BPL points table
POS CLUB P W D L GF GA GD PTS1 Arsenal 20 13 3 4 34 18 16 422 Leicester City 20 11 7 2 37 25 12 403 Manchester City 20 12 3 5 39 21 18 394 Tottenham Hotspur 20 9 9 2 34 16 18 365 Manchester United 20 9 6 5 24 17 7 336 West Ham United 20 8 8 4 30 23 7 327 Crystal Palace 20 9 4 7 23 19 4 318 Liverpool 20 8 6 6 22 24 -2 309 Watford 20 8 5 7 25 22 3 2910 Stoke City 20 8 5 7 21 21 0 2911 Everton 20 6 9 5 36 29 7 2712 West Bromwich Albion 20 7 5 8 20 25 -5 2613 Southampton 20 6 6 8 26 24 2 2414 Chelsea 20 6 5 9 26 29 -3 2315 Norwich City 20 6 5 9 23 32 -9 2316 Bournemouth 20 5 6 9 22 34 -12 2117 Swansea City 20 4 7 9 17 26 -9 1918 Newcastle United 20 4 5 11 19 35 -16 1719 Sunderland 20 4 3 13 22 39 -17 1520 Aston Villa 20 1 5 14 16 37 -21 8
Tennis Jamaica has called an extraordinary general meeting for Thursday, March, 3 at 5:30 p.m. to review resolutions regarding the election of officers and directors and approve its elections set to take place on Tuesday, April 12.In a release yesterday, Tennis Jamaica said both meetings will be held at the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA), 6 Cunningham Avenue, Kingston 6, and will be administered by the JOA to ensure the integrity of the process and in the interest of accountability and transparency.According to Tennis Jamaica “a code of honour that has been respected by successive generations of leaders … (and) which has served the association well up to now needs to be strengthened in light of weaknesses that were exploited by some unscrupulous members that led to the aborting of the last elections held on November 19, 2015.”It said at that election there were 77 eligible voters qualified to vote for either of the two candidates for president, John Bailey, the incumbent, and John Azar, the challenger. At the end of the election process, Bailey polled 43 votes and Azar, 40, six more than the total number of persons eligible to vote.Tennis Jamaica said a review of the process has shown that unidentified individuals were able to take advantage of the less-than-rigorous electoral process that has relied on the integrity of its members, in order to ‘multiple-vote’.It is impossible to identify the offending members or the ‘bad ballots’, the release added.
READY TO RUMBLE The seven-year-old horse, TIMEFORARMS, won the annual renewal of the Ren Gonzalves Memorial Cup overnight allowance feature over 2000 metres in decisive fashion at Caymanas Park yesterday. Installed a 2-1 second favourite with 3.0kg claiming apprentice Bebeto Harvey riding for trainer Fitzroy Glispie, TIMEFORARMS chased the leader KURI (45-1) from a long way out, engaged her on the inside leaving the half mile and eventually gained the ascendancy approaching the distance. At this stage, the 7-5 favourite ORIGINAL TRAIN moved into contention three-wide in mid-stretch, but TIMEFORARMS responded to a bustling ride from the apprentice to win by two and three-quarter lengths. Glispie who co-owns TIMEFORARMS with Gary G. Lee-Sin, said the bay horse by Twilight Time – Armsofanangel needed the run when finishing seventh to PUDDY POOH in a fast-run 1600 metres race on April 23 and he was confident of winning this time. “That was his first race since the rich Diamond Mile on December 5, and he was programmed to lift this trophy today. He has kept better company for most of last year and, now running from the convenient mark of 51.5kg by virtue of the apprentice claim, he was ready to rumble, especially going two turns,” said the former jockey. TIMEFORARMS has now won 11 races from 55 starts lifetime with total stakes of $6.7 million. Harvey and fellow apprentice Hakeem Pottinger shared the honours with two winners each on the 10-race programme. In addition to TIMEFORARMS, Harvey booted home 6-5 favourite PRINCE O’SHAUN for veteran trainer Noel Freeman in the fourth race over 1500 metres for $180,000 claimers. Pottinger, son of ex-jockey Mikey Pottinger, scored a shock win aboard the 99-1 outsider DIRECTOR DALEY for owner-trainer Lorenzo Robinson in the eighth race over 1300 metres for maiden three-year-old, the bay colt getting up in the nick of time to beat 1-1 favourite OK DUDE and MR LYNDHURST (6-1) in a blanket finish. Pottinger closed out his double with a narrow win aboard 6-1 shot TWO STEPS UP in the last race.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden:If Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is feeling the pressure of defending her world crown, it was not evident as she cruised to victory at the BAHAUS Athletics Diamond League meeting yesterday.She clocked 10.93 seconds (-0.2) in front of a Stockholm crowd that clearly idolises the sprint legend.With the World Championships less than a month away, Fraser-Pryce told The Gleaner: “There’s always pressure going into any meet. I’m defending champion and everybody’s coming, but that’s not something I worry about.”I’m not worried about anything actually! I’m just focused on executing the race and enjoying the championships.”Beijing holds fond memories for the Jamaican. It was in 2008 that a young Fraser-Pryce announced herself to the world by claiming the 100m gold at the Beijing Olympics.LOOKFORWARDTOBEIJING”I’m looking forward to going back to Beijing. In 2008, I had no idea that I would win a medal. Rather, I was going there for the sheer excitement of making an Olympic team.”I was looking forward to seeing all the athletes, and if anything, I was star struck when I got there.”And here I am, years later, going back as the defending world champion.”There is something about the Jamaican, which makes her turn up for the big races. She is a genuine championship performer. Just what is her secret?”I have no idea how I perform so well in major championships,” she said.”When I get to major championships, I’m just very focused and ready to run.”It’s weird, but I think my body has a memory, which remembers when I’m in a big race. So far, I’ve only lost one championship, which was in 2011.”I rely on past experiences and victories. I just seem to get it right at the right time.”The 28-year-old has illuminated the sport over the years with her demeanour and famous smile. Her calm start-line antics go against some of the more serious traits of her competitors, who can barely raise a smile while in the zone.Fraser-Pryce said: “I’ve no pre-race antics. I’m not focused on what anybody else does.”Fraser-Pryce’s compatriot Natasha Morrison, came home third in the 100m in Stockholm. She, too, was happy enough before Beijing.”It was very chilly, and I’m looking forward to Beijing,” said a contented Morrison, who registered 11.22. American Tori Bowie was second in 11.05.In the triple jump, Kimberly Williams took third place behind Caterine Ibarguen, 14.69m, and Olga Rypakova, 14.30m. After an opening effort of 13.89m, she improved to 14.21m with her second leap. Her fifth jump of 14.22m was her best effort.There was no joy either for 800m runner Simoya Campbell.Campbell came home sixth (2:01:57) but is of the view that she can produce in Beijing.”I feel very confident before going to Beijing and feel comfortable in myself. I have been putting in all the work needed.”The event was won by Renelle Lamote (France) in 1:59.91.Rusheen McDonald (45.55) and Edino Steele (46.17) came home sixth and eighth, respectively in the 400m, which was won by Machel Cedenio (Trinidad and Tobago), 44.97.Peter Matthews, 45.79 was content with his second-place finish in the 400m B race.
Out-of-favour West Indies batsman Nkrumah Bonner has pinpointed pressured bowling as the reason behind St Catherine CA’s narrow nine-wicket win over St Catherine CC in their recent Jamaica Cricket Association 50-Overs Championship clash. The Zone B contest, which gives the winning team bragging rights, saw St Catherine CA coming out on top courtesy of a brilliant all-round performance from the 26-year-old Bonner, who also bowls part-time leg spin. Bonner, who recently signed to the Leeward Islands Hurricanes for the upcoming four-day WICB Professional League, slammed a top score of 66 in St Catherine CA’s competitive total of 224 off 47.3 overs. This was in addition to supplemental scores of 40 and 31 not out, respectively, from national trials invitee, wicketkeeper Kemar Marshall and veteran Erron Downer. The experienced Tamar Lam-bert, with five for 22, led the way for St Catherine CC’s bowlers. Bonner then returned in late afternoon to cop two for 31, as St Catherine CC, who were penalised 18 runs when they were in the field for slow over rate, were dismissed for 233 with two balls to spare. St Catherine CC, the defending champions, based on the penalty runs conceded, needed to score 242 for victory. Left-arm spinner Coi Thompson, another Jamaica four-day trials invitee, led the way for St Catherine CA’s bowling with three for 17. Off-spin all-rounder Pete Salmon, 62, and national batsman Shacaya Thomas, 52, contributed most runs for the losers. “It was a good game by us, and for the spectators,” said Bonner, captain of St Catherine CA. “We fell short, I believe, by about 40 runs, but our bowlers, really put the pressure on them,” he declared. Meanwhile, Garwaine Johnson, coach of St Catherine CC, while applauding Bonner, said mistakes led to the undoing of his team. “It’s a hard one to take, but credit to Bonner, he played well, and they were able to pull it off,” Johnson said. “We played hard, but made some mistakes, which cost us. But we are St Catherine CC, and have a good team, and will bounce back and qualify for the quarter-finals.” The victory pushed St Catherine CA to three wins from as many outings, while the loss was St Catherine CC’s first in three games. The winners and runners-up from each of the tournament’s four zones will progress to the quarter-finals. penalised
Western Bureau:Though hard hit by the untimely death of 17-year-old Spot Valley High School shooting guard Saymar Ramsay, the ISSA-run Western Conference High School Basketball Championship will go on, said Deon Williams, vice-president of the Western Basketball Association.However, teams will observe a minute of silence before the start of each day’s play with players and officials to wear black armbands in a show of respect, stated Williams, who is also part of the Western Basketball Referee’s Group.”The suspension of the league was brought up during talks since Saymar’s unfortunate passing, however, we think it’s fitting and right that we honour his memory by completing the season,” said Williams.SOLIDARITY”With that said, we will be mandating that a minute of silence be observed before tip-off at each match for the rest of the season. In addition, players and officials will be wearing black armbands, as we show solidarity with his school and his family,” he noted.Ramsay’s family, the basketball fraternity and the Spot Valley High School were plunged into mourning when he died at hospital of a suspected heartattack on Friday, a mere hour after contesting an Under-19 basketball game against Cornwall College.On Monday, he was remembered as an outstanding student whose willingness to help others was one of his best attribute.It was the second death of a student athlete in just about a month. In October, St George’s College Manning Cup team captain Dominic James also died at hospital after collapsing on the field.Their deaths have prompted the powerful Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) to announce mandatory medical screening for student athletes, beginning next year.A pair of rescheduled matches are set for Thursday, with home team Herbert Morrison Technical taking on Holland High in the U-16 category, before Muschett High battle Herbert Morrison in the U-19 contest.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC):Trinidad and Tobago Red Force have taken a narrow lead over defending champions Guyana Jaguars after the opening round of the 2016-17 Digicel Regional 4-Day Tournament.Red Force have edged ahead on 18 points compared to Jaguars 17.8 after both outfits posted opening wins, while a third fixture between Leeward Islands Hurricanes and Barbados Pride ended in a draw.Jaguars earned their points from a 181 run win over Jamaica at the National Stadium, in Guyana while Red Force blew away Windward Islands Volcanoes by nine wickets at Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad.Hurricanes are on 8.8 points, Pride on 6, Scorpions 4.8 and Volcanoes 4.Teams earn 12 points for an outright victory while extra points for batting, bowling and pace bowling are also up for grabs.The 2016-17 Digicel Regional 4-Day Tournament enters itssecond round this weekend with Scorpions taking on Volcanoes at Sabina Park, Red Force playing Pride at Queen’s Park Oval and Hurricanes doing battle with Jaguars at Warner Park.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (CMC):Singapore has emerged as an option to host this year’s Caribbean Premier League finals if no viable alternatives are forthcoming from the region, organisers have revealed.To date, the finals of the Twenty20 tournament have never been staged outside of the Caribbean but CPL chief executive officer, Damien O’Donohue, said the government of the glitzy Asian city-state had put forward a bid to host the play-off matches.”We have an approach from the government of Singapore to look at possibly hosting the finals there. It will be a huge step and one that I would only want to look at as a last resort,” the Irishman told the Nation newspaper here.”They have a new cricket facility that is absolutely world class and they saw that we took the game successfully to the US, and made an approach to see if we could consider taking the games, especially the finals to Singapore.”That’s the thing about these franchise leagues. You can take the games and move them around.”The CPL is in its fifth year following its debut season in 2013, and has morphed into one of the most exciting T20 tournaments on the global calendar.So far, it has managed to attract superstars like South Africans AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn, along with Sri Lankans Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.However, O’Donohue said the tournament was yet to turn a real profit, and staging the finals in Singapore could be a huge step towards monetising the entity.hugely important”For us, the Indian market is hugely important . for Singapore, it would open us up to the Indian market,” O’Donohue explained.”Taking the finals there would be a big step and negative step for CPL because it is a Caribbean tournament and it is the Caribbean that makes it so special.”He continued: “At the end of the day, we have invested a massive amount of money into the CPL. It continues to require more investment. We thought we’d break even last year. We haven’t done so yet.”We need to look at other options if Caribbean countries cannot come up with the deals that are required to hold some of these games.”The CPL is set to be staged from August 1 to September 9 and will once again feature six franchises – Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, reigning champions Jamaica Tallawahs, Trinbago Knight Riders, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and St Lucia Zouks.For the first time last year, matches were staged outside of the Caribbean when Central Broward Regional Park in Florida, United States was used as a venue for some preliminary games.
LEADING SCORER MADRID (AP): Lionel Messi scored his 500th career goal for Barcelona to give the Catalan club a dramatic 3-2 win over 10-man Real Madrid in the last minute of the ‘Clasico’ yesterday, leaving the Spanish league title race wide open. Messi netted his milestone goal – his second of the night – with a low left-footed shot from inside the area after a cross by Jordi Alba two minutes into stoppage time. That goal left the two rivals level at the top on 75 points. Barcelona lead on the head-to-head tiebreaker, but Madrid have six games left – one more than Barcelona. It was the second consecutive win by Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, coming after a 4-0 rout last season that put Madrid in crisis and eventually led to the replacement of coach Rafa Benitez by Zinedine Zidane. This year’s victory could keep Madrid from winning the league title for the first time since 2012 and give the Catalan club their third straight La Liga trophy. “We can’t be happy,” Zidane said. “When you don’t put the game away, things like this can happen. We are disappointed because we didn’t deserve to lose.” It was another outstanding performance by Messi, who played part of the game with a bloodied mouth after being hit by an elbow by Madrid left back Marcelo. “He is the best player in history,” Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said of Messi. “He makes the difference.” Messi’s winner at the Bernabeu came after Sergi Roberto made a great run from Barcelona’s defence, leading to Alba’s low pass across the area as Messi came charging to one-touch the ball into the corner past the diving Keylor Navas. Messi’s first goal came after he got past Luka Modric and Dani Carvajal with a run inside the area after picking up a pass by Ivan Rakitic outside the box in the 33rd. Messi is the all-time leading scorer in the Clasico with 23 goals. He has scored 14 goals in his last 10 league matches and is the competition’s leading scorer with 31 goals, seven more than teammate Luis Suarez. The Argentine playmaker has 47 goals with Barcelona in 46 games this season. It was a thrilling match at the Bernabeu, with the teams attacking from the start and giving both goalkeepers plenty of work. Casemiro had put the hosts ahead from close range after Sergio Ramos struck the post in the 28th. After equalising five minutes later, Messi also helped set up Barcelona’s go-ahead goal by Rakitic in the 73rd, a powerful left-footed shot from outside the area. Ramos was sent off with a straight red card in the 77th after a foul on Messi to stop the playmaker from a one-on-one situation in a breakaway. Despite that, Madrid still found the strength to equalise in the 85th with substitute James Rodriguez. He redirected a cross by Marcelo only three minutes after he had entered the match to replace Karim Benzema. Cristiano Ronaldo had a few good chances but was not able to capitalise on them.
Having secured this year’s 14th straight Jakes Off-Road Triathlon title, Jassette Bromfield now has his sights set on excelling in his next overseas challenge, the Sea to Sea Half Marathon slated for Tobago on May 20. The St Elizabeth native is a farmer from Treasure Beach and has been making the most of his knowledge of course in his hometown event. Ahead of his departure for Tobago yesterday where he is also expected to feature in the Rainbow Cup triathlon in June, Bromfield, who finished fifth overall last year, with a less capable road bike, said he is hopeful for improvements this time around. “I have much more races under my belt this year and have been training much harder, and I have a better road bike than last year so I want to perform better and improve,” outlined Bromfield. “I believe I am much more than a local Jakes Triathlon performer, I had a top five finish in Tobago last year, which I am working hard to improve this year,” he continued. Locally, he holds the national triathlon title from December last year in Port Royal. At Jakes, Bromfield has three years success as a relay team member and 14 consecutive individual titles. “Within the next two years I hope to make a breakthrough on the international scene, mainly in the half iron man which is a longer distance,” he told The Gleaner. “I would love to have it (triathlon) as a career, but currently, it’s struggling, and hard to pursue. I try my best and keep on pushing, hoping with some positive results I could attract some sponsorship,” he added. The 33-year-old Bromfield, who won his first Jakes Triathlon as a teen in 1999, says he wants to push for an international break, but is financially challenged to do so. Meanwhile, the annual Jakes Off-Road Triathlon is one of the Caribbean’s first and largest annual events. It was recently held in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth and sponsored by Wisynco, Tru-Juice and Malta. The event attracts participants from the Caribbean and other parts of the world.