Bradley Jacks is a budding journalist and an avid sports fan. His love of research and sports has led him to SportsMax.tv, a place where those passions work hand in hand to allow him to produce content.
The sixteen teams to advance to the quarterfinal round of the DaCosta Cup were confirmed as zone play ended on Tuesday.
The teams will be divided into four groups of four.
Each team will play three matches and the winners of each group will advance to the semi-finals of the competition.
Group 1 will have William Knibb, Dinthill Technical, Christiana High and Edwin Allen.
Mannings, Happy Grove High, Munro College and Vere Technical make up Group 2.
Group 3 will see STETHS, Garvey Maceo, Frome Technical and St. Thomas Technical do battle while Group 4 is made up of Manchester High, Clarendon College, Cornwall College and McGrath High.
Quarterfinal round play in the DaCosta Cup kicks off on Saturday, December 11.
Camperdown and Tivoli Gardens High have both been removed from the remainder of the Manning Cup after it was found that they both used ineligible players.
As both teams were in Group B, they will be replaced in the quarterfinal round by the third and fourth-placed teams from the group, Excelsior High and STATHS.
The new list of teams advancing to the quarterfinal round now reads: Jamaica College, Kingston Technical, Excelsior High, STATHS, Kingston College, Mona High, Charlie Smith, and St. Catherine High.
JC, Mona, STATHS, and St, Catherine High will be in Group 1 while KC, Excelsior, Charlie Smith, and Kingston Tech will be in Group 2.
Each team will play each other once and the top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals.
Triple Olympic Champion and fastest woman alive, Elaine Thompson-Herah, has been granted a diplomatic passport by the Jamaican Government due to her exceptional standard-bearing for Jamaica on the international stage, according to Prime Minister Andrew Holness.
“I am pleased to announce that the Government of Jamaica has approved the issuance of a diplomatic passport to Mrs. Elaine Thompson-Herah. This morning, I officially presented the documents to Elaine during a courtesy call at the Office of the Prime Minister,” said Holness in a Facebook post.
The Prime Minister went on to further explain why the Government chose to award Thompson-Herah with the honour.
“Elaine has displayed the best of Jamaica with extraordinary talent, confidence, and passion. We are very proud of her achievements and encourage her to continue breaking records and expanding brand Jamaica,” said Holness.
Reggae Girl Jody Brown and her Florida State University team have won the NCAA Division 1 women’s soccer College Cup with a 4-3 win over Brigham Young University on penalties on Monday.
FSU rebounded from last year when they lost the championship game to Santa Clara University on penalties, and their coach, Mark Krikorian, referenced that game in his post-match interview.
“It feels quite nice to be sitting on this side of it. Last year, I thought that we were quite good and had some unfinished business that we needed to address,” said Krikorian.
Chinese midfielder, Yujie Zhao, scored the winning penalty kick for the Seminoles who won their third women’s national championship in history and second in the past four years.
“I had faith that we were going to win in the penalty kicks. I was super, super happy,” Zhao said.
Their goalkeeper, Cristina Roque, made two saves in the penalty shootout.
“Last year, it just didn’t go our way and everyone was behind me then, and I knew whatever happened this year, they were going to be behind me. It does feel better here,” said Roque.
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.
Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah has been named among the nominees for BBC Sports Personality of the Year’s World Sports Star award.
This follows her being named Female Athlete of the Year by World Athletics at their virtual award show held on December 1st.
The triple gold medallist from the Tokyo Olympics this year has been nominated alongside Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, Rachael Blackmore, Tom Brady, Novak Djokovic and Max Verstappen.
Thompson-Herah will face stiff competition from her fellow nominees as Alvarez became the first undisputed super-middleweight champion in boxing history with an 11th round finish against Caleb Plant last month.
Rachael Blackmore became the first female jockey to win the Grand National back in April.
Tom Brady led the Buccaneers to their first Superbowl in franchise history and his seventh overall, having won six previously as a member of the New England Patriots.
Novak Djokovic won three Grand Slam titles this year at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon to take his overall tally to 20, joining rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the top of the all-time leader board.
Verstappen is in a fight for his first F1 title and has won nine races so far this season.
Voting is now open for the award on the BBC’s website and closes on December 14th with the winner being unveiled at the BBC Sports Personality of The Year Ceremony on December 19th.
Mexico and Cuba both enjoyed additional success as athletics action came to a close at the Junior Pan Am Junior in Cali, Colombia on Saturday.
Mexico won medals in the first two events on the day when Guillermo Ornelas took bronze in the Men’s 110m Hurdles in 14.05 and Cesar Ponce claimed a silver medal in the 3000m Steeplechase in 8:56.65.
Their compatriot, Israel Alvarez, finished fourth in the 800m in 1:50.43 ahead of Dominica's Dennick Luke, who was fifth in 1:50.79.
The Cubans then got in on the act in the discus where Mario Torres finished second with a throw of 60.77m and Anyel Sampre taking the bronze medal with 57.03m.
Another Caribbean competitor, Jorge Nazario of Puerto Rico, was sixth in 50.72.
Mexico’s Luis Peralta was sixth in the Men’s Pole Vault with 4.80 metres.
Cuba then got their first gold medal of the day with Andy Salazar jumping 16.77 metres to win the triple jump.
Taeco O’Garro of Antigua finished sixth with 15.60 metres.
There were only two individual female events on the day.
Arian Hernandez of Mexico finished fourth in the 3000m Steeplechase in 10:57.62.
Yaritza Valera then won Cuba’s second gold medal on the day with a 67.47 metres effort to win the Women’s Hammer Throw.
Her teammate Liz Llorente was fourth with 64.34 metres.
In the final athletics event of the Games, the Dominican Republic secured a bronze medal in the Mixed 4x400m Relay in 3:28.28 while Mexico finished fourth in 3:29.52.
Cuba continue to dominate in athletics as the Pan Am Junior Games roll on in Colombia.
On Thursday, Cuba secured two medals in the women’s 100m Hurdles as Greisys Acevedo took gold in 13.07 and her countrywoman, Kelly Ibanez won bronze in 13.33.
The Dominica Republic’s Fiordaliza Cofil was the star of the day with medals in both the Women’s 200m and 400m.
She won bronze in the 200m in 23.46 then returned to take gold in the 400m in 52.10.
Shalysa Wray of The Cayman Islands was fifth in the 400m in 53.47.
Ariliannis Vargas of Cuba took silver in the Women’s 400m Hurdles in 57.20.
The Caribbean also secured two medals in the Women’s Heptathlon as Marys Cabrera of Cuba took gold with 5663 points ahead of Grenada’s Janair Thomas who took home silver with 5484 points.
Marysabel Senyu of the Dominican Republic won silver in the Women’s High Jump with 1.81 metres.
In the Men’s 400m Leonardo Padilla of Cuba came second in 45.79, behind Luis Ferreiro of Mexico took gold in 45.59. Gamali Felix of Grenada and Michael Joseph of St. Lucia were fifth and sixth in 46.54 and 46.57 respectively.
Yoao Puentes of Cuba won gold in the Men’s 400m Hurdles with 50.91.
In the field, Ronald Zayas of Cuba was second in the Men’s Hammer Throw with 67.23.
On Friday, Juan Villalobos of Costa Rica won gold in the Men’s 1500m in 3:44.10.
Hector Pagan of Puerto Rico secured gold in the Men’s 10,000m in 30:20.48
The Caribbean also took another medal in the Men’s High Jump as Bahamian Kyle Alcine took bronze behind Erick Rodriguez of Mexico who took gold with 2.21 metres.
Rosa Santana of the Dominican Republic won the Women’s Shot Put with a 17.45 metres effort.
Her Caribbean compatriots Laysaelis Hernandez of Cuba, Kelsie Ross of Grenada and Treneese Hamilton of Dominica were fourth, fifth and sixth.
Yiselena Rojas of Cuba secured silver in the Women’s Javelin in 57.14.
Cuba secured another gold medal as Leyanis Hernandez won gold in the Women’s Triple Jump with 14.39 metres.
Chantoba Bright of Guyana finished second with a jump of 13.50 metres.
Jamaican track and field legend, Usain Bolt, has decided to try out cricket as a new profession and wants to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The eight-time Olympic champion has often spoken about his love for the sport of cricket and how he originally wanted to be a cricketer before his father suggested that he should focus on track and field, a wise decision looking back.
“My father is a huge cricket fan. When I got to higher secondary, I had two options-cricket or athletics. My dad said because of the system in Jamaica; it would be better to take up athletics. You just have to run fast in athletics while it’s tougher to get into the national cricket team,” said Bolt speaking during a promotional visit to India in 2014.
In a recent interview with Hindustan Times, Bolt expressed his desire to be involved in the Indian Premier League at some point.
“Definitely. I will get my training on. I’ll get fit and get ready,” he said.
The 11-time World Championship gold medallist also spoke about how he got into cricket when he was younger.
“The two main sports in Jamaica at the time were football and cricket. I was a massive fan of cricket because my dad was a fan of it. He watched it every day, every chance you get, you would watch all the teams play so I grew up watching cricket,” added Bolt.
He cited Pakistani great, Waqar Younis, as one of his favorite bowlers to watch growing up.
“When I was really small, I loved the Pakistan cricket team. Waqar Younis was one of the greatest Pakistan bowlers ever, and I was a bowler, so I really enjoyed watching him. I was a big Pakistan fan until I got older when I noticed that I should actually support my home team,” said Bolt.
British Virgin Islands long jumper, Chantel Malone, says she wants to compete at both the Commonwealth Games and World Championships in 2022.
The 2019 Pan Am Games Champion, speaking Sportsmax.TV’s On Point, says she’s up to the challenge of competing in both events, even with the limited time between them.
The 2022 Eugene World Championships are scheduled to run from July 15th -July 24th and the Commonwealth Games are scheduled to run from July 28th -August 8th in Birmingham.
“It’s going to be tricky. It will definitely be a very intense next three cycles, but I think it’s do-able for sure,” said Malone.
She also referred to the fact that the US trials are also usually taking place at that time.
“The US athletes normally have their trials and then the World Championships or whatever games they’re preparing for within that period,” she said.
With the condensed nature of track and field for the next few years, Malone went on to say her health is her number one priority this season.
“It’s just about making sure that I can stay healthy. That’s my focus this year. To stay healthy and continue to grow and become a master and student of my craft,” said Malone.
The full interview can be seen on the Sportsmax TV YouTube channel.
British Virgin Islands athlete Chantal Malone has attributed her poor performance at the Tokyo Olympics, and general dip in form last season, to injuries she sustained in the lead-up to the Games.
The Pan Am Games champion in the Long Jump, began her season in phenomenal form with four straight 7 metres performances, but saw a dip in form as the season went on that culminated with her finishing a disappointing 12th in the Olympic final with a 6.50 metres jump.
Malone, speaking on an episode of SportsMax.Tv’s On Point, said she was having injury trouble up to two weeks before the Games in Tokyo.
“A week prior to Chula Vista in April, I had to get a PRP injection in my hamstring because I found out I had a strain in my hamstring. Two weeks before the games, I strained my hamstring again. Prior to that my knee flared up,” said Malone.
The fact that she never really took a break from training after the pandemic also took a toll on her physically.
“You’re training at this high intensity and your body is like; Ok you’ve got to oil me. You want a Ferrari to run like a Ferrari you’ve got to treat it like a Ferrari. That was just what my body was saying to me after training at such a high intensity for so long because, at that point, it had been 2 years since I’d been training at that intensity,” said Malone.
The 2014 CAC Games champion says she was also affected mentally by her ailments.
“Mentally, that’s what took me out a little bit because I didn’t know if I could trust my body. I wanted to jump, and I knew the kind of shape I was in, but subconsciously you’re being a little hesitant with putting the foot down a certain way or just executing the way you need to. As I reflect on the Games that was one of the blocks that I had,” she said.
The full interview can be seen on the Sportsmax TV YouTube channel.
Eight-time Olympic medallist and founder of the Pocket Rocket Foundation, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, has partnered with Visa to create specially branded shirts that will be available to donors who use their Visa cards to contribute US$100 to her foundation.
The shirts will feature Fraser-Pryce’s signature as well as the Olympic rings on the sleeve. Donors will also receive a mask signed by Fraser-Pryce and a Pocket Rocket pin.
Fraser-Pryce, who lowered her 100m personal best to 10.60 this season, says all proceeds will go towards the Pocket Rocket Foundation.
The nine-time World Championships gold medallist reminded potential Visa donors that their contributions are for a good cause.
“I know you guys are eager to grab the shirts but please be reminded that this will go towards the Pocket Rocket Foundation and your support means the world to us and all our student-athletes, the ones who are still here and the ones who are coming for the future,” she said.
This branded shirts venture is the latest in a number of initiatives Fraser-Pryce has undertaken to raise funds for the foundation. Last month, she was the guest of honour at an auction held at the Miramar Cultural Centre in Florida.
Cuba's Maikel Gonzalez won gold and Trinidad and Tobago's Kelsey Daniel, silver in the long jump at the Junior Pan Am Games in Cali, Colombia on Wednesday.
Gonzalez soared out to 7.97 metres to take top spot over the Trinidadian who leapt 7.90 metres for the runner-up spot.
Cuba won a second gold when Daily Gaspar ran 2:08.62 to win the Women’s 800m. In the field, Cuba's Juan Gomez took bronze in the shot put with 17.85 metres.
On Tuesday, Amya Clarke of St. Kitts and Nevis won silver in the Women’s 100m in 11.58 seconds.
Cuba secured a 1-2 finish in the Women’s discus with Silinda Zenea winning gold with a throw of 59.13 metres and Melany Morejan winning silver in 54.31m.
Meanwhile, Paola Sola of Puerto Rico struck gold in the women’s long jump with a distance of 6.33 metres.
Chantoba Bright of Guyana was fifth with 6.20 metres while Cuba’s Yanisley Cremadelly was eighth with 6.01 metres.
Tyriq Hosford of Trinidad & Tobago won a bronze medal in the Men’s javelin with a distance of 71.33 metres.
Carlos Brown Jr of The Bahamas was fifth in the Men’s 100m in 10.47 seconds.
Anson Moses of Trinidad & Tobago finished seventh in the Men’s Decathlon with 454 points.
In swimming action on Tuesday, Patrick Groters of Aruba won gold in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley in a time of 2:02.09, his second gold medal of the Games.
Graham Chatoor of Trinidad & Tobago was sixth in the Men’s 1500m Freestyle in 16:20.48 while his teammate Nikolai Blackman was 13th in 17:02.08.
The Bahamas finished fifth in the Men’s 4x100m relay medley in 2:49.92 while Trinidad and Tobago finished eighth in 4:02.66.
West Indies head coach, Phil Simmons, says Sri Lanka’s resistance on the penultimate day of the second Test match in Galle will make it difficult for the West Indies to level the two-match series.
Wednesday was an action-packed day of schoolboy football across the island.
In Manning Cup action, Kingston Technical recorded a clinical 3-0 win over Bridgeport at the Spanish Town Prison Oval to move back to the top of Group A with 12 points from five games, two points ahead of defending champions, Jamaica College.
Charlie Smith currently sits third in the group with nine points from their five games.
Group B may be the most exciting as there are five teams that have a chance to qualify for the quarterfinals alongside Camperdown, who have 16 points from their six games, with one match to play. Excelsior High School and Jonathan Grant both moved to 11 points from six games after defeating Jose Marti and Tivoli, respectively.
Excelsior beat Jose Marti 6-0 at Jamaica College and now sits second in the group on 11 points with a goal difference of 11 while Jonathan Grant won 1-0 over Tivoli Gardens at the Spanish Town Prison Oval to move to third on 11 points with a goal difference of three.
Tivoli is fourth in Group B with 10 points while STATHS, who scored a 6-0 win over Dunoon Technical at Stadium East on Wednesday, are fifth on nine points.
St. Jago High is sixth in the group with eight points.
Clan Carthy High beat Papine High 1-0 at Jamaica College in a battle of the two bottom teams in Group C.
Wednesday also saw the beginning of the quarterfinal round playoff fixtures for Zones C, F and G in the DaCosta Cup.
In Zone C, the doubleheader at STETHS saw Lacovia record the only win of the day with a 2-1 victory over Munro College.
STETHS and B.B Coke played out a 3-3 draw.
The top four teams in Zone C have now all played six matches with one more playoff fixture remaining.
STETHS lead Zone C with 13 points followed by Munro College with 12, Lacovia on 10. B.B. Coke has seven points.
Meanwhile, Garvey Maceo maintained their perfect record with a 4-0 win over Foga Road in their Zone F playoff fixture at Garvey Maceo.
In the other playoff fixture in Zone F at Vere, the hosts secured a 1-0 win over Old Harbour High.
Garvey Maceo and Vere have all but confirmed their progression to the quarterfinal round with 18 and 13 points, respectively, with each having one match left to play.
Old Harbour are third on seven points and Foga Road are fourth on six.
The first set of matches in the quarterfinal playoff round in Zone G saw Happy Grove get a 4-1 victory over Port Antonio High to ascend to the top of the zone on 10 points.
St. Thomas Tech had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Seaforth in the other playoff fixture in the zone and now sits second on nine points.
Port Antonio are third on seven points and Seaforth are fourth with four points.
In the regular zone matches from Wednesday; in the Zone-A double-header at William Knibb, Irwin High and St. James High emerged winners.
Irwin got by Spot Valley 3-0 while St. James beat Maldon 4-0.
All eight teams in Zone A have now played six matches with William Knibb at the top with 15 points closely followed by Cornwall College with 13 and Irwin with 12.
Irwin and Herbert Morrison both have 12 points but Irwin is ahead on goal difference.
Mannings High School remains atop of Zone B following a 4-0 win over Green Pond.
Green Island and Rusea’s High played to a 2-2 draw at Green Pond.
Frome secured a 4-0 victory over Petersfield at Llandilo Sports Complex in the other Zone B fixture.
Mannings lead the seven-team zone with 13 points from their five matches. Frome Technical, which has also played five matches is second on 12 while Petersfield currently sits third on seven.
In the Zone D double-header at Manchester High, Manchester and Christiana both got crucial wins over Bellefield High and DeCarteret College respectively.
Manchester High won 3-1 to move to 13 points from their five games with a goal difference of 23 to lead the seven-team zone.
Christiana High beat DeCarteret College 2-0 to also move to 13 points from five games, only trailing Manchester on goal difference.
Holmwood Technical is now third in Zone D with 10 points from five games after hammering Alston High 7-0 at Kirkvine in the third Zone D match on the day.
Dinthill Technical secured their spot in the quarterfinal round with a 2-0 win over St. Mary High in the first game of a Zone H double-header at Drax Hall.
Dinthill advances as the winners of Zone H with 16 points from their six games.
The second match of the double-header saw Brown’s Town secure a crucial 1-0 win over York Castle to keep alive their hopes of a quarterfinal round berth.
In the third Zone H match on the day, McGrath earned a vital 3-2 win over Ocho Rios High to set up an exciting final match-day that will determine who will join Dinthill as quarterfinalists.
Ocho Rios, Charlemont and McGrath all have eight points heading into their final matches, with Ocho Rios currently occupying second-place with a plus-eight goal difference.
Charlemont High lie third with a goal difference of +1 and McGrath are fourth with a goal difference of 0.
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