Sports

RALEIGH, North Carolina, (Reuters) – Justin Gatlin is  learning how to sprint again, a fact that has little to do with  the American’s four-year absence from athletics under a doping  ban.

MIAMI,  (Reuters) – LeBron James made two free throws  with four seconds remaining to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to  a 92-91 win over the Miami Heat and win his personal duel with  Dwyane Wade on Monday.

DHAKA,  (Reuters) – Tamim Iqbal smashed a blazing  century before Zaheer Khan took two late wickets to help India  reduce Bangladesh to 228 for three on the third day of the  second test yesterday.

LONDON, (Reuters) – WBA heavyweight champion David  Haye will face twice former champion John Ruiz when he defends  the title for the first time in Manchester in April.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Fast bowler Ravi Rampaul is expected to be fit enough to take his spot in the West Indies squad for the Australia tour, despite being ruled out of Trinidad & Tobago’s clash with Barbados last weekend through illness.

By Rawle Toney It was described as one of the closest races for the National Sports Commission (NSC) Sports Award when the commission released the names of the contestants in the 14 categories that are up for grabs in the 2009 Awards.

Popular local calypsonian, Mighty Raja and Banks DIH chairman Clifford Reis took centre stage at the Stag Beer sponsored Medal Play Golf Tournament Sunday at the Lusignan Golf Course.

Vishnu Doerga, tennis player and proprietor of Venu Shopping Centre and AVON Distributor in Corriverton made an auspicious phone call to the Guyana Lawn Tennis Association (GLTA)  a month ago indicating interest in developing the sport of tennis in the community.

The curators course got underway yesterday for local groundsmen with International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Pitch Consultant Andy Atkinson at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

Guyanese players shone over the weekend in the first round of the Trinidad & Tobago national two-day championship league north.

FOURSQUARE, Barbados, CMC – Dave Bernard Jr gave the West Indies selectors a gentle reminder when he bowled leaders Jamaica to an innings and 27-run victory over Guyana in the WICB regional first-class championship yesterday.

By Tony Cozier Having to rely too heavily on too few, the West Indies lost a tense, low-scoring semi-final to Pakistan by four wickets with nine balls remaining in the Under-19 World Cup at the sunlit Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Christ Church yesterday.

MELBOURNE, Australia, CMC – Cricket Australia will follow in the footsteps of the West Indies Cricket Board when they put the controversial pink ball on trial in their domestic competition next week.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – World number ones Serena Williams and Roger Federer showed little gratitude to their hosts as they knocked out the last remaining home players yesterday to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Local media are starting to label  Birmingham City “The Unbeatables” after a 15-match run without  defeat but that lofty title will be under threat on Wednesday  when they visit title-hunting Chelsea.

TORONTO, (Reuters) – The Toronto Raptors eked out a  106-105 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers after Kobe Bryant missed a three-pointer just before the buzzer on Sunday.

BERLIN,  (Reuters) – World heavyweight champion  Vladimir Klitschko will defend his title against American Eddie  Chambers in Duesseldorf’s 51,000-seater Esprit Arena on March  20, the Ukrainian said yesterday.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Victoria Azarenka of Belarus  reeled off 10 games in a row in an extraordinary turnaround to  beat Russia’s Vera Zvonareva 4-6 6-4 6-0 yesterday and reach the  Australian Open quarter-finals for the first time.

– Courts Pacesetters failed in their bid for revenge against Ravens while the Linden and Georgetown U-23 teams entertained It was supposed to be the night when Courts Pacesetters would exact revenge on Ravens for their 17-point defeat in last year’s Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) Open Knock-out tournament but instead Courts Pacesetters were handed another sound whipping.

FOURSQUARE, Barbados, CMC – Leaders Jamaica were within sight of another victory after Nikita Miller bowled them to a 263-run, first innings lead over Guyana in the WICB regional first-class championship yesterday.