NEW GPC Inc continued its support of the Guyana Football Referee Council (GFRC) on Friday, supplying the body with state-of-the-art digital camera monitoring devices at the company’s head office, East Bank Demerara. The digital cameras, which are expected to monitor the actions of referees during a game, will aid referees to improve and work to become better referees according to junior vice president of the GFRC Dion Inniss.

Trevor Basoo (third from right) hands over new camera equipment to Dion Inness in the presence of a few referees and general secretary of the referees’ council Dwayne Lovell (extreme right)

Marketing Manager of NEW GPC INC Trevor Basoo indicated that the company is delighted to be a part of the progression of the council and by extension the game of football. “We are pleased to be associated with the council and in expressing our support of the council this is another one of our gestures to support the council in order to enhance the game of football,” Basoo stated at the handing over ceremony.
Meanwhile, Inniss expressed thanks on behalf of the GFRC, stating that the new equipment will go a far way in assisting the referees. “We want to express our heartfelt thanks to the New GPC, it is some of the best technical equipment and we think it will enhance our performance greatly over a short period of time.
“They (NEW GPC) have been good partners with us and they would always render assistance to us and I think it is a company that puts their money where their mouth is and this will go a far way in helping improve refereeing,” Inniss mentioned.

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Guyana’s rifle shooters retained the long range title while Lennox Braithwaite remains the West Indies individual shooting champion as the West Indies rifle shooting championships continued Wednesday at the Paragon ranges in Barbados. The national shooters defied tough, windy conditions and fierce opposition from nemesis Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua/ Barbuda and host Barbados to capture victory in the 900 and 1000 yards shoot with a grand total of 697 with 30 V bulls.

Lennox Braithwaite

Guyana shot 349 with 15 Vs at 900 yards and came back to record 348 with 15 Vs at 1000 yards.
Jamaica secured the second position with 673 with 28 Vs points with Trinidad and Tobago securing 632 with 25 Vs and Antigua/ Barbuda 595 with 15 Vs.
In the Individual shoot, Braithwaite retained the West Indies individual shooting title with a grand aggregate of 451 points with 44 Vs but he finished 28th overall in the international individual championship which was won by British shooter David Luckman who recorded a grand aggregate of 470.65.
Braithwaite was on fire for Guyana and proved to be the best regional shooter against some of the best international shooters from Great Britain, Australia, Canada and Channel Islands.
He shot a perfect 50.3 at 600 yards and recorded 41.2 to end with 91.5 on the final day.
National captain Mahendra Persaud was third overall among regional shooters with 442 points and 30 Vs finishing behind Trinidad and Tobago’s Michael Perez who was one point behind Braithwaite with 450.44.
Norris Gomez was fourth with 439.24, Anderson Perry of Antigua/ Barbuda with 438.26 fifth, National vice captain Dylan Fields sixth with 435.28 and Jamaican Jose Nunez with 435.24.
ACP retired Paul Slowe finished on 420.18 to be in the top 20 shooters from the region.
The other Guyanese grand aggregate are Ransford Goodluck 416.23, Sigmund Douglas 414.18, Charles Dean 413.18, Dane Blair 412.20, Lieutenant Colonel Terrance Stuart 404.71 and Peter Persaud 387.10.
Rain had curtailed shooting on the third day forcing the Guyanese riflemen to return early on the final day to complete 900 yards.
The conditions proved to be detrimental as all the shooters found the lighting and wind challenging especially at 900 yards.
The West Indian shooters will be in action again today (Thursday) in the short range match over 300, 500 and 600 yards ranges and once again Guyana will be defending their title won last year at the Timehri ranges.

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The Guyana Amateur Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (GABBFF) hosted the national novices championships on Sunday evening, with Berbician Dwayne Mars flexing his way to the overall title at the Threatre Guild in Kingston, Georgetown.
Mars, the 2012 Berbice Flex Night champion, proved that his success at that event in the Ancient County was no fluke, as he powered his way to victory over the very best novices at the national championship, dubbed “Muscle Invasion”.

Overall winner Dwayne Mars of Berbice collects his trophy from Banks DIH Non-Alcoholic Brand Manager, Clayton McKenzie

Mars of ‘Fitness Zone’ gym had earlier won the Light Middleweight division and was up against other category winners in the overall pose down.
Mars did well on the night, displaying ripped abdominals, well-defined quadriceps and sculpted arms in his free routine and compulsory poses.
He was up against Kelvin Bobb-Semple, who had earlier won the under-21 category, Shahid Toloram (flyweight champion), Jermaine Bacchus (lightweight champion), Rawle Cole (welterweight champion) and Anthony Peres (heavyweight).
On the distaff side, 2012 Flex Night Miss Bikini winner, Shawnell Warner, copped first place in the Miss Fitness Open, beating gym-mate Stacy Small of ‘Fitness Paradise’ into second.
Small also secured the runner-up spot to Candacy Lynch in the Miss Physique showdown.
The event was graced with the presence of Mr Barbados 2012, Stevenson Belle, who was the guest poser. The 5’7”, 215lbs Bajan certainly gave the audience its money’s worth, as he strutted his well-chiselled structure to the lyrics of Nicki Minaj’s hit song “Moment for Life”, much to the delight of the female section of the gathering.

The category winners flexing their stuff during the overall pose down

The top performers were presented with cash prizes and trophies compliments of Banks DIH Limited, while the winners of each division also received supplements, provided by ‘Fitness Express’ located on Sheriff Street.
Other corporate entities on board were Guyana Lottery Company, DeSinco Trading, Sterling Products Limited, Trophy Stall, Sleep Inn and Windjammer International Hotels.
At the conclusion of the night’s activities, officials of the GABBFF dubbed the event a major success.

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The national rugby squad’s preparation for the clash against Barbados in the NACRA 15’s championship on Saturday is in an advanced stage, according to head coach Theodore Henry.
Henry made the comment moments after spearheading the final trial match for the squad on Saturday afternoon at the National Park rugby field.

The national 15’s rugby squad during the final trial match on Saturday afternoon at the National Park in Georgetown

While he is extremely satisfied with the progress made so far, Henry said there is still an amount of work to be done to reach the desired level of preparedness.
“I am pretty satisfied with the progress seen so far, but there is still some work to sort out. In my opinion we are well on our way to getting into the type of form that will make it difficult for Barbados to beat us,” Henry confidently remarked. He added that everyone has remained injury-free so far, pointing out that that is due mainly to the rigorous preparations they’ve undergone over the past weeks.
According to the coach, for the past weeks the squad went through the conditioning and tactical phase of its preparations, where some deficiencies were identified.
Henry also noted that during this week the squad will be focusing on game play and the general structure on how they will approach Barbados.
“All in all, I am pretty much pleased with the team’s progress and there are no excuses to be made,” Henry said.
While overseas-based players Ronald Mayers and Dillon Downer have joined the squad, the third foreign-based player, Richard Staglon, due to work commitments, will arrive days before the game against Barbados.

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The intention of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) and the Jamaica Boxing Association (JBA) to have a solid and working partnership was aptly exemplified following the sealing of a deal to have a Guyana versus Jamaica five-fight showdown on June 8 on the Island of Wood and Water.

Edmond DeClou

Iwan Azore

Dexter Marques

GBBC’s matchmaker Eion Jardine told the press last Thursday that five tantalising fights are billed for the next month’s card, with five Guyanese fighters set to represent the Golden Arrowhead in the land of reggae.
Heavyweight Theophilus King, welterweights Gladwin Dorway and Iwan Azore, middleweight Edmond DeClou and flyweight Dexter Marques have been earmarked to represent Guyana on the historic card, which will be the first to be jointly promoted by the governing bodies of the respective nations.
King will trade skills with debutant Jamaro Nooks in a four-round contest; Dorway will face Donavon Campbell in an eight-round exhange; Azore, the welterweight champion of Guyana, will face recently crowned WBC CABOFE welterweight champion Sakima Mullings in a 10- rounder; De Clou will put his WBC CABOFE middleweight title on the line against Anthony Osbourne; and Marques will defend his WBC CABOFE flyweight belt against Rudolph Hedge. A touring party to accompany the boxers will be announced soon, while a venue for the card is yet to be finalised.

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Continued from last week

Back to my boyhood hero, Harry! While he didn’t do anything spectacular with the ball, Harry nonetheless played a great part to help Berbice retain the inter-county title. In a finish full of drama and tension, Berbice held on to the end to draw the final with archrivals Demerara in the 1955 inter-county cricket tournament at Bourda. Scores in the match were: Demerara 441 for eight declared, Berbice 260 for nine. Interest in the game was kept alive until the last ball, when the Berbice pair at the wicket and the umpires acquiesced to the third appeal for bad light. Basil Butcher batted well for his 46 runs, which came in 90 minutes and in, which he struck seven boundaries. Earlier, Rohan Kanhai was caught at the wicket by Mc Watt off “Bruiser” Thomas for 19, making an injudicious cut.

By Shan Razack

Lance Gibbs, in his first spell sent down seven overs for six maidens and had only on run scored off him for two wickets. Berbice skipper and former BG and West Indies star batsman Robert Christiani, who missed out on the Berbice side on the qualification rule the year before, was cheered to the wicket at the crucial point. He stayed three quarters of an hour and scored 14 runs. Then came the Solomon-Amsterdam stand for the sixth wicket that was mainly responsible for the match petered out in a tame draw.  Left handed Leslie Amsterdam, the little man with the broad bat, was not afraid to hit the ball as he settled scored some attractive shots to all parts of the ground. It was when skipper Bruce Pairaudeau tried Neville Thomas that he got Amsterdam caught and bowled for a classy 45 Solomon and Ivan Madray also defied the regular bowlers and it was left to Neville Thomas to once more break the stand.
From then, the game seemed to be in Demerara’s hands. But although Neville Thomas disposed of “SugarBoy” Baijnauth and Lance Gibbs bowled Saranga Baichu, fifteen-year-old schoolboy left-arm spinner Harry (last man) and Madray stayed through the remaining overs and batted as though their lives depended in not getting out, until bad light forced the stoppage with Berbice precariously placed at 260-9. The most successful bowlers for the Demerara side were Lance Gibbs three for 31 in 25 overs and Neville Thomas three for 33. Look at Gibbs’ figures again, three for 31 in 25 overs against the likes of Charles Paul, Kanhai, Harnanan, Butcher, Christiani, Amsterdam and Solomon. The guy had class then, no wonder he turned to be one of the finest, if not the finest off-spinner the world had seen.
Demerara batted first on a batman’s paradise, with Glendon Gibbs and “Bruiser” Thomas featuring in an opening stand of 115. Thomas was first to go for a well-made 62. It is interesting to note that “Bruiser” Thomas made a brilliant 250 against Essequibo in the preliminary match. Demerara ended the first day’s play on 270 for two; Glendon Gibbs 123 and Bruce Pairaudeau 69 both undefeated. When play resumed on the second day, the first success came to Berbice when Bruce Pairaudeau was stumped off Baijnauth for 85. His third wicket with Gibbs had put on 154 runs. Neville Thomas helped Gibbs put on 51 runs before he was caught Christiani off Madray for 21. Colin Wiltshire, the leading run-getter in the Case Cup that season, left five runs later, leg before to Harry for one run. The Gibbs long innings, which started from the opening over on Saturday, came to an end when he was bowled by Madray for 171. His knock included seventeen boundaries. Pairaudeau did not declare during the interval, as many had expected, and Demerara lost two more wickets before the declaration was made eventually at 441 for eight. At the time, Edun was 35 not out and Lance Gibbs on 13. Leg-spinner Ivan Madray was the main wicket-taker for Berbice with three for 129. Medium pacer Saranga Baichu chipped in with two for 98.
The teams were: Berbice: Robert Christiani (Capt), Charles Paul, Rohan Kanhai (Wkt), Vic Harnanan, Basil Butcher, Leslie Amsterdam, Ivan Madray, “SugarBoy” Baijnauth, Saranga Baichu and Harry with Sony Moonsammy as emergency fieldsman.
Demarara: Bruce Pairaudeau (Capt), Glendon Gibbs, “Bruiser” Thomas, Neville Thomas, Leroy Jackman, Colin Wiltshire, Clif Mc Watt (Wkt), Wilfred Edun, George Green, Lance Gibbs and Julian Archer with Lance Jonas as emergency fieldsman.
Clyde Walcott informed the selection committee that on account of his close association as Coach for the Berbice players he was reluctant to take part in the tournament.
The next week, a Berbice X1 took on a Rest Side led by Clyde Walcott in a feature match at the Mental Hospital ground. It was in that match that fifteen-year-old, left-arm spinner my boyhood hero; Harry Ramanand bowled Clyde Walcott, one of the illustrious three Ws for a first ball duck. It is believed that it was the first time that this great batsman had ever failed to disturb the scorers. At his peak, like Viv Richards later, he was one of those rare power-packed batsmen to whom bowlers preferred not to bowl on a long afternoon. Walcott who has the unique distinction of scoring a century in each inning of a Test series (twice against Australia in 1955), and, whose work on the sugar estates cannot be evaluated in how many players he brought to national and international prominence. Rather, it must be seen in the light of creating an abiding interest in the game that on the sugar estates, if you are not a cricketer and aspiring to be another Kanhai (Rohan), Butcher (Basil) and Solomon (Joe) it is because you are incapacitated, or past when anyone cares much what you are. And his contribution to West Indies cricket, and as a cricket administrator in Guyana when he was solely instrumental in in-earthing Kanhai, Butcher and Solomon from the sugar estates in Berbice; and as a national coach, manager, director and West Indies Cricket Board president are all now forgotten.
Harry’s reputation grew by leaps and bounds with every passing game. Eventually, he was invited by his eldest brother Seepersaud to play league cricket in England. Harry jumped at the offer, hoping, of course, that it is once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop his cricketing skills and at the same time to enhance his career.

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Distance queen Alika Morgan broke her own record on the first leg of the Suriname 10k road race last week.
Morgan, known for her ability to keep a steady pace, ran a time of 39 minutes, 30 seconds to eclipse her own record of 39:57s in the 10k event.
“I think my performance was great; I did a lot of work for it and now I’m looking forward to Independence Day run,” Morgan told Guyana Times International Sport.

Alika Morgan (left) and Samuel Kaiton pose with their trophy and medal respectively

Meanwhile, Guyana had a one, two and three sweep when Cleveland Forde, Kelvin Johnson and Lionel D’ Andradre took first, second and third respectively in the male category.
Samuel Kaiton out of the Rupununi area was also in the mix, taking the third spot in the junior aspect of the event.
“I think my preparation for the race was good and I think my race was good too,” Kaiton stated.
Morgan and Kaiton also expressed thanks to their sponsors for supporting them throughout the venture.

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By Avenash Ramzan -

National First-Class opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul is making hay while the sun shines in England, racking up the runs for Stainsby Hall Cricket Club. The 17-year-old son of West Indies batting legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul is the club’s leading runscorer by quite a distance this season, packing an impressive 432 runs from seven innings.
In seven limited over (40 and 50-over) games in his first stint on the English circuit, the left-handed Tagenarine has stroked two centuries and a similar number of fifties at an impressive average of 86.4.

Tagenarine Chanderpaul is enjoying a productive stint in England

The next highest runscorer for Stainsby Hall Cricket Club is Tom Wood, a distance away on 216 runs, but his runs have come from just four games.
Tagenarine made his first substantial score for the club on April 14, hitting a solid 75 against Heanor Town CC. That knock along with bowling figures of 1-15 from six overs helped Stainsby Hall Cricket Club to a 33-run win.
On April 20, Tagenarine continued his fine form with a patient 78 against Duffield CC, but could not inspire victory as his team lost by eight wickets.
A day later, the teenager topscored for Stainsby Hall Cricket Club, stroking 40 in a low- scoring affair against Nottingham Badshahs CC, which his team won by 25 runs.
On April 28, Tagenarine notched up his first century of the season, an evenhundred against Notts and Arnold Amateur CC in a match that was abandoned due to bad weather, while century number two came on Monday last against Thoresby Colliery CC. The unbeaten 105 from 86 balls on Monday inspired Stainsby Hall Cricket Club to an easy eight-wicket win.
Young Tagenarine, who earlier this year made his First-Class debut against the Leeward Islands in Antigua, is on his maiden stint in England.
He earned the national call-up after a string of consistent performances in the Guyana Cricket Board’s Inter-county one-day and four-day tournaments.
In the one-day version, the left-handed opener made the only century and a fifty, and also topped the batting charts with 170 runs in three innings at a phenomenal average of 170. In the four-day Inter-county, Tagenarine had scores of 52, three, 18, nine and one not out.
During the regional four-day competition in March, Shivnarine and Tagenarine created history by becoming only the second father/ son pair to appear in a First-Class match in the Caribbean.
In September 1948, Lebrun Constantine made his final appearance in an important match for Trinidad and Tobago against Barbados in British Guiana at the age of 48 playing alongside his son Learie Constantine, who had just turned 21.
After four First-Class games, young Chanderpaul has ammased 176 runs with a highest score of 42.

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By Rajiv Bisnauth -

A strong 11-man team will represent Guyana at the West Indies Fullbore Championships next week in Barbados.
The championship will be held at the Paragon Range in Bridgetown from May 13-19. Jamaica, Barbados, Bermuda and Trinidad and Tobago are the other participating countries.

Headlining the Guyanese team is national fullbore captain Mahendra Persaud, national champion Ransford Goodluck, Lennox Braithwaite, former Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Slowe, Dylan Fields, USA-based Sigmund Douglas, Leo Ramalho, Lutenent. Cornel. Terrance Stuart, Dane Blair, Charles Dean and Peter Persaud.
Having completed arduous training with a meet against the Great Britain team last week, the Guyanese have all the ammunition they need to shoot down the other four competing teams.
Speaking with Guyana Times International Sport at the conclusion of the Guyana National Rifle Association (GNRA)/Great Britain Rifle Shooting championships at the Timehri Rifle Ranges last Thursday, fullbore captain Mahendra Persaud said that his team is fully prepared and confident of winning both categories.
“Our team already has our plans on how we will approach the championships in Barbados, so once we can stick to that plan we will definitely come out on top. I am confident and I know the team is also confident in retaining both title,” Persaud said.
“We did well against Great Britain, despite losing both the individual and team categories. It was good preparation and the scores were encouraging so we know we will do well in Barbados,” Persaud added.
The Guyanese are the regional shooting champions, having won both the long and short ranges titles at home last October.
During this year’s championship, the five regional countries will form a West Indies team that will compete against the British, Canadian and United States shooters in the Australia Cup International tournament.
The tournament will run simultaneously with the West Indies Fullbore Championships.
Several members of the Guyana team are likely to be included in the West Indies team in the prestigious tournament to be hosted for the first time in the Caribbean.
Guyanese Paul Slowe has already been named captain of the West Indies team for the international tournament.

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Several Caribbean Premier League (CPL) cricket matches will be staged in Guyana in between June and July, and it is expected to be a flambouyant display of sportsmanship and culture. This was confirmed on Wednesday, as Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister, Irfaan Ali met with representatives from CPL and Digicel; a major sponsor of the event.
“Guyana has the best potential, we have the largest diaspora who love cricket… we are going to pull out all of the stops as we are committed to promoting this,” Minister Ali affirmed.

Acting Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister Irfaan Ali (right) met with Digicel Group Marketing Director Kieran Foley (left) and the CPL operations manager Carlisle Powell (centre)

The CPL is set to bowl off in July, with franchises based in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago.
Minister Ali acknowledged too that the sheer magnitude of this event will help to strategically align ‘Destination Guyana’, as the country will be featured in the extensive marketing and promotion of the CPL in the Caribbean and the wider world.
Also on the table for discussion was the lineup of players and the potential of the ‘best selection’ to attract spectators from across the globe.
Digicel Group Marketing Director, Kieran Foley noted that one of the prerequisites and highlights of the matches being staged in Guyana is that the country will be able to showcase and display “real Caribbean culture”.
Digicel was named as the first global sponsor for the inaugural 2013 tournament and beyond in a multi-year deal. As previous sponsors of the West Indies cricket team and the Digicel Caribbean Cup the brand has considerable experience with sponsoring cricket and other sporting events throughout the Caribbean.
“The CPL is a perfect fit for Digicel. We’re huge fans of West Indies cricket and this is a great opportunity for us to invest not only in what will be an amazing event, but also in the young cricketers who will benefit from around the region,” Foley said.
Meanwhile, the CPL Operations Manager Carl Powell also pointed to the immense benefits Guyana will derive from the games being staged in the country.
He said too that the CPL will only be successful with the cooperation of the tourist boards of the supporting countries and the backing of officials spreading awareness about the event.
Minister Ali concurred with this position and assured that the government of Guyana and the Tourism Ministry will collaborate in various ways, including linking websites, advertising etc, to make the most of the “golden” opportunity.
The visiting duo reassured that ticket prices for the matches, to be staged at the Guyana National Stadium, will be affordable and “packaged” to suit the multitude of fans that will descend on the venue.
With the matches now looming, the tourism minister announced that the event will be aggressively marketed during the coming weeks and months as planned trade shows in New York and Canada are staged; this he stressed will be done in collaboration with the private sector.

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