Sports

LONDON – West Indies coach Ottis Gibson said winning the first Test against all odds would be a “massive” boost for West Indies on their tour of England.

ROME,  (Reuters) – Maria Sharapova saved a match point to beat Li Na in the Italian Open final yesterday after a two-hour rain break effectively turned the match into a tiebreak shootout.

National players Jamaali Homer and Elishaba Johnson covered themselves with glory when they won the under-13 girls and boys’ categories respectively as the annual National Sports Commission (NSC) table tennis tournament continued yesterday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

LONDON, England,  CMC – West Indies head coach Ottis Gibson says he is pleased with the manner in which the senior players have stepped up in order to compensate for the inexperienced members of the unit.

Chris Gayle’s Royal Challengers Bangalore team yesterday crashed out of the Indian Premier League after they went down to the Deccan Chargers in a low scoring game in Hyderabad.

A record 163-run opening stand between Dwayne Smith and Sachin Tendulkar saw Mumbai Indians scoring a crushing 10-wicket win over the Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League encounter yesterday at Jaipur.

By Yonalla Dalrymple Following the successful staging of the national junior squash championships which ended yesterday at the Georgetown Club, manager of the Guyana team to this year’s Caribbean championships Garfield Wiltshire, is already looking ahead to the championships which will be held in Jamaica.

EZjet Air Services has joined the list of sponsors for the Independence T20 Cup in a big way after presenting the organizers with a cheque for US$1000.00.

Bahamas-based Guyanese FIFA referee Diane Ferreira-James has been appointed to officiate in the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup set for August 19-September 8 in Japan.

With the semi-finals on the horizon, Tucville and East Ruimveldt boys’ teams along with North Georgetown Secondary female team, scored victories in the latest round of matches of the Scotiabank/Pepsi Schools football tournament played Saturday at the Tucville Ground in South Georgetown.

LONDON, England,  CMC – A disastrous 10-minute period before tea rocked West Indies and left their first Test hopes hanging by a thread as England installed themselves as firm favourites to win the Lord’s contest here  yesterday.

BALTIMORE,  (Reuters) – Kentucky Derby champion I’ll Have Another won the $1 million Preakness Stakes  yesterday to remain on course for the Triple Crown, the greatest prize in U.S.

As the West Indies top order tottered in both innings of the opening Test at Lord’s, the rider that Ottis Gibson added to his damning censure of the team’s senior batsmen following last year’s World Cup resonated.

Eight-year-old Shomari Wiltshire, who remained undefeated after four days of competition, is poised to capture his first ever national title today during the Woodpecker National Junior Squash Championships at the Georgetown Club, a release from the Guyana Squash Association stated.

By Emmerson Campbell Undefeated World Boxing Council (WBC) CABOFE welterweight champion Simeon ‘Candy Man’ Hardy will face the toughest test of his budding career when he faces former European middleweight champion Howard ‘Battersea Bomber’ Eastman on June 1.

Expectations are high in anticipation of the caliber of competition that will be featured today at the Mackenzie Sports Club ground in the third edition of the President’s/Jefford Track and Field Classic.

Montego Bay, Jamaica – Guyana’s Golden Jaguars went down 1-nil to Jamaica when the two teams met on Friday evening at the Catherine Hall Stadium in Montego Bay Jamaica, in their FIFA International Friendly.

By Emmerson Campbell Some team sports include basketball, cricket, rugby, football and cycling, yes – road race cycling.

Christopher Franklyn might not have been called to trials ahead of this year’s Caribbean table tennis championships but the runner up to Godfrey Munroe in the men’s singles of the 2010 national championships still seems to have what it takes to get past the present crop of youngster.

Guyana and the Barbados national rugby teams yesterday played to a 10-10 draw in the first game of the second round of the Southern Zone of the NACRA Regional Qualifiers for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.