The Suriname and French Guiana delegations participating in this weekend’s Inter Guiana Games (IGG), which begins today, arrived in Guyana yesterday.
The teams and officials are here for the second leg of the IGG which will see Guyana match skills with Suriname and French Guiana in the male and female categories of basketball, volleyball, cycling and chess.
Ahead of the IGG, coaches of the participating sporting disciplines are very upbeat and confident in their teams and this was related when Stabroek Sport spoke to the coach of male and female junior national basketball teams, Mark Agard, national cycling coach, Hassan Mohamed and national volleyball coach, Jageshwar Doolchand.
Both Guyana’s male and female junior national basketball teams will take centre court against Suriname’s and French Guiana’s basketball teams on all three days of the IGG at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Agard said yesterday in light of the upcoming basketball match-ups that the male team is “right on top of their game” and expects nothing but victory from the male team.
“The guys are really ready and hungry… anything other than a victory will be a total disappointment” said Agard.
Agard added that though his team is confident, they are not overconfident and will put in a big effort to produce a victory for the Guyanese supporters at the end of the day.
“They will try to reach perfection… they will play one of the best games of their careers” he related.
However, in relation to the female team’s readiness in comparison to the males, a realistic Agard disclosed: “I can’t say the same for the females… they are trying to get their act together”.
The coach offered that due to the make up of the team he can’t say with confidence that the national female basketball team will come out on top of Suriname and French Guiana.
“There are a lot of rookies on the team… we are hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst” he said in relation to the female team.
The basketball events of the IGG begin today with a female encounter between Suriname and French Guiana at 15:00hrs to jump off the IGG.
The male basketball teams will clash in the feature IGG event of the day when Guyana bumps heads with French Guiana at 21:00hrs.
The male team reads: Akeem Kanhai (Captain), Richard Mohandatt (Vice Captain), Dominic Vincente, Prince Giddings, Linden Fraser, Nikkoloi Smith, Dave Plass, Dominic Douglas, Geoffrey La Rose, Cowen Gittens, Marlon Pollydore and Yannick Dundas.
The females are: Tamara Hunter (Captain), Laquantalisa Gibson (Vice Captain), Ginelle Isill, Minnifa Fox, Gabreal Chalmers, Kabiann Rowe, Winseena Welcome, Joneshia Tyle, Anastacia Parks, Timeka Ncewan and Candice Duguid.
Cycling
At the cycling events of the IGG, Guyana will be represented by some of the country’s top junior cyclists.
Mohamed related yesterday that the national cyclists are talented and skilled enough to pedal ahead of their Suriname and French Guiana competitors when they take to the roadways of East Coast Demerara and West Coast Demerara tomorrow and Sunday.
“I think they have a good chance” said Mohamed.
Mohamed added that both male and female cyclists representing Guyana came out on top of local cycling events, the most recent was the National Schools Championships and they have the potential to top the Suriname and French Guiana riders.
Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana will commence the cycling events of the IGG tomorrow with the Teams time trial event. The Male 10km Teams Time Trial is the first cycling event slated for the day and will pedal off at 09:00hrs from Good Hope, proceed along the East Coast Demerara public road and conclude at the Bel Air Gas Station.
The female cyclists will also contest their time trials concurrently with the males as the Female 6km Teams Time Trial begins at 09:00hrs from Montrose and ends at the Bel Air Gas Station.
The cycling events culminate with the Male and female road races beginning at 09:00hrs on Sunday at West Coast Demerara. The Male 60km road race will start at Nismes Gas Station, proceed to Vergenoegen and return to the Demerara Harbour Bridge for the finish, while the female 40km road race also rolls off at Nismes Gas Station, proceeds to Leonora and returns to the Harbour Bridge for the finish.
The national male cyclists participating in the IGG are Kurt Larose, Rastaff Oselmo, Paul DeNobrega, Neil Reece and Marlon King. According to Mohamed only four male riders will be participating, but the cyclist who will be the reserve from the five persons shortlisted has not yet been identified. The female cyclists are Marica Dick and Naiomi Singh.
Volleyball
Doolchand spoke highly of the male volleyball team yesterday, but stated that the females are “coming to scratch and will try their best”.
Doolchand stated that it was a hard task finalizing the male team, which was done yesterday morning, because of the strength of the squad that was in training for the IGG.
In relation to the male team Doolchand said: I can speak proudly of the male team because I expect them to win… we called a strong team”.
Suriname and Guyana will open the volleyball events of the IGG when they face each other in a female matchup at 17:00hrs today at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. The second and final volleyball game of the day will be played at 19:00hrs and will see Suriname take on French Guiana in a male encounter.