Trinidad & Tobago head coach Kemba Duncan gave her players all the credit after their 66-42 victory over Grenada at the Netball Americas World Cup Qualifiers at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston on Tuesday.

Both teams entered the game with three wins from three games and begun the top-of-the-table clash in a competitive manner, battling throughout the first quarter which T&T eventually won 17-12. The leaders then held Grenada to just eight points in the second quarter, entering the half with a 32-20 lead. The Trinis then enjoyed a spectacular third quarter, contrary to the one they had against St. Vincent & the Grenadines on Monday. They forced the Grenadians into several turnovers and capitalized on those mistakes to enter the fourth quarter up 49-29 before eventually sealing a 66-42 win, their fourth in as many games.

Goal shooter Afeisha Noel and goal attack Joelisa Cooper dominated the Grenada defence with 45 goals from 49 attempts and 12 goals from 16 attempts, respectively.

“I think it was all about the players,” said Duncan.

“They had their goals and stayed focused. They worked together and maintained discipline to achieve the score we wanted.”

Even with a massive lead in the fourth quarter, Duncan’s team maintained a high level of intensity on both ends, something she says they’ve emphasized with big goals in mind.

“We have been training to maintain intensity. I think it’s the level of the game that is played in the higher tournaments so we want to push towards that.”

Grenadian captain Shakira Collymore blamed said injuries were a factor in their performance.

“We have a lot of injuries so we weren’t able to enjoy the entire match but I think we put up a good fight. We were able to stay with them for the first two quarters but couldn’t stick it out. We have more matches to play.”

In Tuesday’s other results, Jamaica got their highest point total of the tournament with an 81-27 win over the Cayman Islands, Barbados beat the USA 47-26 and St. Vincent & the Grenadines beat St. Lucia 49-36.

West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder has rejected claims the team is missing the impact of some of its most explosive players, following a shock opening-day loss to Scotland.

For the first time in decades the team heading into a tournament, without the likes of some of its most experienced T20 campaigners with the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, and Andre Russell no longer counted among their numbers.

Despite that fact, however, Holder insists the team has plenty of quality at its disposal.

“I don’t think we are missing anyone, I think we have every tool that we need in this dressing room,” Holder said.

In Sunday’s opening Group B encounter, the team suffered a shocking 42-run defeat at the hands of Scotland.  The match almost certainly put West Indies in a must-win situation against world number 11^th- ranked Zimbabwe, with only the top two teams from the group.

Against Scotland, the team put in a creditable performance with the ball as Alzarri Joseph and Holder himself each claimed two wickets.  With the bat, however, the team was once again found wanting.  As has often been the case it was spin that proved the undoing of the Windies at the crease.  With Mark Watt and Michael Leask leading the way for the Scots, the Windies were bundled out for 118, with only Holder again making an impact with 38 from 33.

For their part, Zimbabwe were impressive in their opener against Ireland, taking the encounter by 31 runs and Holder knows it will take a special effort. 

“We are just going to have to dig deep.  There is no other way to really put it, we just have to dig deep and bring it together,” Holder added.

The West Indies will face Zimbabwe at 3:00 am on Wednesday.

Trinidad & Tobago and Grenada are the early leaders in the points standings after day two of the Netball Americas World Cup Qualifiers at the National Indoor Sports Center in Kingston on Monday.

Trinidad & Tobago got their third win in as many games with a close 49-42 win over St. Vincent & the Grenadines.

In a back-and forth opening quarter, the teams traded baskets throughout, with T&T coming out 10-9 leaders. They stepped up the tempo in the second quarter to enter halftime with a 28-19 lead before a spirited third quarter effort from the Vincentians meant the score was 37-30 in favor of T&T entering the last quarter. St. Vincent & the Grenadines were able to get the lead down to as low as four but turnovers at crucial times meant that Trinidad & Tobago walked away with a seven-point win to move to six points from three games.

Goal shooter Afeisha Noel led the way for T&T with 32 goals from 37 attempts while goal attack Joelisa Cooper had 17 goals from 19 attempts.

St. Vincent & the Grenadines were led by goal shooter Mary Ann Frederick’s 42 goals from 48 attempts.

Trinidad & Tobago head coach Kemba Duncan credited her team for recovering from a difficult third quarter to pull out the win.

“We made some errors but they were able to keep their head in the game and stay steady knowing that they came in at a higher rank and maintain the discipline needed to get the win. They did a good job keeping it together,” she said.

St. Vincent & the Grenadines head coach Godfrey Harry lamented the team’s turnovers after getting as close as they did in the fourth quarter.

“I think the players got a little to anxious and, because of that, we kept giving up the ball. It was a hard game but it was in our grasp and we allowed it to get away from us,” he said.

Grenada joined T&T on six points from three games thanks to a 62-29 win over Antigua and Barbuda while hosts, Jamaica, hammered the United States 70-16 in the other games on day two.

Tuesday's day three will feature a top-of-the-table clash between Grenada and Trinidad & Tobago, Cayman Islands playing hosts Jamaica, United States tackling Barbados and St. Vincent & the Grenadines facing St. Lucia. 

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson, 2022 world champions in athletics were conferred with national honours at Jamaica’s annual National Honours and Awards held on the lawns of Kings House in Kingston, Jamaica on Monday, October 17, which is celebrated as National Heroes Day.

The 35-year-old Fraser-Pryce was conferred with the Order of Jamaica, Commander Class for Outstanding Performance in the field of athletics at the international level. The woman known internationally as the Pocket Rocket for her incredible speed that has been on display for more than a decade, won her fifth World 100m title in Eugene, Oregon in July becoming the first running athlete to accomplish the feat.

It was also her second world 100m title since she gave birth to her son Zyon in 2017. During the just-concluded season, Fraser-Pryce another global benchmark when she became the first woman in the history of the sport, to run faster than 10.7 seconds seven times during the any one season.

She has now run under 10.7s nine times which is more than any other woman has ever run.

She is also the holder of three Olympic gold medals and 10 World Championship gold medals in her illustrious career.

Jackson, 28, was conferred with the Order of Distinction, Commander Class for exceptional achievements in the sport of Track and Field Athletics at the national, World Championships and Olympic levels.

 The former Vere Technical star won her first global title in Eugene, Oregon in July when she ran 21.45 to claim the 200m gold medal. The time makes her the second fastest woman in history and is a national record breaking the previous mark of 21.53 set by Elaine Thompson-Herah at the Tokyo Olympics.

Jackson has also won bronze medals in the 400m at the World Championships and Olympics and is the highest-ranked active combination sprinter in history with personal bests of 10.71 in the 100m, 21.45 in the 400m and 49.49 in the 400m.

Only two women in history have been better.

Also, receiving national honours were Dr Warren Blake, former president of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA), who was conferred with the Order of Distinction, (CD), for contribution to Medicine and as a team doctor in national sports; Claude Bryan, a sports agent, the Order of Distinction for contribution to the sport of Track and Field and Michael Clarke, a veteran coach, who was conferred with the Order of Distinction for contribution to sports in the area of Track and Field.

Dinthill Technical will have the distinction of being the only team in the 2022 daCosta Cup to advance to the next round on the back of a perfect group stage record thanks to a 4-0 home victory over McGrath High on Friday.

With 30 points from 10 games, Dinthill can celebrate their progression to the next round as winners of Zone K. McGrath ended with 21 points and will advance alongside Dinthill while Charlemont finished two points behind McGrath in third.

Frome Technical and Rusea’s will advance from Zone B. Frome won the zone with 22 points from eight games while Rusea’s finished three points behind them in second. The teams played out a 0-0 draw at Frome on Saturday.

William Knibb hammered Herbert Morrison 10-0 at home on Saturday to confirm their progression as Zone C winners with 22 points from eight games. Cedric Titus finished second with 16 points from eight games despite a 0-2 home loss against Spot Valley, who finished five points behind in third.

Manning’s and Petersfield played out a 0-0 draw on Saturday and will both advance from Zone D. Manning’s amassed 24 points from their 10 games to advance as zone winners while Petersfield ended their preliminary round campaign with 20 points from 10 outings.

STETHS finished the preliminary round with nine wins and one loss to finish with 27 points and win Zone E. Their final game saw them beat Munro College 2-0 at home on Saturday. B.B Coke, who entered their last game needing a win to confirm their passage to the next round, beat Maggotty 3-1 to secure their spot with 19 points, three more than Munro in third, from their 10 games.

Manchester secured their spot as Zone F winners with a 2-1 win over DeCarteret College at Kirkvine on Saturday. They ended with 25 points from their 10 games. Belair High will also advance after a 4-0 away win over Mt. St. Joseph, leaving them three points behind the leaders and three ahead of DeCarteret in third.

Zone G was extremely close as Christiana and Holmwood both finished with 15 points, one point ahead of Mile Gully in third. Christiana entered a Friday clash with Holmwood three points behind their opponents and got a 2-1 home win to end up as zone winners by two on goal difference.

Clarendon College and Edwin Allen played out a 1-1 draw at Edwin Allen on Saturday as both confirmed their progression from Zone H. Clarendon College won the zone with 22 points from eight games while Edwin Allen ended seven points behind their opponents in second.

York Castle was already confirmed as Zone I winners before a 5-1 win over Marcus Garvey at Drax Hall on Thursday. They ended the group stage with 22 points from eight games. Browns Town entered their game with Ocho Rios on Thursday needing a point to join York Castle in the next round and got it thanks to a goalless draw. They finished with 12 points, one more than Oracabessa in third.

Zone J was the closest as the top four teams all ended up within two points of each other. Tacky won the zone with 17 points while St. Mary Tech had the same number of points in second, trailing by three on goal difference. Horace Clarke finished a point behind them while Annotto Bay ended two points adrift. Saturday saw Tacky and Horace Clarke play out a 1-1 draw at Horace Clarke while St. Mary Tech beat Wycliffe Martin 2-0 at Wycliffe Martin and Annotto Bay beat St. Mary High 1-0 at the Highgate Community Center.

Paul Bogle finished with 24 points from 10 games to win Zone L after a 2-1 away win over Yallahs on Thursday. They will be joined in the next round by Seaforth who ended with 21 points after a 6-1 win over St. Thomas Technical at the Eastern Banana Complex, also on Thursday.

Glenmuir beat Central High 2-0 at home on Saturday to confirm their status as winners of Zone M, finishing with 19 points. Central ended up second, three points behind Glenmuir while Denbigh ended u a distant third with 10 points after a 2-1 win over Old Harbour at the Port Esquivel Sports Club.

Defending champions Garvey Maceo will advance as Zone N winners after a 3-0 home win over Winston Jones on Saturday. They ended up with 22 points from their eight games, six points more than second-placed Vere Technical who booked their spot in the next round with a 5-0 home win over Foga Road.

Happy Grove and Titchfield both ended with 12 points from six games to advance from Zone O. Happy Grove won the zone by two on goal difference thanks to a 4-1 win over Fair Prospect at Fair Prospect while Titchfield got a 2-0 win over Port Antonio at Carder Park.

Connie Francis, the head coach of Jamaica’s senior netball team was effusive in praise of the young, inexperienced team that soundly defeated a game St Vincent and the Grenadines team 74-35 in an exhibition match at the Americas Netball Qualifier at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston, Jamaica on Sunday night.

Led by Jhanielle Fowler, the best shooter in the world, the Sunshine Girls was comprised of Goal Attack Amanda Pinkney, Wing Attack Quannia Walker, Centre Abigale Sutherland, Wing Defense Tafiya Hunter, Goal Defense Kimone Shaw, and Goal Keep Theresa Beckford.

Passing at speed before feeding Fowler and Pinkney in the circle, Jamaica quickly established a lead in the opening quarter 18-8 with Fowler scoring 11 goals. Pinkney added six goals before being subbed off for Gezelle Allison who played the rest of the half.

Francis explained afterwards that taking Pinkney out early in the game was at the request of the player who was feeling the frantic pace.

“She indicated to us that she was winded and it was only fair for us to pull her because we have eager players willing to go out there and play,” the coach said.

“I thought that she was really having a fantastic game but you could see that the intensity from attack to defense was not there so we pulled her and re-inserted her and she came in and she did a really fantastic job.”

Allison’s entry into the game caused a temporary disruption to the flow which resulted in several unforced turnovers. However, she quickly settled in to support Fowler who was not at her sharpest missing five shots by the half-time break as Jamaica widened their lead 42-15.

Pinkney returned as a replacement for Fowler to start the third quarter and demonstrated her natural shooting skills scoring 25 from 30 for the game as Jamaica took a 61-24 lead into the final quarter.

Jamaica outscored their opponents 13-11 in the final stanza to secure an easy win before a vociferously vocal crowd.

Francis said the close margin between the teams in the final quarter was caused by a couple of factors.

“I think it’s just how we take care of the ball. We had lots of ball in our possession and we gave up some. It’s about sticking to the tactical play because at times St Vincent had this front play and it was really giving us some form of headache,” she said, “but we keep reinforcing that we have to recognize and do allow the coaching staff to say people are making a run because of this particular play, but overall I think that this young bunch, six debutantes in a game like this, this is the type of exposure that we need to give our young players to grow in order to make the final cut for Cape Town.”

The Netball World Cup will be played in South Africa next summer.

During the game, St Vincent and Grenadines head coach Godfrey Harry frequently switched out their attacking players, which created some problems for the inexperienced Jamaican team. Chief among the disrupters was Joseann Antoine whose movements off the ball challenged Jamaica’s defenders, who struggled to keep up with her.

She was the best of the scorers for her team netting 17 goals from 20 attempts and got good support from Shellise Davis, who scored three goals from five attempts.

Francis conceded that the frequent substitutions did create problems.

“I thought that their players actually were making an impact. I thought that was really a good tactical play because the first change that he made it really inspired their team and they were having a run at us so it’s for us to recognize when teams come up with tactical plays and making changes that we just stick to the game plan and keep pushing forward in order to put more points on the board,” she said, while praising her girls for facing up to the challenge.

“It’s a young team. We just have to big them up for all the effort because I thought that we were contested. The Vincent and the Grenadines team is not an easy team. Not because the scoreboard didn’t reflect that; I thought that it was not a true reflection of what was happening on court but all in all I love this bunch of young players who came in and gave 110 percent.”

In other games on Sunday night, Trinidad and Tobago defeated St Lucia 63-25, while Grenada came from behind to beat the Cayman Islands 50-40. Meanwhile, the USA defeated Antigua and Barbuda 34-22.

St. Elizabeth CA are champions of the 2022 Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) T20 Bashment after a 10-run win over the Jamaica Defence Force via the Duckworth-Lewis method at Sabina Park in Kingston on Sunday.

St. Elizabeth won the toss and chose to bat first, a decision than looked like the wrong one after they lost three quick wickets in the first six overs.

Carl Wright (3), Jordan Holness (1) and Kerry Holness (7) were all dismissed early as they found themselves 20-3 after 5.4 overs.

A crucial fourth wicket partnership of 89 between captain Damion Ebanks and Andre McCarthy followed and the innings was rescued.

By the time McCarthy was dismissed for a run-a-ball 24 in the 16^th over, the platform was set for fireworks in the back-end. Those fireworks were provided by Ebanks, who made a 42-ball 56 including three fours and five sixes, and Troy Powell. Powell belted the JDF bowling all over Sabina Park to finish 55 not out off just 19 balls, hitting seven fours and four sixes.

In the end, St. Elizabeth posted an intimidating 182-7 off their 20 overs. Pacer Gordon Bryan took 3-25 while Richard Young ended with 2-33 off three overs for JDF.

JDF, in their turn at the crease, found themselves in a similar position to St. Elizabeth, losing three wickets before the end of the first powerplay of six overs.

After 4.5 overs, they were scoring well at 34 but Tevin Gilzene (7), Marlon Saunders (3) and Kevin Daley (11) were all already back in the shed.

Deethmar Anderson and Gordon Bryan then formed a partnership that produced 69 runs before Anderson was dismissed for 44 in the 14^th over to leave the Soldiers 103-4. The score quickly became 104-5 as Bryan was removed for 28 at the start of the 15^th over.

All-rounder Dennis Bulli then made his way to the wicket and had a brief cameo, 19 off just six balls including three sixes, but his dismissal in the 16^th over effectively ended JDF’s hopes of chasing the total down.

The end came prematurely, however, as the umpires got together after 17 overs and decided that the light was insufficient for play, putting an end to proceedings with JDF on 139-6, needing 43 runs off 18 balls, and being 10 runs short of the Duckworth-Lewis par score of 149 after 17 overs.

Pacer Omar Samuels took 2-13 from three overs for the champions.

Second-year franchise Austin rallied from two goals down before goalkeeper Brad Stuver's penalty shoot-out heroics sent them into the MLS Western Conference Semifinals with victory over 10-man Real Salt Lake on Sunday.

Austin triumphed 3-1 on penalties after a thrilling 2-2 draw where Sebastian Driussi's 94th-minute spotkick sent the game into extra-time at Q2 Stadium.

Stuver stepped up in the shoot-out, saving efforts from Andrew Brody and Braian Ojeda, before Tate Schmitt skied his effort well over the crossbar to end RSL's campaign.

The game turned completely when Rubio Rubin was sent off in the 52nd minute for a second bookable offence with a late sliding challenge on Stuver. Austin, down 2-1 at the time, dominated with 25-3 shots from that point.

Los Verdes, making their first playoffs appearance after finishing 12th in the Western Conference in their debut season, were down 2-0 inside 15 minutes after Sergio Cordova's early brace.

Cordova glanced in Brody's right-wing cross for the opener after three minutes. The Venezuelan sent Stuver the wrong way from the spot on the quarter hour after a Jhojan Valencia handball to make it 2-0.

Argentine forward Driussi, who was a big-money signing from Zenit last year, pulled one back with a 31st-minute header from Diego Fagundez's cross.

Rubin saw red early in the second half and Austin subsequently barraged the RSL goal, finally getting their equalizer when Scott Caldwell handballed, with Driussi converting the lifeline

RSL goalkeeper Zac MacMath did his best to withstand the barrage, blocking Zan Kolmanic's long-range effort in extra-time, before Stuver stepped up decisively in the shoot-out.

Montreal claimed their maiden MLS Cup playoffs victory since 2016 as they advanced past Orlando City 2-0, booking an Eastern Conference Semifinals date against either New York City or Inter Miami.

Djordje Mihailovic set up Ismael Kane's 68th-minute opener before converting a stoppage-time penalty to clinch the win.

Barbados and St. Vincent & the Grenadines scored dominant victories to kick-off the Netball Americas World Cup Qualifiers at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston, Jamaica on Sunday.

Barbados opened the competition with a commanding 67-27 victory over the Cayman Islands.

It was a relatively close affair after the first quarter as the Barbadians, currently ranked 13^th in the world, led 13-4.

However, the Gems ramped up the intensity in second quarter stretching the lead to 21 to end the half ahead 34-13. They widened the lead 48-21 heading into the final quarter when they capped a fine display with 19 goals in the period to wind up 67-27 winners.

Goal shooter Faye Agard led the way for Barbados with 51 goals from 59 attempts while goal attack Brianna Holder had 16 goals from 21 attempts.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines were equally dominant in their 51-24 win over the USA.

St. Vincent got out to an early lead as the Americans struggled to put points on the board. The end of the first quarter saw the Vincentians up 15-3 and by halftime, the score was 30-9. The third quarter was no different as the USA found themselves getting their first basket at the four-minute mark, ending the quarter down 15-37 before ultimately suffering a 24-51 defeat.

Goal shooter Mary Ann Frederick led the way for S. Vincent & the Grenadines with 22 goals from 26 attempts while goal attack Kimesha Antoine also attempted 26 shots, converting 21 of them.

Coach of St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Godfrey Harry, said his team got what they expected.

“It was predictable. We were expecting to win this game and we did. One of the things that we wanted to make sure of was that we experiment and use the depth of our team. All the players stepped up to the plate, which was great for us,” he said.

Despite the loss, USA assistant coach Keithan Grayson-Superville said she expects improvement after what was her team’s first international action in years.

“They didn’t do as much as I would’ve liked to see today but it’s our first game and we haven’t played internationally for over four years. We’re going to take it game by game and, as we go, we’re going to try to improve. We’re a work in progress.”

Forty-four netball coaches participated two-day Americas Netball coaching seminar at UWI Mona Campus on Thursday and Friday (October 13 and 14) and were instructed by of three of sport’s most experienced coaches.

Former Australia and Jamaica head coach Jill McIntosh, Sue Hawkins, the national coach of New Zealand and Rob Wright of Australia tutored coaches from across the region that included 30 from Jamaica and 14 others from across the Americas.

 "We have coaches who will be participating in the qualifier and other coaches as well as about 30 coaches from Jamaica.  We are trying to upskill them in all the different skills of netball and finding different ways to keep their minds open,” McIntosh explained.

“We are covering shooting, the mid-court and centre-passes and some specific centre pass attacks, some specific centre-pass defence, feeding - how they feed.  We are covering defending, all the principles on defending.”

McIntosh also revealed that the experience was encouraging.

 "The coaches have been great.  They have been interactive.  They have gone out and participated.  The questioning has been good and we have got lots of talk and chatter and it’s around about what they see and how they can change it and how they can progress it so the chatter is good," she said.

"My observation of the region is that they have wonderful athletes so we need to up-skill the coaches to show them many ways of doing the same thing and from a purely Jamaica perspective, I have seen the girls grow and what I saw at the Commonwealth games, I was so heartened and pleased, they did such an amazing job."