T&T teams invited for Rio Test event

Trinidad and Tobago Hockey Board (TTHB) president Douglas Camacho says his board is aiming for three other locations for artificial hockey turfs as the TTHB pushes for the further development of the sport.

Camacho and the TTHB is being supported in this development thrust by the FIH, the world governing body for the sport, and the Pan American Hockey Federation (PAHF) both of whose presidents were also present yesterday at the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (T&TOC) House in Port of Spain.

And Camacho announced that T&T hockey teams have been chosen to participate the Rio 2016 Test event in the popular Brazilian city in November.

FIH president Leandro Negre and PAHF president Alberto "Coco" Budeisky yesterday pledged their support to the development of hockey in T&T and throughout the region.

During their visit, Negre and Budeisky along with Camacho and some of the TTHB executive met with officials from the Ministry of Sport, the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago and the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee to discuss issues, concerns and opportunities for the sport here.

Camacho said the TTHB had identified and lobbied for more hockey locations throughout the country as part of its strategic plan moving forward, to grow participation. It wants the laying of artificial turfs at traditional venues like Pointe-a-Pierre and the Police Barracks in St James and another in Tobago to supplement the National Hockey Centre in Tacarigua.

"We believe we need at least four turfs , four turfs minimum, to encourage growth of hockey and ensure the proper development of the sport," Camacho said.

Camacho added that a new artificial surface had been approved but the TTHB was still in discussions with SPORTT as to where it will be laid.

Camacho also revealed that T&T will host two tournaments next year-the Female Pan American Junior Championships and the Pan American Cup-and that the FIH will be back in T&T next year to announce T&T's hosting of the FIH World League Round Five in 2016.

Camacho added that the Ministry of Tourism had also shown keen interest in the hosting of international tournaments as another opportunity to push sports tourism.

The former TTOC boss noted that T&T's success in the last nine months had seen the country taking part in more international engagements than in the whole of the previous quadrennial.

Negre announced that one of his goals as FIH head was to really push development in this region.

"It is a key region and a lot of people don't think about the Caribbean area. But we are engaging this (area)," he said.

Negre also added that T&T would need to drive development for the youth game, organise and host tournaments and compete in high level competition against top countries to sustain development.

Negre said further that the FIH runs programmes for high performance and umpires all around the world to facilitate the growth of the game.

The FIH he said, is especially proud of the attraction of the Hockey Five format which he compared to the T20 format in cricket and which he said is " a beautiful tool to promote the game."

Budeisky said: "T&T has a big, nice history with hockey...and T&T hockey has a big contribution to make as one of the top hockey nations in the region with a lot of experience to guide the younger hockey nations in the region."

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HOME court advantage meant nothing, as all 11 local players exited at the first hurdle in singles when the Trinidad and Tobago International Badminton Tournament served off yesterday at the Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Tacarigua.

But there is still hope as Solangel Guzman is also flying the red, white and black flag. The Cuban whipped Mexican Mariana Ugalde 21-14, 21-16 to cruise into the "round of 16." However, Guzman is not expected to progress any further.

The player who was once ranked as high as No. 151 in the world but is now listed at No. 461 will come up against 86th-ranked Kate Foo Koon, the No. 3 seed from Mauritius, at 11.30 a.m. for a place in tonight's quarterfinals.

Nicholas Bonkowksy, the other player born elsewhere who is representing T&T, may have nightmares for a long time after squandering a golden opportunity to reach the last 16.

The Canadian of local roots was eventually upset 23-21, 21-18 by Soren Opti of Suriname. But Bonkowsky, who was crowned national champion in only his third local tournament two months ago, had blown six straight game points with a 20-14 lead in the first set and had won five straight from 11-6 down in the second.

The other four T&T males in the draw had qualified the day before and none was able to win a set.

Anil Seepaul had the toughest draw of them all as the five-time national champ came up against No. 3 seed Luka Wraber, and the Austrian, ranked 56th in the world, prevailed 21-8, 21-14.

National Under-19 champ Will Lee was overwhelmed 21-7, 21-3 by Maxime Moreels of Belgium, Chilean Ivan Leon defeated Alistair Espinoza 21-16, 21-16 and under-17 player Ihsaan Furlonge was beaten 21-11, 21-13 by fellow qualifier Dakeil Thorpe of Barbados.

Kerian Quan Chee, recently back after a four-year absence, was the only legitimate player from the host country to win a set yesterday. But after cruising through the first 21-12, the former national junior champ lost a heart-breaking second set 25-23 and was then edged 21-17 in the decider by Niria Baeza of Chile.

Tingting Chou, also of Chile, accounted for Avril Plaza Marcelle 21-12, 21-6; Reba Fleary was beaten 21-15, 21-15 by Barbadian Tamisha Williams; Bermary Munoz of Dominican Republic was a 21-10, 21-9 winner over Arielle Gomez; Jamaican Katherine Winter of Jamaica halted Kamasha Robertson and Leanna Castanada went under 21-12, 21-5 against Mexican Haramara Gaitan.

The top seed is Italian Jeanine Cicognini, who is ranked No. 59 in the world.

The men's draw received a tremendous shake up when top-seeded Israeli Misha Zilberman, ranked No. 43 in the world, was stunned 21-18, 21-19 in the first round yesterday by Mexican teenager Luis Ramon Garrido.

Second-round and quarter-finals matches are on today's schedule. The action gets going at 10 a.m. with the start of the men's and women's doubles draws.

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Trinidad and Tobago athletes will be compensated if they win a medal at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, and the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

That's because the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) is introducing a cash for medals initiative starting with the Pan Am Games in July.

Contacted yesterday, TTOC president Brian Lewis says the exact amount corresponding to each type of medal is still being worked out by the TTOC executive. He added the level of Games --Olympic Games medals will be awarded more than Pan Am Games medals-- will also be considered and determined.

But Lewis said the idea behind the introduction of the medal bonus is to encourage local athletes to raise their game.

"The thinking is to create the kind of environment needed to drive performance. One has to strive to high performance and performance based systems and one of the ways we want to do that is to introduce the medal bonus starting at the 2015 Pan Am Games," Lewis said. "It's a commitment I intend to honour while we continue to work on other elements

The former Harvard rugby player said for now the bonus will be strictly for medals and will include individual, relays and team sports.

"It is a starting position and we will review the quantum as we go along...I can say already say that the Olympics will definitely have a medal bonus higher than Pan Ams," he said.

Lewis added the incentive is part of the 10 Olympic golds by 2024 initiative. "I think it is very exciting in the context of what it does it signals to the athlete we are serious about creating a high performance environment," Lewis said.

Lewis added it is part of a number of other initiatives the TTOC is currently undertaking or discussing to undertake including another developing Sports Science and Sports Medicine Service network of sports medicine people, athletic trainers, physiotherapists, and a bio mechanic; the pursuit of a local Olympic Training Centre (discussions ongoing with the SPORTT company, UTT etc) in consultation with a high performance centre like the Michael Johnson Performance Centre in Texas; and internships and career placement programmes for athletes modelled after the IOC Athlete Career Programme.

"Obviously we can't solve all the problems immediately but we want to move the bar higher and what we are saying to the athlete is we are creating an incentive, To me the most important resource is the T&T athlete, at this particular point, and we are very much focused on high performance and creating that environment and opportunities for the athletes," Lewis said.

Lewis added it is all part of a "strategic, structured and systemic approach" the TTOC is adopting as the TTOC looks "to impact the athletes in a very tangible way"

"We can't continue to put so much burden on athletes, If we cannot be totally professional, we still have the facilities and resources where we can provide the athletes with support services they need and if we can create performance based incentives, create the opportunities for the athletes, it will be developing a win-win for the country, for the IOC, the NSO and corporate Trinidad and Tobago. With the Rio Olympics 14 months away, it is also important we need a sense of urgency to continue to push for these initiatives to come on stream as we look to Rio, Tokyo 2020 and beyond," Lewis concluded.

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Machel Cedenio's rich vein of form continued on Saturday night, the Trinidad and Tobago quartermiler producing a golden run at the Ponce Grand Prix, in Puerto Rico.

Cedenio clocked a fast 44.97 seconds for an impressive victory in the men's 400 metres event, relegating reigning world champion LaShawn Merritt to the runner-up spot. Merritt, who struck one-lap gold for United States at the 2008 Olympic Games, got home in 45.42. Third spot, meanwhile, went to Dominican Republic's Gustavo Cuesta (45.89).

Two Saturdays ago, Cedenio was victorious at the Cayman Invitational in a personal best 44.36 seconds, the clocking earning him second spot on the 2015 world performance list, behind Grenada's 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James (44.22).

Thanks to his 44.36 PR (personal record), 19-year-old Cedenio moved into joint-second on the all-time T&T list, alongside Deon Lendore, and behind national record holder Ian Morris (44.21).

There was victory too in Ponce for T&T sprinter Keston Bledman. Running into a 0.8 metres per second headwind, Bledman stopped the clock at 10.17 seconds.

There was a close battle for second, American Harry Adams taking the silver in 10.26, the same time produced by his St Kitts and Nevis namesake, Antoine Adams. Just one-thousandth of a second separated Adams and Adams.

T&T's Emanuel Mayers clocked 50.49 seconds to finish second in section one and seventh overall in the men's 400m hurdles. Bahamian Jeffery Gibson, the winner of section two in 49.19, took the gold, ahead of Puerto Rico's Javier Culson (49.31) and Nigerian Miles Ukaoma (49.39).

At the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Track and Field Championships, in Alabama, USA, T&T's Dan-Neil Telesford seized silver in the men's 200m in a wind-assisted 20.93 seconds.

In the qualifying round, Telesford won heat three in 21.18 to advance automatically to the final. His Wiley College teammate and fellow-T&T athlete, Quinn-Lee Ralph was ninth overall in 21.25, just missing out on a lane in the eight-man championship race.

Ralph was 13th fastest in the 100m preliminaries in 10.59 seconds. And in the 400m, Telesford was 17th overall in 48.96.

Three T&T athletes-Ralph, Justin Maloney and Telesford-teamed up with American Jordan Woods to secure men's 4x400m silver for Wiley College, in three minutes, 12.45 seconds.

In the 4x100m relay, the all-T&T Wiley combination of Ralph, Telesford, Machael Mark and Maloney bagged bronze in 40.59 seconds. Wiley had clocked 40.55 in the heats.

Wiley accumulated 22 points to finish 15th in the men's team competition. Concordia University, Nebraska won with a total of 59 points.

In California, Ayanna Alexander produced a wind-aided 13.28 metres effort for sixth spot in the Chula Vista Elite #2 women's triple jump event.

And at the Tucson Elite Classic, in Arizona, Central Arizona College athlete Hezekiel Romeo finished ninth in the men's shot put with a 17.23m throw.

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Kyle Greaux outclassed his rivals in the Hampton International Games men's invitational 200 metres event, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, yesterday.

Greaux, Emmanuel Callender and Barbadian Levi Cadogan were close in the first half of the race. Greaux, however, seized control on the straight, the Abilene Wildcats athlete pulling away from his rivals to strike gold in 20.69 seconds.

Callender, of Memphis Pioneers, clocked 21.20 to capture silver, while bronze went to Cadogan in 21.29.

Kamaria Durant got home in 23.12 seconds to win the women's invitational 200m event. With that triumph, the Simplex athlete completed the sprint double.

Memphis Pioneers half-miler, Alena Brooks completed her two laps of the track in two minutes, 06.79 seconds for gold in the women's 800m. Her teammate, Dawnel Collymore clocked 2:10.51 to earn silver.

Barbadian Anthonio Mascoll won the men's 800m in 1:50.77, from Defence Force runner Cliffton Sylvester (1:52.44) and Rebirth's Jamaal James (1:52.48).

Elton Walcott topped the men's triple jump field, the UTT athlete producing a wind-assisted 16.09 metres jump.

Portious Warren grabbed gold in the women's shot put, the Toco TAFAC athlete throwing the iron ball 14.56m. Jamaican Fedrick Dacres won the men's discus with a 56.24m throw. And French teenager, Yanis David was golden in the women's long jump with a wind-aided 6.12m leap.

Late on Saturday, Cadogan won the men's invitational 100m dash in 10.24 seconds.

Callender and Rebirth's Marcus Duncan could not be separated by the naked eye in their duel for silver. Both were credited with the same time, 10.32. However, after a close examination of the photo finish, Callender was awarded second spot. Third-placed Duncan was just three-thousandths of a second slower than his rival.

Sparkle McKnight won the women's 400m in 53.45 seconds. The men's 400m title went to France's Ludvy Vaillant, in 47.05.

Another Frenchman, world junior record holder Wilhem Belocian got to the line in 13.48 seconds for gold in the men's 110m hurdles. Belocian, who won the global junior title last year, finished well ahead of Ruebin Walters, the Memphis athlete seizing silver in 13.82.

Durant was an impressive winner of the women's invitational 100m, clocking 11.54 seconds.

Marsha Mark-Baird earned a second gold at the meet when she finished first in the women's 100m masters event in 13.11 seconds. Earlier on Saturday, the evergreen Palo Seco athlete won the women's javelin with a 42.94m throw.

Mark-Baird also earned 100m hurdles silver on Saturday, clocking a wind-aided 14.41 seconds to finish behind France's Edith Doekoe, the winner in 13.79.

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