, that transition, they need people to shape them; to love them, that’s why Vision on Mission is so important. We need everyone on board as it’s a mission for right thinking people,” he said.

When he ended, the audience gave him a standing ovation.

Meanwhile, VoM’s Chief Executive Officer, Wayne Chance, expressed concern that society was quickly moving away from the core values of honouring and respecting what is right and those who practiced doing the right thing.

“If we continue to see the breaking down of these core values and principles, the future hopes and aspirations of many will be difficult, especially for those who have had a colourful background,” he said.

He appealed to those in society to make a strong effort to uphold and respect and honour and reward anyone who practised what was right.

“If we don’t stand up and support what is right, those in prison, those in the communities, would feel that studying and going to learn a trade and doing all that is right to be successful, to be respected is in vain. We have a responsibility to uphold these core values so that the future of this nation will always be in good hands,” he said.

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