Caribbean
Sports Round-up
Published
Wednesday February 13, 2008
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) - World 100 meters
record holder Asafa Powell said yesterday he has withdrawn from
the Sydney grand prix athletics meeting on Saturday with a cut
knee.
The Jamaican said he had four stitches inserted
after gashing the knee while running up the stairs at his home
in Jamaica last week. He arrived in Australia on Monday, a
day later than scheduled after missing a connecting flight in
the United States. "I was running up the stairs at my
house and I fell," he told reporters yesterday. "And once
a big guy like me falls on my knee it's not going to be pretty.
"I fell on my knee and got a cut and had some stitches in it and
hopefully it's going to be better soon. "Now is not a bad
time to get (the injury) because this week is an easy training
week so it's not that bad. "I hope it gets better by the
weekend so I can start doing some training." Powell said
he is now aiming to be fit in time to run the 100m at the
Melbourne Track Classic on February 21. "It's getting
better day by day so ... I'm very confident about running (in
Melbourne)," said Powell. "The good thing is that I am
here and I've wanted to be here for a while now." Powell
and his sprint squad chose to begin their Beijing Olympic
preparations in Australia after he said he enjoyed his time here
before winning the Commonwealth Games 100m gold medal in
Melbourne two years ago. Despite holding the 100m world
record of 9.74 seconds, Powell is still yet to win gold at
either World Championship or Olympic Games level. His
showdown with American world champion Tyson Gay in Beijing is
expected to be one of the highlights of the 2008 Olympics.
Not
waiting to be put under the microscope by the public or the
media, the new Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) administration
has done its own '100 days' assessment.
In a media release in Jamaica, the JFF
highlighted: " ... the achievements to date include the
staging of three friendly international games, with the most
recent reporting a surplus, the hiring of a technical
director and a full technical staff, new sponsorship deals,
the refurbishment of the JFF head quarters, among others."
The JFF said it is projecting a $12.2 million profit from
last Wednesday's Costa Rica friendly at the National
Stadium. Treasurer Gary Sinclair said while the JFF lost
about $600,000 from hosting the Guatemala and El Salvador
friendlies in November, the federation grossed $30 million
from Wednesday's game, with expenses totaling $17.8 million.
"The preliminary income, inclusive of ticket sales,
sponsorship and broadcast rights, was $30 million," the
statement said. "This (profit) will no doubt start the
chipping away at our recently announced 2008 - 2010 budget
of $1.3 billion and current liabilities inherited from the
previous administration of $105 million."
An almost packed
stadium was the main factor for the JFF's jump in profits,
this after ticket prices were doubled to help offset
expenses. Twenty thousand, seven hundred (20,700) tickets
were sold for last Wednesday's match and JFF President
Captain Horace Burrell said his administration was buoyed by
the support. "I'm not surprised but very happy
that the public responded to our call to help the football
program," said Burrell. "This support gives us
confidence in our quest for South Africa 2010 and beyond."
Jamaica's next friendly is scheduled for Wednesday, March 26
at the National Stadium against Trinidad and Tobago.
Guyana
soars over Bermuda
Defending champions Guyana scored an easy
nine-wicket win over Bermuda who were held to a record low
score to complete the quarterfinal line-up at the 2008
Stanford Twenty20 tournament when they met at the Stanford
Cricket Ground in Antigua on Sunday, February 10th.
Chasing a moderate 63 to win after Bermuda were restricted
to a tournament record low of 62 for nine, Guyana achieved
their target for the loss of Travis Dowlin, who was caught
behind by wicketkeeper Ricardo Brangman off Traddie Simpson
(1-21) with the score on 10. Bermuda's total was the
lowest ever in the brief history of the tournament eclipsing
the 67 made by the Turks and Caicos against Montserrat in
2006.
Grenada
To Attack Bajans With Spin
Grenada plans to rely heavily
on a spin attack when they face Barbados in their
quarter-final encounter of the Stanford Twenty20 tournament
in Antigua on Friday, February 15th.
National coach Dwayne Gill said
the Barbadian batsmen are vulnerable to spin bowling and was
confident Grenada could win the match if his spinners
managed to restrict their opponents.
“I have played with most of
those players and I basically know all the strengths and
weaknesses of all the players,” said Gill, who played most
of his cricket in Barbados. “But if the average
man were to look at Barbados’ play against Dominica, you
will have to say that there is a weakness against the spin
bowling.”
Barbados recovered from a poor
batting display to beat Dominica by 26 runs while Grenada
scored a hard-fought 16-run win over Anguilla’s Pro Team to
reach the quarter-final round.
“We feel we have the bowlers …
a varied attack, three good seamers, we have a quartet of
spin bowlers but we feel that the spinners really can do the
job,” Gill said. “We are working with the spinners to
make sure that they get it right. We feel we can restrict
the Bajans. If we can restrict the Bajans to 130 we believe
we can win that match very easily.”
Grenada is expected to be
bolstered by the return of West Indies players Rawle Lewis
and Devon Smith, who both missed the opening fixture against
Anguilla due to the regional team’s tour of South Africa.
Lewis will lead the side while
Smith, who had lost his place in the West Indies side after
a series of low scores in South Africa, signaled a return to
form in the final One-Day International with a top-score of
91.
Bajan
Hurdles To Glory
Weeks after transferring to Barton Country Community College
in Kansas, World Championship semi-finalist Ryan M.
Brathwaite has hurdled his way into the school's record
books. Competing at the Adidas Invitational
last weekend, the Barbadian clocked 7.69 seconds to win the
60-metre hurdles. His competition was one hurdle behind,
Lehann Fourie second in 7.81 and Kirkland Thornton third in
7.83 seconds. Brathwaite's time puts him as the
fastest ever 60-metre hurdler in Barton history, overtaking
the 7.77 set by Dexter Faulk in 2003. The mark was an
automatic NCAA qualifying time, placing Brathwaite at the
top of the National Junior College list. It is one
hundredths of a second slower than the Division 1 time as
the former Lester Vaughan School and Rising Stars athlete
continues to thrive in his new environment. At
the end of January, he recorded 7.83 seconds at a meet,
passing former Barton and fellow Barbadian hurdler Stephen
Jones' 1998 mark of 7.85 for second place on the school's
list.
