Olympic gold medalists Elaine Thompson-Herah and Hansle Parchment have been named among the nominees for the 2021 RJR Sports Foundation Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Awards set for January 21, 2022.
Due mainly to the ongoing pandemic, the Awards will be a made-for-television event instead of the usual gala.
Thompson-Herah will likely be the favourite to add to the award she won in 2016 when she became the first woman to win an Olympic sprint double since 1988. At the Tokyo Olympics, Thompson-Herah won three gold medals (100m, 200m and 4x100m).
She won the 100m in an Olympic record of 10.61 and the 200m in a national record of 21.53, the second-fastest time in history. Following the Olympics, she ran 10.54, the second-fastest time ever run by a woman, at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon on her way to winning the Diamond League title.
However, she is among a stacked field of women who also performed at exceptionally high levels through the year, up to the end of November.
Chief among them is her perennial rival Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who was second in the 100m in Tokyo and was also a member of the gold-medal-winning 4x100m team. The Pocket Rocket also created history of her own in Tokyo when she became the only woman to win medals in the 100m at four consecutive Olympic Games.
She also ran a personal best of 10.60 which made her the third-fastest woman in history.
Shericka Jackson is also among the nominees for winning bronze in the 100m in Tokyo, gold in the 4x100m and a 4x400m bronze. She also ran a personal best 10.76 in the 100m.
Megan Tapper, another nominee, created history as the first woman from the Caribbean to win a medal in the Olympics 100m hurdles. This, after she surprisingly won her second national title in June.
Last, but definitely not least of the five female nominees of West Indies Women cricketer Stafanie Taylor, whose consistent performance with bat and ball saw her ranked among the best female cricketers in the world. She also became one of only three women to score 5000 ODI runs in the history of women’s cricket.
Parchment, who stunned the world to defeat American Grant Holloway and win gold in the 110m hurdles at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, leads the male nominees, that also includes fellow sprint hurdler and national champion Ronald Levy, who won bronze in Tokyo.
Also among the male nominees are West Indies and Jamaica batsman Nkrumah Bonner and Rally Cross driver Fraser McConnell.
The nominees for People’s Choice Performance of the Year include Mikhail Antonio’s wonder strike against the United States at the national stadium in Kingston and McConnell’s historic win in the Nordic Rally Cross in February.
The other nominees are Tapper’s surprise bronze medal in the 100m hurdles in Tokyo, Parchment’s golden run in Tokyo and Thompson-Herah’s blistering 10.54 run in Oregon on August 21.
West Coast Fever’s Jhaniele Fowler has been named Super Netball Player of the Year for the fourth year running at the Australian Netball Awards on Wednesday night. The towering Jamaican shooter finished the 2021 season as the league’s top goalscorer with 891 goals.
Fowler, 32, joined the West Coast Fever in 2018 and dominated winning the leading goal scorer award with 783 goals, which was then a record. She was also awarded the competition's player of the year title.
She won the leading goalscorer award for a second consecutive season in 2019 and capped off the year by becoming the first player in the league's history to win multiple Player of the Year awards.
Fowler would win her third consecutive Suncorp Super Netball Player of the Year Award after an outstanding 2020 season during a special online version of the Australian Netball Awards.
The 1.96m tall shooter, who had three games in which she shot 100 per cent from the field, was also named to the 2021 Suncorp Super Netball Team of the Year.
The team also included Trinidad and Tobago’s Samantha Wallace who made the team as Attack Reserve while Jamaica’s Shamera Sterling was a Defence Reserve.
In what has been described as a historic partnership, the Jamaica Paralympic Association and the Jamaica Surfing Federation have joined forces to help para-athletes make the transition to surfing with the hope that the island will be able to qualify surfers to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
And, so far things seem to be going well. Two para-athletes, Nathaniel Bailey and Toto Campbell, are in California competing at the 2021 Pismo Beach ISA World Para Surfing Championship, and demonstrating that despite only taking up the sport less than two months ago, that they possess natural talent as both have qualified for the second round of the competition.
"History has been made through a dynamic partnership of two sporting associations that are both committed to developing talent, encouraging excellence and making more capable those who society perceive to have challenges,” said proud JOA President Christopher Samuda.
During the past three years, the Jamaica Paralympic Association has been aggressively engaging with several ‘non-traditional sports’ while pursuing its policy of "creating opportunities and building capacity."
Having successfully already helped propel para-taekwondo and para-judo to the pinnacle of para-sports - the Paralympic Games - President Samuda is optimistic about the future.
"Our model is self-motivating and self-inspiring but we believe strongly in solid partnerships that will drive success and thanks to Billy Wilmot, President of the Jamaica Surfing Federation, and Icah Wilmot, a regional household name in the sport, we are transitioning talented surfers who hopefully will attain the coveted distinction of becoming Paralympians in Paris," he said.
With that in mind, early next year, the Jamaica Paralympic Association will be launching its campaign dubbed "Go for Paris" aimed at achieving qualification and to be competitive in at least five sports at the games in the French capital.
Former New Zealand bowler turned commentator, Danny Morrison, has named West Indies captain Kieron Pollard as one of the most overrated players of the current generation.
The 35-year-old is typically one of the sport’s most widely regarded players, having amassed an impressive 11,326 runs in 573 matches. The tally is surpassed only by compatriot Chris Gayle who is the top runs scorer in the format.
In addition, the player, who has spent 11-years at India Premier League (IPL) club Mumbai Indians, has played for the franchise and played a key role in capturing five IPL titles. Recently, Mumbai Director of Cricket Operations Zaheer Khan hailed the player’s leadership and influence, also branding him as one of the strongest finishers in the game.
The West Indian was one of only one four players retained, along with Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Suryakumar Yadav. Speaking with Sportskeeda in a recent question and answer styled interview, the commentator singled out Pollard as a player he believed was overrated. In the same breath, Morrison listed Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan as one of the most underrated.
The eight teams that will be involved in the Manning Cup quarterfinal round have been set as group stage play concluded on Monday.
Jamaica College and Kingston Technical advanced from Group A as the top two teams while Charlie Smith advanced as one of the two best third-placed finishers after scoring a 1-0 win over St. George’s College in their rescheduled game at Stadium East.
Camperdown and Tivoli were the only two teams to advance from Group B while Kingston College, Mona High, and St. Catherine High advanced to the quarters from Group C to complete the field.
KC beat St. Catherine 2-1 to finish as group winners with a perfect 15 points from five games.
Mona finished second and St. Catherine advanced as the other best third-placed team.
The Manning Cup quarterfinal round is currently scheduled to get underway on Saturday, December 10th.
Triple Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah on Sunday announced the birth of The FastElaine Foundation that will focus on helping vulnerable children from mainly under-served communities as well some students from Christiania High and Manchester High Schools, educational institutions she attended during her childhood.
The West Indies will host Ireland for three CG Insurance One-Day Internationals (ODI) and a one-off T20 International (T20I) at Sabina Park, Jamaica from Saturday, January 8 to Sunday, January 16, Cricket West Indies confirmed today.
New York City FC will play Portland Timbers in the MLS Cup after coming from behind to beat Philadelphia Union 2-1 in the Eastern Conference final on Sunday.
An Alexander Callens own goal was cancelled out by Maxi Moralez, and a late Talles Magno winner sent NYCFC to their first ever appearance in the championship game, which will take place in Portland on Saturday.
Ronny Deila's New York side were missing star player Valentin Castellanos through suspension and struggled to impose themselves on the game until they were forced to do so when falling behind.
A nervy contest burst into life just after the hour mark as Philadelphia took a 63rd-minute lead. Daniel Gazdag whipped a searching ball into the box and New York City defender Callens diverted it into his own net as he tried to stop striker Kacper Przybylko from getting on the end of it.
NYCFC replied swiftly as Moralez fired in an equaliser just two minutes later. Maxime Chanot hit a shot from range that was saved by Matt Freese, but the ball eventually fell to Moralez, who made no mistake.
Nathan Harriel should have put Philadelphia back in front with four minutes remaining but sent his free header just over the bar, and the Union were made to regret it as NYCFC won it in the 89th minute.
Gudmundur Thorarinsson stole the ball from Olivier Mbaizo before putting it on a plate for substitute Magno to score the winner.
Jhaniele Fowler scored 57 goals as Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls defeated England’s Roses 63-53 for a consolation victory in the England Roses Vitality Series that concluded on Sunday.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) has paid tribute to noted sports administrator and sportscaster Anthony “Tony” Harford, who passed away on Friday.
Harford, who also played a major role in the development of cricket at all levels, was a leading figure in the marketing and promotion of sports, including working with the Trinidad & Tobago football team to the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
In the 1990s, he worked with the then West Indies Cricket Board of Control (WICBC) in the marketing and sponsorship of the West Indies team and accompanied the players on tour.
Harford’s work in cricket also included the development of age-group cricket tournaments and grassroots cricket. He was the lead coordinator and fundraiser for the first-ever West Indies U17 tour to Australia and established an annual “windball” (tennis ball) tournament for amateur players from across the Caribbean.
“Tony was a loyal son and selfless servant of West Indies and Trinidad cricket. He had a tremendous love of sports, and profound knowledge of the ins and outs of all sports,” CWI Vice President Dr Kishore Shallow recalled.
“His service to youth cricket in the Windward Islands was especially innovative and impactful. In the 1990s, he literally relocated the annual Windwards youth tournaments to Trinidad where he found adequate sponsorships to keep the age tournaments alive at a period when the Windwards cricket board was financially strapped.
“He loved young people and was dedicated to seeing the growth of the sporting industry as well as and the development of individual sportspersons. On behalf of CWI’s president, Directors and staff, I would like to extend condolences to the Harford family and loved ones, as well as the sporting fraternity in Trinidad & Tobago.”
Injury has forced Kieron Pollard out of the West Indies’ white-ball tour of Pakistan later this month. Pollard suffered the injury during the recent ICC T20 World Cup and has not sufficiently recovered in time for the tour that runs from December 13-22.
Portland Timbers will host the MLS Cup final for the first time in their history after conquering Real Salt Lake 2-0 on Saturday.
Felipe Mora and Santiago Moreno were both on target as 2015 MLS champions the Timbers advanced to the showpiece for the third time.
The Timbers will face either New York City or Philadelphia Union in the December 11 final.
Portland made the perfect start to the Western Conference decider when Mora was on hand to fire his deflected shot past David Ochoa after five minutes.
RSL – who were looking to become the first team in MLS history to reach the final without playing a home play-off fixture – had a golden chance to equalise just past the half-hour mark but Damir Kreilach's header was somehow saved by Steve Clark.
The Timbers sealed the victory in the 61st minute – Moreno's long-range effort ricocheting off the post and back off Ochoa at Providence Park – as Portland extended their winning streak to six matches, just their second such run after 2018.
Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls were unable to get back on level terms against the England Vitality Roses, after suffering a heavy loss in the second match of the series in Nottingham on Saturday.
The lopsided 66-47 loss pushed the home team to an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-Test series, having won the opening match opening game of the series 55-45 last week.
In the first encounter between the teams, it was the Sunshine Girls that had led at the half, this time around a devastating England attack led by 8 goals after the first quarter, and defensively managed to restrict the Jamaicans to 6 points as they doubled their advantage for a 35-19 half-time lead.
Similar to the first match, the Jamaicans were plagued by numerous turnovers but managed to make inroads into the lead at the start of the third quarter. The damage was, however, mostly done with England managing to give several non-regular players game time with the win all but secured. The teams will play the final match of the series at the same venue tomorrow.
West Indies captain, Kraigg Brathwaite, admits a recurring problem is the team's ability to spend longer at the crease, on the back of a dismal performance against Sri Lanka in the recently concluded tour.
With very few exceptions, the Windies batsmen struggled to make an impact against a crafty Sri Lanka spin attack, which anchored a dominant 2-0 series win for the hosts in Galle. A closer look at the team’s batting statistics did not make for good reading.
In two matches, only three batsmen managed a combined total of over 100 runs. Nkrumah Bonner was the team’s most successful batsman putting up a total of 148, over the two matches, with a high score of 68 and an average of 49.33. Brathwaite was next with 119, his average working out to 29.75, with a high score of 72. Jermaine Blackwood was the third batsman to reach triple figures after totalling 109, averaging 27.25 and getting a high score of 44.
By comparison, Sri Lanka had five players total over 100 over both Tests, with two, Dhananjaya de Silva and Dimuth Karunaratne, getting over 200 runs.
When it comes to partnerships, the West Indies had only one that was worth 100 runs, which took place between Bonner and Da Silva in 44 overs. By comparison, Sri Lanka achieved the feat 6 times.
“Batting-wise we let ourselves down, we just didn’t get big enough totals to cause any pressure on Sri Lanka,” Brathwaite said, following the match.
With the West Indies set to face England in January of next year, the captain believes the team must find ways to work on its concentration if things are to improve.
“Really and truly it all boils down to having the discipline and doing it for long periods. I don’t think it will change in terms of spin-friendly conditions or batting in the Caribbean,” he added.
“Wherever you may play, it’s about having that discipline throughout to bat for longer periods, I think that’s what we need. We are showing that we can do it, but we are not doing it for long enough.”
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