Former world eventing champion Ros Canter is within touching distance of a first Badminton Horse Trials title after she conquered punishing cross-country conditions to take pole position.
Lincolnshire-based Canter flourished with Lordships Graffalo – Badminton runners-up behind Laura Collett last year – on a day when many combinations floundered.
Double Olympic medallist Tom McEwen described the stamina-sapping going as “horrific”, and none of the starters threatened to jump clear inside the optimum time.
Canter collected 11.6 time penalties for an overnight score of 33.7, putting her nine penalties clear of Irish challenger Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue, with McEwen’s Olympic team gold medal-winning colleague Oliver Townend third aboard Ballaghmor Class on 45.9.
Canter, who won the world crown in North Carolina five years ago, can afford to have two fences down in Monday’s showjumping finale and still land the £105,000 top prize.
Thirty combinations completed the cross-country test, with almost half the field either being eliminated or deciding to retire.
“It felt hard work in terms of galloping,” 37-year-old Canter said.
“He had to dig deep, but he is so honest and is a fantastic jumper. He is economical with his jumping, and you can’t get much better.
“A horse like him should be celebrated – I have not sat on anything like him before. Tomorrow is another day, but whatever happens, he is a star.”
O’Connor rocketed 32 places up the leaderboard after dressage, adding just 10.8 penalties to his score in pursuit of a crown that has not been won by an Irish rider since Major Eddie Boylan in 1965.
Cork-born O’Connor, who is based in Oxfordshire, said: “The horse was amazing. He is the real deal.
“It was the hardest he has had to try in a five-star event, but he is full of class. I’ve got a great team at home and they have kept him very fit.
“He is one of the best horses in the world, and I am a lot older than I look! I have ridden a lot of cross-country courses in the wet before.”
McEwen, meanwhile, lies fifth on Toledo De Kerser, just behind world number one Tim Price, with Gemma Stevens in sixth and Canter holding seventh spot aboard her second ride Pencos Crown Jewel.
Following their victory over GIANTS, Shamera Sterling’s Adelaide Thunderbirds are the new leaders of the Suncorp Super Netball League after defending champions West Coast Fever suffered only their second loss of the season on Saturday.
Led by Eleanor Cardwell near perfect 26 goals from 27 attempts and Lucy Austin’s 13 from 15, Thunderbirds led 18-13 at the end of the first quarter. However, Jo Harten who scored 23 goals from 25 shots and Sophie Dwyer (17/20) closed the gap to three by half-time as GIANTS outscored Thunderbirds 15-13 in the second stanza.
GIANTS dominated the third quarter 13-9 and take a slim lead into the final quarter of the game but Thunderbirds rallied to win the quarter 14-9 and take the game 54-50 for their sixth win of the season.
Fever, meanwhile, went down 74-73 in a thriller to Melbourne Vixens despite a game-high 48 goals of 49 attempts from the league top scorer Jhaniele Fowler, who now has 446 goals on the season.
However, after both teams traded goals for the entire match, it was Kiera Austin’s super shot at the buzzer than kept the Vixens unbeaten at home this season and handed the defending champions their second loss of the season.
Mwai Kumwenda led the Vixens with 45 goals from 50 attempts while Austin scored 23 from 29 for her side that outscored Fever 18-16 in the first quarter before sharing honours 19-19 in the second to take a two goal lead into the break.
Fever rallied to take the third quarter 19-16 but thanks to Austin’s super shot, Vixens edged the final quarter 21-19 to secure their fifth win of the season.
In the battle between the teams at the foot of the table, Donnell Wallam scored a game high 64 goals from 65 attempts to lead the Queensland Firebirds to their second win of the season, a 73-67 win over Collingwood Magpies.
Shimona Nelson scored 56 goals from 58 attempts for the Magpies who were losing their sixth game of the season.
Team Jamaica will leave the island on Sunday (May 7) to defend their West Indies Full Bore Shooting Championship in Antigua & Barbuda between May 8-14 at the Crabb's Range.
The team to be led by Captain Phillip Scott will include the current national Full-Bore champion Nicola Guy, Jamaica’s first female national champion. Also on the team is two-time Amazon trophy winner and O Class champion Karen Anderson.
Major John Nelson, the president of the West Indies Full Bore Shooting Council and five-time Wogarth Cup winner, reigning Wogarth Cup winner, Captain Dwayne Ford, Canute CC Coley, Dennis Lee and Dr. Derek Mitchell complete the line-up.
George Hutton will serve as team manager.
Full Bore competition features competitors shooting from a prone position from distances of 300, 500, 600, 900 and 1,000 yards. Notably only Barbados, Guyana and Jamaica have 900-yard and 1,000-yard courses.
Shooters compete in three possible classes. X Class comprise the top 15-20 shooters in the Caribbean. T Class is any shooter participating in a regional shoot for the first time. Everyone else is in O Class.
Jamaica is considered to be a power house in Full Bore Shooting having won several championships and is always on the podium.
The Amazon trophy is awarded to the highest-scoring female while Wogarth Cup is awarded to the shooter who has the highest score in the team match.
Defending champions Nicholas Chen and Aliana McMaster are ready to defend their titles at the Rangers Gun Club and Family Fun Day which is set for Sunday, May 7 beginning at 10 am at the True Juice complex in Bog Walk, St. Catherine.
The Rangers Gun Club is expecting a field of approximately one hundred and fifty shooters along with family members to trek the lush walking course venue for a day of individual and team competition featuring the local gun clubs.
For the second year in a row four clubs will compete for the trophy; Driftwood Gun Club, Jamaica Gun Club, Rangers Gun Club and defending champions, the Trelawny Gun Club.
Competition for top honors will be stiff as some of the Jamaica Skeet Club's best shooters will be vying for top honors. They include nine-time national shotgun champion Ian Banks, six-time national shotgun champion Shaun Barnes, current national shotgun champion Chad Ziadie, his father Geoffrey Ziadie, Ray McMaster, Andrew Hopwood, Ryan Chen and Bobby Chung as well as the high performance family team of female McMasters - Aliana, Wendy (five-time national shotgun champion) and Abigail along with other well known female shooters in Renee Rickhi, who is part of the Jamaica Rifle Association's Alpha Angels lady shooters, Marguerite Harris and Tara Brown.
Shooters in various classes from A- E, Hunters or Beginners, Juniors, Sub-Juniors, and Ladies will be competing in order to win their classes and, in some cases, move up to more challenging classes. The course features a seventeen-station walking course.
Part proceeds from the event will be donated to the Food for the Poor organization.
The lead sponsor for the Rangers Gun Club Sporting Clays and Family Day is Sterling Asset Management. Worthy Park Select is the gold sponsor and there are several 'station' sponsors.
The club has rich a history of young business men and some of their fathers who loved shooting getting together in the mid 1980s to start the Rangers Gun Club at their Salt Gully base in St. Catherine.
They initially focused on bird shooting then took on sporting clays which is currently the most popular form of the sport and is said to be the favorite of the younger shooters. The tournament is being brought back by on their request. The club's archives show that Michael Ammar, John Ammar, David Shoucair and Wayne Srour took the leap with Michael Ammar Sr., Sameer Younis and Dr. Badih Shoucair to start the club.
The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Senior Men’s Selection Panel on Friday named the fifteen-man squad for the West Indies “A” Team tour of Bangladesh. Joshua Da Silva, the West Indies Test wicket-keeper/batter, will captain the team in the three four-day “Test” matches against Bangladesh “A” starting on 16 May.
Along with Da Silva, the 15-member squad includes other players with West Indies Test match experience: left-handed opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul, left-handed allrounder Raymon Reifer, fast bowler Anderson Phillip and left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie.
The squad also includes three newcomers to the international level: openers Kirk McKenzie and Zachary McCaskie as well as fast bowler Jair McAllister. All three made their first-class debuts during the West Indies Championship four-day first-class tournament earlier this year.
Lead Selector, the Most Honorable Dr. Desmond Haynes, stated that the aim was to pick a balanced team as they look to expose the players to overseas conditions.
“We selected a group of players who we think could benefit from the exposure in Bangladesh and we also have our eyes on the upcoming Test Series against India in the Caribbean.”
He added: “Among the newcomers, we have pace bowler McAllister who is fast and strong and has the ability to unsettle batters. McCaskie had a solid start to his first-class career, showed good temperament, and also has the ability to play all around the wicket. McKenzie was eye-catching during his double-century for the West Indies Academy in the Headley Weekes Tri-Series. It was a superb knock and demonstrated that the investment in the Academy is bearing fruit.”
West Indies “A” Team will arrive in Bangladesh on 11 May and play the three four-day “Test” matches at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium (SICS) in Sylhet. These matches will have full first-class status.
This “A” team tour reciprocates the Bangladesh “A” team tour of the West Indies in August 2022, when the teams drew both a two-match series of four-day first-class matches and also a three-match 50-over series at the Daren Sammy Stadium in Saint Lucia.
FULL SQUAD
Joshua DaSilva (Captain)
Alick Athanaze
Yannic Cariah
Keacy Carty
Tagenarine Chanderpaul
Tevin Imlach
Akeem Jordan
Brandon King
Jair McAllister
Zachary McCaskie
Kirk McKenzie
Gudakesh Motie
Anderson Phillip
Raymon Reifer
Kevin Sinclair
MATCH SCHEDULE
All matches at SICS, Sylhet
16-19 May: 1st “Test”
23-26 May: 2nd “Test”
30 May to 2 June: 3rd “Test”
Guyanese all-rounder Kevin Sinclair was the star of the day as Team Weekes secured an eight wicket win over Team Headley inside three days at the Coolidge Cricket Ground on Friday.
Beginning day three 67-2, Team Headley only managed to add a further 86 runs before being dismissed for 153 in 63.1 overs, leaving Team Weekes needing just 96 for victory.
Matthew Nandu carried on from his overnight 26 to top-score with 36 while Justin Greaves ended 25*.
Sinclair ripped through the Headley XI batting line-up on the way to grabbing 5-48 in his 21 overs. His countryman, Veerasammy Permaul, took 2-20 in 13.1 overs.
Team Weekes then needed 26.5 overs to reach 96-2. Openers Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Zachary McCaskie both made 33 while Raymon Reifer and Captain Alick Athanaze finished on 19* and 10*, respectively.
The West Indies Academy emerged as overall winners of the Tri-Series after a dominant win over Team Headley and a first-innings triumph over Team Weekes in their two games.
The Institute of Sports (INSPORTS) officially launched the 41st staging of the INSPORTS Primary Schools All-Island Athletics Championships in a ceremony held inside the Hospitality Room at the National Stadium in Kingston on Thursday.
The Championships, scheduled for May 4-27, will see competition among 130 schools with 6000 students in three regional championships leading up to the grand finale, the national championships.
“Today marks the start of what we have come to regard as our marquee sports event in Jamaica for juniors,” said Minister of Gender, Culture, Education and Sport, the Hon. Olivia “Babsy” Grange.
The Eastern Championships got underway on Thursday at Stadium East and will last until May 6.
The competition then moves to the GC Foster College of Physical Education and Sport for the Central Championships from May 8-10.
From there, the competition moves to St. Elizabeth Technical High School for the Western Championships between May 11 and May 13.
The National Championships, expected to showcase the best of the best in terms of Primary School athletics in the country, takes place from May 25-27 to decide the All-Island champion.
“It will be thrilling to see the youngsters out there competing. They look forward to it and are excited about it and we know we are looking at future world champions,” said Grange.
Devon Biscuits, who came on board as a major sponsor last year, will serve as title sponsors in 2023 and have committed $9 million to INSPORTS.
“We are happy to be on board,” said Brand Manager for Devon Biscuits, Sherene Bryan.
“We recognize the importance of encouraging, supporting and fostering Jamaica’s talent,” Bryan added before going into how Devon Biscuits came on board in 2022.
“We were made aware of the Championships two days before the meet began. I saw a social media post which was made by my dear friend, Trishana McGowan, and I reached out to her to ask if they had a sponsor. She then advised me that there was no sponsor on board. I then called her and requested the information for the directors of Insports and she provided it that opened the door for further conversations and now we’re here as the title sponsors.”
First Vice President of the Jamaica Administrative Athletics Association, the Hon. Ian Forbes, spoke on behalf of the association.
“41 years means that something right would have been happening. This is where the seeds of greatness are sewn,” Forbes said.
A half-century from Devon Thomas was crucial in Weekes XI eking out a 58-run lead over Headley XI on the second day of the final match of the Headley Weekes Tri-Series at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua on Thursday.
Resuming from their overnight score of 61-3 in reply to Headley XI’s 177, Weekes XI were 155-7 still 22 runs behind when Thomas and Veerasammy Permaul added a crucial 68 for the eighth wicket that gave their side the small lead.
Earlier Alick Athanaze made 37 as he and Kacey Carty, who scored 12, took Weekes XI past 100 runs with a 46-run stand but both fell in quick succession to Anderson Phillip and then Hodge dismissed Kevin Sinclair and Dominic Drakes for 12 and 18, respectively, which resulted in Weekes XI slipping from 107-2 to 155-7.
The eighth wicket partnership that ended with Permaul’s dismissal for 35 and which gave Hodge this third wicket had taken Weekes XI to 223. However, once Permaul fell, it didn’t take long for the Headley XI bowlers to wrap the innings up.
Akeem Jordan bowled Thomas for 57 and Jordan bowled Jair McAllister for a duck with the score at 235.
Hodge took 3-46, Phillip 2-44 and Jordan 2-41.
By the close, Kieran Powell was dismissed by Dominic Drakes for nine and Hodge was caught and bowled by Kevin Sinclair for 28 but by then Headley XI had eked out a five run lead. Matthew Nandu remains undefeated on 26 and Sunil Ambris has a run on the board with Headley XI at 67-2 at stumps.
Cricket West Indies has moved to settle their legal dispute with former selectors Courtney Browne and Eldine Baptiste, cricket commentator and broadcaster Andrew Mason is reporting.
The two former West Indies players received letters of termination on April 10, 2019, shortly after Ricky Skerritt and Dr Kishore Shallow won the Cricket West Indies presidential elections in March that year. The termination letters made reference to a task force that was being established to review the selection system. The task force that was chaired by CWI Vice President Dr Kishore Shallow was expected to make recommendations.
Notwithstanding that the task force had not yet met, CWI fired the selectors ahead any recommendations that would have come from the task force. The matter has been before the courts for the past four years until now when Mason reported that CWI had decided to settle and will pay all legal costs and 15 months’ payment of the contract.
Mason anticipates that Brown’s pay out would amount to about US$75,000. The money would represent welcome funds for Browne, who is still undergoing rehabilitation after suffering serious injuries in a motor-vehicle accident in December 2019.
The driver of the other vehicle involved in the accident, died on the spot.
Dominic Drakes and Veerasammy Permaul each took three wickets as Weekes’ XI bowled Headley XI out for 177 on Wednesday’s opening day of the final match in the Headley Weekes Tri-Series at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.
However, Headley XI’s bowlers have struck back having Weekes XI at 61-3 at stumps still trailing by 116 runs.
Drakes dismissed three of the five top order batsmen as Headley XI got off to a terrible start and were reduced to 74-6. Only opener Kieran Powell with 23 managed to get into double figures.
Kavem Hodge and Ackeem Jordan held the Weekes’ bowlers at bay with a partnership of 71 but then Jordan became Permaul’s 600th first-class wicket when he was caught behind for 37. Kevin Sinclair soon after ended Hodge’s vigil for 67 and Permaul cleaned up the tail dismissing Chaim-Alexis Holder and Marquino Mindley for three and seven, respectively.
Drakes ended with figures of 3-17 while Permaul took 3-18.
In reply, Weekes’ XI lost Zachary McCaskie to Marquino Mindley for two but Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Raymon Reifer added 48 for the second wicket before Holder struck, dismissing Chanderpaul for 12 and 11 runs later, got Reifer for 34 as Weekes XI slipped to 61-3.
Holder has so far taken 2-2 while Mindley has 1-17.
Rovman Powell has been traded to the Barbados Royals ahead of the 2023 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in a move that sees Hayden Walsh moving the other way to join the Jamaica Tallawahs.
Powell, the West Indies T20 captain, led the Tallawahs to their third CPL title in 2023 and has scored 1337 runs for the franchise since first joining them in 2016.
“It is with a heavy heart that my time with the Tallawahs has come to an end,” Powell said in a post in Instagram Wednesday morning.
‘I have made lifelong friends and memories I will never forget; not least winning two CPL titles for my home franchise, one of those as captain, which I will always cherish.
“I am looking forward to joining the Royals and beginning a new chapter in my CPL career.”
Powell expressed his gratitude to his now former teammates and coaches on three-time CPL champions.
“I would like to thank all the players and coaches who have been part of my Tallawahs journey these past few years,” he said.
“Most of all, I want to thank the Jamaican fans for your support. Always remember, we likkle but we Tallawah!”
Walsh leaves the Royals having played for the franchise since 2019, claiming the Player of the Tournament title in his first year with the Barbados team. As an experienced leg spin bowler with international pedigree he will be a valuable addition to the Tallawahs squad.
The Republic Bank CPL draft show will be broadcast in late June 2023 with the tournament set to get underway on 16 August 2023.
Jamaica's top shooters came out on top of their Caribbean rivals in last Saturday's Spectrum Handgun Championship held at Jamaica Rifle Association’s Mountain View shooting range in Kingston.
The home shooters topped all four divisions with Ryan Bramwell emerging the victor in Open Division, Andrew Yap taking the Standard Division and Chris Hart winning the Production Optics Division. Yeonie Campbell captured the Production Division.
Bramwell put on a master-class display of speed and accuracy to earn 1059.57 points, firing 215 rounds in 130.70 seconds over the 12-stage course.
Alrice Palmer scored 949.3 points to claim the runner-up spot while Lennie Moulton scored 879.76 points for third place.
"It was a great day. I shot very well. I was very fast and aggressive today (Saturday) and I had very good hits so overall I came out the winner,” the victorious Bramwell said.
“It’s a great feeling. Having put in the work and gotten the results, it’s fantastic and we go back to the drawing board and keep training."
Campbell copped the Production Division and topped the Ladies Category. In the Production Division she got the better of Anthony Johnson in a nail biter with just one point separating them while Rohan Wallace was third.
In the Ladies Category she was comfortably ahead of second place Florence Golding and third place Philana Brown.
"My performance today was okay. I think that the stages were very challenging as well as they allow you to express yourself so I was pleased with my performance," Campbell said.
“The ladies did very well today, exceptionally well today. I am very proud of them. I think that we all competed admirably today and the results showed it."
There was keen competition in the Standard Division which went to Master Class shooter Yap, who scored more than one hundred points more than of Darin Richards and Lennie Moulton who were second and third, respectively.
The Production Optics Division went to Chris Hart ahead of Adrian Randle and Michael Bradshaw who took third place.
One overseas-based shooter got on the podium with Richard Durrant of Barbados getting second place in the Senior Category of the Standard Division behind Ellsworth Dixon while Thomas Jones was third.
Durrant commended the Jamaican shooters.
"The quality of shooting here is really high. I had some hope of placing on the podium. The last time I was in Jamaica was in 2018 and since that time the standard has really, really sky-rocketed,” he said.
“Andy Yap and Greg Henry, I shot against them before but today it was a different level. I have to go back to the lab now so I have to recalculate my shooting. The experience was really good. I would come again."
Major John Nelson, president of JRA was pleased with the overall standard of the competition.
"It’s a Level 3, which, is in fact the highest match we have had now for about four years. It is such a highly respected match that we had international shooters from the Cayman Islands, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago,” he said.
“It was attractive enough for them to be here. We had the highest turnout of our local shooters including our shooters from Trelawny, Negril and May Pen, who came in to compete in this particular shoot.
“Spectrum Systems have outdone themselves and as Mr. (Andrew) Stanigar said to me at the end of the presentations, you are not getting rid of us we are here to stay with you and support you."
Arnett Gardens FC defeated Harbour View FC 3-0 at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex on Monday to secure a top-two spot and a place in the semi-finals of the Jamaica Premier League.
Arnett’s win moves their points tally to 52 from 25 games, meaning they can only be passed by Cavalier on goal difference in next week’s 26th and final game week before the playoffs.
Second-placed Cavalier moved to 49 points from 25 games after defeating Molynes United 4-2 in the first game of the Monday doubleheader.
Mount Pleasant, who drew 1-1 with Humble Lion on Sunday, are also assured of a place in the top four with 46 points while Harbour View are fourth with 43.
Harbour View will need to avoid defeat in their final game against Vere United to book their spot as Humble Lion are only two points behind them in fifth. Humble Lion will take on Waterhouse at the Waterhouse Stadium in their final game.
The rest of the games in week 26 will see Dunbeholden face Mount Pleasant at the Ferdie Neita Sports Complex, Molynes United face Portmore United at UWI, Arnett Gardens face Tivoli Gardens at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex, Montego Bay United face Cavalier at Wespow Park and Faulkland face Chapleton Maroons at Drax Hall.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) today announced the full schedule for the West Indies Men’s 2023 International Home series against England. The world champions will visit the Caribbean in December where they will play a three-match CG United One-Day International (ODI) Series and five match T20 International (T20I) Series.
England arrive in Antigua to start the tour with two CG United ODIs at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on 3 and 6 December. The third CG United ODI will be played at Kensington Oval, Barbados on 9 December followed on 12 December by the first of five T20Is.
The Spice Isle of Grenada welcomes both teams for two T20Is on 14 and 16 December and the tour concludes in the week before Christmas with the fourth and fifth T20Is at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad which will be hosting a West Indies vs England men’s fixture for the first time on 19 and 21 December.
CWI’s Chief Executive Officer, Johnny Grave said: “We are delighted to be able to confirm the England match schedule and to welcome once again their many travelling fans to the region for a pre-Christmas white-ball tour. “
Grave added: “This tour will be a major economic boost to the host countries, as well as providing our fans with the chance to see some of their favourite players in action against one of our biggest rivals. The tour will also help with our ongoing venue preparation and event planning for one of the biggest events ever to be staged in the region, the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, which takes place in June next year.
"We also look forward to announcing the fixtures and venues for the India tour of the West Indies in July and August very soon."
Official West Indies Tour Operators and ticket information for the series will be announced in the coming weeks with tickets available in advance on the Windies Tickets service presented by Mastercard, accessible via Windiescricket.com where fans can also find all the latest news and scores. Fans can register sign up to receive the first news of tickets going on sale at https://www.windiescricket.com/updates/.
MATCH SCHEDULE
CG United One-Day Internationals
3 December: 1st CG United ODI, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua
6 December: 2nd CG United ODI, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua
9 December: 3rd CG United ODI, Kensington Oval, Barbados
T20 Internationals
12 December: 1st T20I, Kensington Oval, Barbados
14 December: 2nd T20I, Grenada National Stadium, Grenada
16 December: 3rd T20I, Grenada National Stadium, Grenada
19 December: 4th T20I, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad
21 December: 5th T20I, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad
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