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• Ja's four-member male team brace for tough PanAm Squash qualifiers

  Expectations are high that Jamaica’s four-member male squash team will secure qualification to the Pan American (PanAm) Games in Chile later this year, when they engage the PanAm Qualifiers in Cartagena, Colombia.

  The team of reigning national champion Julian Morrison, Tahjia Lumley, Bruce Burrowes and Dane Schwier, is set to depart the island on Friday, for what is expected to be a highly competitive qualification tournament.

  However, Morrison said the small team was ready to put their best foot forward.

  “You can expect that we will be giving a hundred percent. We have put in a lot of work for the last two months to really prep ourselves for this.

  “Initially we thought it would be an elevated court but finding out that it is very flat, so we are not necessarily at a disadvantage due to the altitude. It is hot over there, but we are coming from Jamaica, especially in this summer, we will be able to weather that storm,” Morrison said.

  Burrowes concurred.

  “We are going up against very, very big countries like America, Peru, these really big juggernauts of the western hemisphere. But we really think that we can take them on because ‘we little but we tallawah," Burrowes declared. 

  First-timer Lumley also believes the team is mentally and physically prepared to give a good account of themselves.

  “We have been doing a lot of doubles training together. We have also started training as a team on the physical side in the gym with our trainer, so we have been doing a lot of team bonding which is really good for us, something new but it’s also something that we hope to continue in the future,” said Lumley.

  “A lot of work has been done on the mental side as well. Hopefully we can all put it together on each day that we go out there with our flag on our back and make sure that we make Jamaica proud,” he added. 

  Meanwhile, Karen Anderson, president of the Jamaica Squash Association, is hopeful that the team will do well.

  "It is going to be a very tough competition. Its fourteen teams vying for six spots and the main competitors, or the strongest contenders are from Mexico, USA, Canada, Colombia and Argentina,” Anderson said.

  “Colombia, however, has already qualified along with Chile. But it is going to be extremely hard, but we feel that we have a chance, and the reality is, if you don't go, you don't get a chance to actually compete to qualify, so we made the decision to send our team and we are looking forward to seeing how they manage,” she noted.

  Coach Rene Denis will meet up with the team in Colombia. 

• Guyana's national squad finalizing Gold Cup preparations in Kingston

  As it ramps up preparations for its preliminary-round match in the Conacaf Gold Cup next month, Guyana’s national football team are currently engaged in a 10-day at the UWI/JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence in Kingston.

  The team arrived in Jamaica on Friday, May 26 and will break camp on Monday, June 5.

  “We are happy to work with our regional counterparts,” said JFF President Michael Ricketts.

  “We all have the same goal of improving the standard of our game and progressing on the international stage. We welcome not only international sporting teams like Guyana, but any other group locally or internationally at our facility. We provide whatever is necessary to ensure that each team or group can concentrate on their main objective. We sincerely hope that Guyana will do well in the Gold Cup and they will be the first of many to be hosted at our centre.”

  Guyana will face Grenada in the first round of the Concacaf Gold Cup preliminary round when it gets underway in June, with the winner advancing to the main competition.

• Guyana, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago secure round four wins in CWI Women’s T20 Blaze; Barbados, Guyana level on points heading into final round

  An unbeaten half-century from captain Shemaine Campbelle lifted Guyana to a crucial eight-wicket win over defending champions Jamaica in their Cricket West Indies (CWI) Women’s T20 Blaze match on Thursday.

  The stylish right-hander made 50* from 49 balls including five fours and shared an unbroken third wicket stand of exactly 100 with allrounder Shakibi Gajnabi, as the Guyanese successfully chased 110 in the opening match of the triple-header at Warner Park, St Kitts.

  Gajnabi supported well with 37 not out from 46 balls and the result was achieved with 12 balls remaining, giving Guyana their third win of the tournament.

  Earlier in the day, fast bowler Celina Whyte took 2-11 from her allotted four overs – removing Sheneta Grimmond for six and fellow opener Katana Mentore for two but Campbelle and Gajnabi combined to dominate.

  When Jamaica batted captain Stafanie Taylor led the way again with 48 off 49 balls with five fours and one six, as the Jamaicans reached 109-6 from their 20 overs after they won the toss and chose to bat.

  Taylor added 55 for the second wicket with Keneshia Ferron (20) and put on 32 for the third wicket with Natasha McLean (27), but their effort was never going to be enough to seriously challenge Guyana. Seam bowler Cherry-Ann Fraser was the pick of the bowlers with 3-18 from three overs.

  In the day’s second encounter, Trinidad & Tobago secured a six-wicket win over the Leeward Islands.

  Divya Saxena (37) and Jahzara Claxton (36) led the way for the Leewards as they made 120-5 off their 20 overs batting first.

  Off-spinner Anisa Mohammed took a pair of wickets in her four overs while conceding only 21 runs while Kirbyina Alexander took 2-15 from three.

  Trinidad & Tobago then reached 121-4 with 14 balls to spare thanks to a solid all-round batting effort including contributions from Shunelle Sawh (26), Britney Cooper (21*), Shalini Samaroo (20) and Anisa Mohammed (19*).

  The day’s third game saw Super 50 champions Barbados score a dramatic four-wicket win over the Windward Islands off the last ball of the match.

  Qiana Joseph led the way with a run-a-ball 50 while Malika Edward contributed 20 as the Windwards posted 128-8 off their 20 overs.

  Pacers Shamilia Connell and Allison Gordon led the way with the ball for Barbados with 3-16 and 2-20 from their respective four over spells.

  The successful Barbados chase was then led by the Knight sisters with Kycia getting 49 at the top of the innings and Kyshona getting 19* including the winning runs. Naijanni Cumberbatch also contributed a crucial 22 as Barbados ended up 121-6 off their 20 overs.

  Zaida James took 2-27 from her four overs for the Windwards.

  With one round of matches left, Guyana and Barbados are currently level on 12 points with Barbados at the top via head-to-head record. They are followed by the Windwards (8), Trinidad & Tobago (8), Jamaica (8) and the Leewards (0).

  On Saturday, Jamaica will take on the Windward Islands, Barbados will face the Leewards and Guyana will face Trinidad & Tobago.