JULIAN JERVIS gained revenge over Nku Patrick as the Cayman Islands edged Trinidad and Tobago’s boys when the team events of the CASA (Caribbean Area Squash Association) Junior Championships continued Wednesday in Barbados.

Patrick had captured the only individual gold medal for T&T on Monday night when he edged Jervis in five sets for the under-19 crown.

But Jervis got the last laugh when he nosed out last year’s bronze-medallist in another pulsating five-setter, 6-11, 11-9, 11-4, 7-11, 12-10.

Cayman Island ended up winning the fixture 3-2 as Daniel Murphy was an 11-5, 11-7, 12-10 winner over national under-19 champ Chad Salandy and Jasun Jaisingh defeated national Under-15 champ Kobie Khan 6-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-7.

T&T victories were achieved by Christopher Anthony and Nicholas Caddle.

Anthony, who picked up the under-13 bronze medal in “individuals”, whipped Pierce Terry 11-7, 11-7, 17-15 and national Under-17 champ Caddle was a 13-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9 winner over Christian Dube.

T&T had beaten Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) 4-1 in their opening Group B fixture, and concluded their round-robin campaign yesterday against Jamaica, 3-2 winners over OECS on Wednesday.

The top two teams in each of the boys’ and girls’ groups will contest today’s semifinals.

Barbados whipped Bermuda 4-1 in the three-team Group A to advance to the last four, along with defending champs Guyana, 3-2 winners over Bermudians the day before.

In girls’ action, defending champs Guyana trounced Bermuda 4-1 after dismissing T&T by the same score on Tuesday.

T&T needed to beat Bermuda last night to finish second in Group C and move into today’s semis.

And in the Group D matches, Jamaica whipped OECS 4-1 and Barbados were 3-2 winners over Cayman Islands. Both winners had also prevailed on Tuesday and were assured of places in the semis before their clash last night.

The finals will take place tomorrow.

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President of the Trinidad and Tobago Cycling Federation (TTCF), Robert Farrier says former national coach, Erin Hartwell is still interested in returning to help develop T&T cycling.

Hartwell is the current sprint coach of Canada Cycling, whose cyclists won five of the six sprint events at the current 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto. T&T's Njisane Phillips copped silver in the match sprint behind top Canadian sprinter Hugo Barrette.

The services of Hartwell were terminated by the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago (Sportt) six months into a two-year contract with the TTCF back in 2010, when then Minister of Sport Anil Roberts intervened and said the TTCF had hired an unqualified coach for the job of high performance director. But Hartwell countered he was indeed qualified, carrying a Level two US cycling certification and a US Cycling licence.

Hartwell sued the TTCF and Sportt for wrongful dismissal. The case is still ongoing at the Industrial Court. Farrier said the TTCF is currently attempting to work out a resolution with Hartwell. Hartwell, a former Olympic and World Championship medallist for the United States, is now a Level one US Cycling qualified coach, the highest qualification offered by US cycling.

Farrier, whose executive hired Hartwell in 2009 and who was in Toronto for a few days, said Hartwell's proven track record and experience could help to bolster T&T's cycling.

“We were advised by the then CEO of Sportt that they would no longer fund his (Hartwell's) salary and we were forced to terminate his services because we were totally funded by Sportt ... For me it was a bitter-sweet Pan Am, watching somebody who we had here as a coach winning five out of six gold medals. The sweet thing is we did eventually get a silver medal from Njisane Phillip but the bitter part was we possibly could have been the team winning five gold medals at Pan Am cycling,” Farrier said.

Farrier added that Hartwell indicated he still has interest in T&T cycling and he has ties to T&T as his wife is Trinbagonian.

“He still has great love for T&T so it is hopeful that somewhere in the future that we can continue the negotiations with him. At present we do need a sprint coach and under the new structure with the Cycling Centre, the TTCF plans to do programmes in specific areas of the sport. We will need a sprint coach, an endurance coach, a mountain bike coach and a junior coach; that's the way it is set up and developed in the more developed countries and that's the model we will try to follow,” Farrier said.

“But first we have to try and sort this last issue out with Hartwell and then we can move on,” he concluded.

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Cleopatra Borel's achievements in the service of Trinidad and Tobago should be  given recognition and respect .
Borel is a role model . Her perseverance.  Her dignity ,humility and indomitable will are attributes that have stood her in good stead over the years. That she continues to compete in a demanding discipline unblemished and displaying the highest standard of Fairplay is noteworthy. Always giving of her best for her country.
Her recent success  as this country's first ever Pan Am Games Gold medalist is a significant milestone following previous Pan Am bronze and silver medal success.
The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) congratulates Cleopatra Borel , the TTOC 2014 Sportswoman of the year , on her Pan Am Toronto 2015  Gold medal but more importantly on her long, meritorious and exemplary  service to Trinidad and Tobago in the sphere of sport.

President of the National Association of Athletic Administration (NAAA), Ephraim Serrette was not surprised by Cleopatra Borel’s gold medal winning performance in the shot put at the Pan American Games in Toronto on Wednesday night. Borel became T&T’s first female gold medallist at the regional meet when she threw 18.67m, adding to her bronze in Brazil in 2007 and silver in Mexico in 2011.

Speaking to the Guardian yesterday, Serrette said Borel, who boasts a personal best of 19.42, had been the favourite to win. “She’s been competitive at higher level international meets so she should be comfortable at this level,” he said. “She is supposed to have won.” Serrette also commended the 36-year-old for managing to prolong her career for as long as she has.

“There were individuals who said she should have retired after the 2012 Olympics but she remains competitive and is a great example for females in the sport,” he said. “I think she has another Olympics in her. I don’t know what her plans are, whether she will go into coaching or not, but she would make a great mentor for female athletes.”

Serrette was also impressed by the efforts of sprinters Kelly Ann Baptiste and Semoy Hackett, who, after returning from suspensions earlier this year, placed fifth and eighth in the women’s 100m final respectively. “They both did well to make the finals, having just returned to high level competition,” he said. “They’re on their way back to the level to which they’re accustomed.”

However, he was disappointed that Keston Bledman could not convert his form into a medal in the men’s 100m final. “He was the class sprinter in that field and should have got a medal at least. He probably lost focus,” he said of the fourth place finisher. “I’m not sure if he’s nursing an injury. His performances throughout the qualifying rounds were comfortable. He just needed to deliver in the final.”

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Leon Pantor, captain of the T&T Under-19 rugby squad which ended third at the North American Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) Championship in Orlando, Florida, is one of nine local players being targeted for a partial athletic scholarship by Louisiana State University. This was stated by coach of the young T&T rugby squad and Leon’s father, Willet Wayne Panton, in a recent interview on the team’s return from the eight-team event.

The local squad, under second year coach, Pantor, who had a fifth-placed finish on debut last year, started off this year’s competition with a 47–5 thrashing of Cayman Islands in their quarterfinal on Sunday, July 12, at the Omni Resort, while USA South ‘A’ trounced Bermuda 24–0. A day earlier, Mexico crushed USA South ‘B’ 29–8, while Barbados punished Turks & Caicos, 43–7.

However, in the semifinals on Tuesday, July 15, T&T found itself in a 15–0 hole before scoring 13 points in a narrow two-points loss, while USA South A crushed Barbados 32–7. In the playoff for third spot, T&T trampled Barbados 34–11 while Mexico retained its crown with a comprehensive 24–0 blow-out of USA South ‘A’.

Commenting on the team’s performance, Pantor said he was satisfied with the improvement. “Based on the exposure and experience of the team, I feel very proud about the effort. We started  with a very easy win against Cayman Islands, and in the semifinals after falling behind to champions, we were able to get ourselves back into the match, but we just came up short,” he said.

Pantor said he was very optimistic about the team’s chances next year. Pantor said: “What was impressive is that most of the players, close to 15 of them, will be available to play in this same age-group tournament next year. So it goes to show that our six-months of developmental work and preparations made a big impact and our future now looks bright.”

Pantor was also happy to disclose that based on the performances, a number of players were offered partial scholarships in the USA, which they are now looking at. “There were a number of scouts from US schools and clubs at the event and they were very impressed by the talent of the T&T team. And it was through their displays they were able to attract the interest of the Louisiana State University Division One team scouts and coaches,” Pantor said.

Other players who were offered partial scholarships include Shaquille Dyke, Jean-Pierre Williams, Sherad Ferreira, Odell Bacchus, Wasim Ollivierre, Melek Fraser, Emmanuel Joseph and Matheus Matthews. “They were offered partial scholarships which means the school will not be covering the full cost of their tuition, so we are now exploring our options to determine whether or not the players will be taking up the offer,” ended Pantor.

In the other playoff matches, USA South ‘B’ copped seventh spot via its 17–0 blanking of Bermuda, while Cayman Islands took home the plate title after battling past Turks & Caicos 29–26. Earlier on in the Plate semifinals, Cayman Islands stopped USA South ‘’ 20–8 and Turks & Caicos topped Bermuda, 17–11.

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The ongoing transfer of three Jamaican athletes to Bahrain has been described  by Warren Blake, President of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA), as being part of a “developing trend” for competitors from his country.

The transfer of Olympic and world 400 metres silver medallist Shericka Williams and sprinters Kemarley Brown and Andrew Fisher to the Gulf State is still being processed, but all are expected to be able to represent Bahrain at next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as the JAAA has raised no objection to the switch.

Other Jamaican athletes have switched nationality in the past – notably multiple world and Olympic medallist sprinter Merlene Ottey, who transferred to Slovenia, United States-born 400m runner Brandon Simpson, who went on to compete for Bahrain, and Jacques Harvey, who recently committed to Turkey.

This is the first time within Jamaica that multiple athletes have made a request at once, however.

Blake confirmed that the athletes' requests were being processed after the trio had written to the organisation expressing their desire to represent the Middle East nation over a month ago.

"It's more of a developing trend as opposed to being a trend," Blake told The Gleaner.

"Athletes have always been switching allegiances and we have also benefited from it up to recently with steeplechaser Aisha Praught, who was born in the US and has decided to represent Jamaica."

Under International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) rule 5.4, athletes are allowed to compete for another country after sitting out a period of 12 months once there is no objection from their original federation.

If there is an objection, the athletes would then need to wait for three years before representing their new country.

Blake has had lengthy discussions with the three athletes involved and is convinced that they are not being coerced into making the move.

It is expected that the trio, members of the Stephen Francis-led MVP Track Club, will continue to train in Jamaica.

Williams, 29, won silver medals in the 400m at the 2008 Olympic Games as well as the 2009 World Championships.

She last represented Jamaica in the IAAF World Relays earlier this year.

Brown, 23, set a 100m personal best of 9.93sec in finishing second in the 100m at the Summer Universiade in Gwangju earlier this month.

Fisher, also 23, recently ran 9.94 in Madrid.

Blake also pointed out that the JAAA does not stand to benefit financially from any athlete switching allegiance to another country, as this is prohibited under IAAF regulations.

Bahrain, like Qatar, has been involved in recruiting athletes for more than a decade - and particularly Kenyan distance runners.

At least 40 athletes have switched allegiances to this region, encouraged by lucrative deals from the oil rich Gulf States.

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More Articles …

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  2. Special athletes ready for Summer Games
  3. TTOC working on Sport Governance Code
  4. Lewis pushing for Sport Governance Code
  5. 19 teams chase Tobago netball honours
  6. Taylor misses historic boxing medal at Games
  7. Pan American Games serves up four Rio 2016 qualifiers
  8. Track & Field To Take Centre Stage
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