JOSH PINARD and Amy Gillezeau, both now in their mid-20s, will return to the CASA (Caribbean Area Squash Association) Championships after long absences on Sunday in the Cayman Islands.

Pinard, a two-time national champion who is considered one of the most talented players of the last two decades, had not flown the red, white and black flag since he reached the individual quarterfinals of this tournament at home three years ago.

Gillezeau, a former United States university student who is now working in Costa Rica, also reached the last eight in her last outing in this tournament in 2010.

The former under-19 champ will be playing alongside her sister Faith, the reigning national under-19 champ, national under-17 champ Marie Claire Barcant, Alexandria Yearwood, the national under-17 and 19 runner-up, Charlotte Knaggs and Rhea Khan.

Barcant beat Yearwood for the bronze medal in Junior CASA three weeks ago in Barbados and Faith was also a member of the team.

Nku Patrick, who was crowned under-19 champ in Junior CASA, his brother Mandela, Kale Wilson, Chayse McQuan and Don Lee will join Pinard on the men’s squad.

Wilson, the 2011 Caribbean under-19 champ who is now on the professional circuit and is ranked #202 in the world, nosed out Nku just over a month ago to be crowned national champ.

Mandela, under-19 runner-up in his final year of Junior CASA two years ago, is now at university in the United States, while the 42-year-old Lee, a former top player of the early 1990s who has been based in Canada for over 15 years, has been on the team almost every year since he returned after an absence of over five years in 2009.

Knaggs, a United States university student, and Khan are at the helm of the women’s team. Khan is an 18-time national champ, while the 19-year-old Knaggs was crowned Caribbean under-17 champ in ’11 and ’12 and Caribbean under-19 champ the following two years. The team travels on Saturday and the tournament will be contested from the day after until next week Sunday (August 23).

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Singapore were given a lesson in Calypso as the Trinidad and Tobago netballers played all over them yesterday in the Netball World Cup in Sydney, Australia. On their return to the Allphones Arena, the Calypso Girls recorded their highest goal total so far in this year's competition as they strolled unchallenged to a 75-32 victory against Singapore.

T&T wasted no time in establishing the status quo, as they raced to a 21-8 lead after the end of the first quarter. Despite being a crowd favourite down under, the Calypso Girls were playing in front of a half-empty arena, as they were playing in the early match, and the big draw; Australia and South Africa were on the cards later.

That didn't deter T&T, who were determined to keep the wins going. Samantha Wallace was at it again as her conversion rate continued to impress onlookers; she would go on to score 27 goals from 31 attempts. During the contest, she outmatched her opponents physically, which was a recurring theme during the match.

T&T made wholesale changes at the start of the second half, Kalifa McCollin, who started the second half at goal attack, had an impressive third quarter shooting 15/15, and missing just one goal overall for the match T&T continued to dominate all areas of the court. The score was 58-24 after the third quarter.

The rest of the match played out to the same script, as Kielle Connelly, Daystar Swift and Onella Jack marshalled an uncompromising defence throughout which pressed on the Singaporeans throughout the entire match.

In attack, T&T showed their superior athleticism, physicality and flair commonly associated with Caribbean teams. Wallace, who features for UTT in the Courts All Sectors Netball League led the scoring for T&T with 27—she also top scored in all the previous matches.

McColling scored a massive 26 goals of her own, while skipper Joelisa Cooper also put in a strong shift with 14 goals. Veteran centre Rhonda John-Davis proved once again to be the backbone, as she assisted 24 of the goals on the day.

Goal-attack McCollin acknowledged that their next match would be a tougher encounter.

“I think that Samoa is a little bit more physical than the other team so from the start we need to be physical with them and get the game going," she said.

Rhonda John-Davis, a veteran of four previous Netball World Championships and over 150 appearances for T&T, and a leader in her own right in this World Cup campaign so far, echoed the sentiments for her teammates to be cautious.

“Last time we played Samoa, we won by one… it’s good to know we will be meeting them again and we can measure ourselves for the future," she said.

The win means T&T need to beat Samoa in their last encounter of the second eight group to give them a favourable draw in the play-off. The Samoans also defeated Zambia (55-53) and Singapore (46-39), and would be hoping for an upset win today. T&T were scheduled on the court early-morning (6.20am T&T time).

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The Ministry of Sport (MoS) announced a major new sports programme called ‘Podium Push’, which officials say is designed to supplement the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee’s (TTOC) drive to 10 golds by the 2024 Olympics goal. But officials failed to disclose the amount budgeted for the initiative.

At an Achievers’ Luncheon hosted by the MoS at the grand ballroom of the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, yesterday, MoS director of sport Gabre Mc Tair, speaking on behalf of the absent Minister of Sport Brent Sancho, said the Ministry had created this initiative called ‘Podium Push’ to further enhance top local athletes’ chances of securing podium performances at the Rio 2016 Olympics next year.

“Our Elite Athlete Assistant Programme needed some refocusing to ensure that our sporting elite received proper funding, I recognised that even more was needed to help Brian Lewis and his team at the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee achieve their aim of ten gold medals by the year 2024. Providing funding to take our top athletes to the Olympics is not enough. I realise that getting there is not the challenge but finishing in the top three requires additional commitment and effort from the athletes, coaches support teams and the Ministry of Sport,” Mc Tair said, without disclosing any budgeted figures for the initiative.

Mc Tair said the various national sporting bodies will have to recommend to the Ministry of Sport the athletes who they feel are podium ready, not athletes who would just compete but those who are in the top 20 in the world in their discipline.

“These are the athletes who we feel have a real chance of finishing in the gold, silver or bronze positions,” Mc Tair added. Mc Tair said that medals are separated by fractions of a second, metre or kilogramme.

Mc Tair vowed that T&T Olympic athletes will receive the best possible preparation for the Rio Olympics so that Lewis and TTOC can have a realistic chance of achieving the 10 golds by 2024 objective. Mc Tair added the expenses to be covered include travel to competitions, overseas training camps, sessions with a nutritionist, sports psychologist or specialist trainer.

Earlier, members of the Special Olympics Trinidad and Tobago team received plaques for their 48-medal haul (15 gold, 9 silver and 24 bronze) at the Special Olympics World Games that concluded in Los Angeles, California, USA, earlier this month.

Also receiving plaques were medallists of the Pan Am Junior Championship athletics team and medallist at the Pan American Games in Toronto that concluded on July 27. None of the Pan AM Games medallists was present because they were either outside the country or on their way to the IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Beijing that commences from August 22. Other members of the Pan Am Games team including swimmer Dylan Carter, T&T men’s hockey captain Darren Cowie, and shooter Roger Daniel, were also present.

Also recognised were members of the Red Steel team who won the Caribbean Premier League championship title last month and members of the Trinidad and Tobago Blind and Visually Impaired cricket team, which clinched the T-20 and 40-overs Caribbean titles in St Lucia over the weekend.

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President of the National Athletics Association of T&T Ephraim Serrette has praised the performances of the national squad after it returned with ten medals from the NACAC Senior Championships in Costa Rica. 

The team won two gold medals, three silver and five bronze and is looking in solid form ahead of the IAAF World Championships in Beijing from August 22-30.  

Serrette said it was a convincing follow-up to last month’s Pan American Games, where T&T won six track and field medals. 

“I think it was exceptional to get ten medals and finish third on the table. That was great,” he said. 

“Sparkle McKnight ran a personal best in the 400 metre Hurdles. Semoy Hackett broke the national 200m record. They are peaking at the right time.”

He added that based on the team’s current form, he was expecting a strong showing in Beijing. 

He said: “The World Championships is a different level than the Pan American Games and NACAC but if they are at their best then they should be competitive… I think that the female sprint relay team is poised to be on the podium with Semoy Hacket and Kelly Ann Baptiste back on the team.”

The squad will next embark on a training camp in Beijing from August 12-21 sponsored by the National Gas Company. 

Serrette said it would give the athletes adequate time to prepare and get settled. “Acclimatising to the time zone and shaking off the jet lag is very critical,” he said. “It takes three to four days before they can have a good workout.” 

Meanwhile, team manager Durley Lucas was also pleased with the athletes’ showing in Costa Rica. 

He said: “I’m satisfied with performance. Not only did we win ten medals, but a lot of the athletes got to the finals and there were lot of fourth place and fifth place finishes. In an overall sense, it was an above average performance.”

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Boldon named among six coaches in T&T contingent

Jehue Gordon is among 21 athletes selected on the Trinidad and Tobago team for the August 22-30 IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China. Gordon will defend his men’s 400 metres hurdles title in Beijing, and is also part of the 4x400m squad.

Another global senior champion, Keshorn Walcott is one of 13 men who will fly the Red, White and Black at Worlds. Walcott is the reigning Olympic men’s javelin champion, and recently added the Pan Am title to his list of accolades.

With triple Olympic silver medallist Richard “Torpedo” Thompson out for the rest of the season with an injury, Keston Bledman leads the charge for T&T in the men’s 100m dash.

The country will have strong representation in the men’s 400m. Four quartermilers have dived under 45 seconds this season. Machel Cedenio is the fastest of the lot at 44.36 seconds, followed by Deon Lendore (44.41), Lalonde Gordon (44.64) and Renny Quow (44.72). A fifth T&T quartermiler, Jarrin Solomon has a 45.15 seconds season’s best to his name.

The three T&T athletes for the men’s one-lap will be chosen from Cedenio, Gordon, Quow and Solomon. Lendore is coming back from injury, and will run only in the 4x400m relay.

Sprint hurdler Mikel Thomas is enjoying a fruitful campaign this year, and would be keen to continue his fine run of form at the 2015 Worlds.

Kelly-Ann Baptiste and Michelle-Lee Ahye will challenge for honours in the women’s 100m. The sprint brigade also includes Semoy Hackett, world youth 100m silver medallist Khalifa St Fort, Reyare Thomas and Kamaria Durant.

T&T will also be represented by Cleopatra Borel in the women’s shot put and Sparkle McKnight in the women’s 400m hurdles.

Quadruple Olympic medallist Ato Boldon, who guided St Fort to World Youth silver, will be part of the T&T coaching staff in Beijing. Team T&T athletes left yesterday for China, where they will attend an NGC-sponsored pre-Worlds training camp.

TEAM T&T

Men—Keston Bledman (100, 4x100), Rondel Sorrillo (100, 4x100), Kyle Greaux (200, 4x100), Machel Cedenio (400, 4x400), Lalonde Gordon (400, 4x400), Renny Quow (400, 4x400), Jarrin Solomon (400, 4x400), Mikel Thomas (110 hurdles, 4x100), Jehue Gordon (400 hurdles, 4x400), Keshorn Walcott (javelin), Emmanuel Callender (4x100), Dan-Neil Telesford (4x100), Deon Lendore (4x400).

Women—Kelly-Ann Baptiste (100, 4x100), Michelle-Lee Ahye (100, 4x100), Semoy Hackett (100, 200, 4x100), Khalifa St Fort (100, 4x100), Reyare Thomas (200, 4x100), Kamaria Durant (200, 4x100), Sparkle McKnight (400 hurdles), Cleopatra Borel (shot put).

Officials—Dexter Voisin (manager), Dr Ian Hypolite (head coach), Edwin Skinner (coach), Charlie Joseph (coach), Gunness Persad (coach), Ato Boldon (coach), Ismael Lopez Mastrapa (coach).

Medical—Dr Anyl Gopeesingh, Dr Verne Alleyne, Ian Sharpe, Zephyrinus Nicholas, Nicole Fuentes.

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