JAMAICA lost to the Bahamas 25-15, 27-25, 16-25, 22-25,10-15 on day three of the Eighth Junior Caribbean Volleyball Championships at the University of Technology Auditorium yesterday. 

The Bahamas will now face Trinidad & Tobago, who finished third at the last championship in 2009, at 10:00 this morning in the quarter-finals, after the US Virgin Islands battle Guadeloupe at 8:00 am.

Meanwhile, Curacao and Barbados journeyed straight into the semi-finals after victories over Guadeloupe and Trinidad & Tobago yesterday.

Curacao overpowered Guadeloupe 25-22, 15-25, 20-25, 25-17, 23-21 in a two-hour, 30-minute thriller, while Barbados outduelled Trinidad & Tobago 27-25, 25-21, 25-18 in one hour 23 minutes.

Quinten Anthony led the attack for Curacao with 23 points, including 21 spikes. His teammate Jurcham Meulens chipped in with 14 points

(nine spikes).

Daryl Bultor starred for Guadeloupe, who finished fourth at the last championship, scoring 15 points, with Rony Sophiyair and captain Oliver Kantapareddy adding 10 points apiece.

Jabarry Goodridge (12 points), Klode Thompson (nine points) and Janeil Craigg (eight points) spearheaded Barbados to victory, while Brandon Legall was the star performer with 25 points (23 spikes).

Later today will also be the semi-finals at 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm featuring group winners Barbados and Curacao, respectively.

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“I love golf, and I love the Bahamas,” the hoops legend told The Bahamas Weekly. “I can’t think of a better location than the Ocean Club Golf Course and Atlantis, Paradise Island for my seventh annual golf tournament. January is the best time of the year to be in The Bahamas. The weather is fantastic, and the competition is always fierce.”

Jordan’s event raised money for various charities, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which received $140,000 following the event. Make-A-Wish Foundation president and chief executive officer David Williams was grateful for the charitable donation and hopes it will have a similar impact as last year’s contribution.

“We are honored to receive this generous donation from Michael, Kerzner International and everyone involved with the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational,” Williams told EuroInvestor. “Last year’s contribution from this terrific event funded the wishes of nearly 30 children with life-threatening medical conditions. They were able to enjoy unforgettable moments and the hope, strength and joy that come with a wish experience.”
The event, which ran from Jan. 17 to Jan. 24, raised more than $500,000.

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1      5      Jamaica
(Simone Facey; Shelly-Ann Fraser; Aleen Bailey; Kerron Stewart)     JAM     42.06    
2     3     Bahamas
(Sheniqua Ferguson; Chandra Sturrup; Christine Amertil; Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie)     BAH     42.29     (SB)
3     4     Germany
(Marion Wagner; Anne Möllinger; Cathleen Tschirch; Verena Sailer)     GER     42.87     (SB)
4     8     Russia
(Evgeniya Polyakova; Aleksandra Fedoriva; Yulia Gushchina; Yuliya Chermoshanskaya)     RUS     43.00     (SB)
5     6     Brazil
(Rosemar Maria Neto; Lucimar Aparecida de Moura; Thaissa Presti; Vanda Gomes)     BRA     43.13    
6     1     Great Britain & N.I.
(Laura Turner; Montell Douglas; Emily Freeman; Emma Ania)     GBR     43.16     (SB)
7     2     Trinidad and Tobago
(Reyare Thomas; Kelly-Ann Baptiste; Ayanna Hutchinson; Semoy Hackett)     TRI     43.43    
8     7     Colombia
(Yomara Hinestroza; Felipa Palacios; Darlenis Obregón; Norma González)     COL     43.71    

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Trinidad’s Renny Quow fought his way to a third place finish in the men’s 400M at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin Germany. Though the Americans took the top two spots with brilliant finishes down the stretch, Trinidad nonetheless can be proud at the tenacity of Quow who seemed out of it for much of the race only to find hidden energy, battling back for the third spot. Chris Brown faded towards the end of the race after going out hard in chase of the Americans to finish fifth. The race results are as follows:

1      LaShawn Merritt       USA      44.06      (WL)      0.161
2     Jeremy Wariner     USA     44.60     (SB)     0.162
3     Renny Quow     TRI     45.02         0.195
4     Tabarie Henry     ISV     45.42         0.162
5     Chris Brown     BAH     45.47         0.161
6     David Gillick     IRL     45.53         0.148
7     Michael Bingham     GBR     45.56         0.172
8     Leslie Djhone     FRA     45.90         0.151

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Although Allyson Felix was the runaway winner in the 200M, the Caribbean had much to celebrate when they took the 2nd and 3rd spots on the podium. Veronica Campbell-Brown put up a fight for as long as she could but after the curve, Felix seemed unbeatable. Debbie Ferguson fought back towards the end to capture third spot on the line.

1      Allyson Felix       USA      22.02            0.173
2     Veronica Campbell-Brown     JAM     22.35         0.184
3     Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie     BAH     22.41         0.171
4     Muna Lee     USA     22.48         0.174
5     Anneisha McLaughlin     JAM     22.62         0.178
6     Simone Facey     JAM     22.80         0.163
7     Emily Freeman     GBR     22.98         0.141
8     Eleni Artymata     CYP     23.05         0.176

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The Jamaican duo of Shelly Ann Fraser and Kerron Stewart seemed inseparable at the finish line as the Jamaicans again proclaimed their dominance at the World Championships with a 1-2 finish in the 100M for Women. Fraser was a freight train out of the blocks and led from start to finish with the only close contention coming from fellow Jamaican Kerron Stewart. Stewart who was late getting out of the blocks put out a season best but was unable to catch Shelly Ann as Fraser ran a National Record to take the event 10.73s.

1      Shelly-Ann Fraser       JAM      10.73      (WL)      0.146
2     Kerron Stewart     JAM     10.75     (PB)     0.170
3     Carmelita Jeter     USA     10.90         0.160
4     Veronica Campbell-Brown     JAM     10.95     (SB)     0.135
5     Lauryn Williams     USA     11.01     (SB)     0.158
6     Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie     BAH     11.05         0.130
7     Chandra Sturrup     BAH     11.05         0.137
8     Aleen Bailey     JAM     11.16         0.173

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Allyson Felix – USA – 21.88
Debbie Ferguson – BAH – 22.23
Kerron Stewart – JAM – 22.72
Marshevet Hooker – USA – 22.84
Laverne Jones – ISV – 23.15
Cydonie Mothersill – CAY – 23.27
Alexandria Anderson – USA – 23.32
Yuliya Chermonshanskaya – RUS – 23.70

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There were big plays on both sides, missed opportunities, injuries, and lots of fans, but in the end it was the Goodman’s Bay Spartans that celebrated a thrilling 41-40 come from behind victory over the pennant winning Warriors to capture the first Bahamas Flag Football Association Championship Title on Sunday at the Winton Rugby Pitch.

The Warriors jumped out to an early 13-0 lead in the first half only to see the Spartans and quarterback Jayson Clarke tie the game at 13-13 with less than five minutes to go in the first half.
The second half saw the Warriors behind the arm of quarterback Lemon Garospe jumped out to a three touchdown lead midway through the second, using a potent combination of offense and defense to take a 32-13 lead.   At that stage of the game the Warriors were jubilant and ready to celebrate, and even though they reminded each other that the game was not over, their play did not show the same.
The Spartans who all season seem to respond best when their back is against the wall, scored quickly on back-to-back possessions to pull the game to within one touchdown. That is when the Warriors began to melt and started to point the finger at each other.
Quarterback Garospe was getting most of the criticism because he was not finding the open man with the pass, and at times passed the ball when he should have run in order to milk the clock.  Then there was the final crucial pass that he through for an interception deep on his own side of the field that saw the Spartans capitalize and took the 41-40 lead with just 35 seconds left on the game clock.
Demoralized and disgusted the Warriors were not able to make anything happen in the last half minute. The Spartans and their fans stormed the field in celebration.
Clarke who is also a member of the leagues’ steering committee was named the MVP.   He said,

"Midway through the second half we were a little worried because we threw and interception that allowed them to score and go up by three. What happened was my receivers were not being aggressive enough going after the ball, but after we had a very intense timeout they began to come around."
"Once we started to play our best ball we always had confidence that we could come back and win the game, especially if I was not fighting the battle alone. We kept making plays that allowed us to be able to come back and win by one."
"Next year we have to work on playing better in the first half of games, because if we can play a more dominating first half and execute well, all we would have to do is secure the ball in the second half."
The Spartans finished the regular season with a 5-2 record compared to the Warriors at 6-1.
As he sat on the bench losing quarterback Garospe was asked, where did it go wrong after being in the driver seat late in the game and he responded, "It didn’t go wrong anywhere, they played well.  They came back and scored quickly.  It’s my fault that I through an interception at the end that gave them pretty good field position, and it caused us. But hey, it was a good game either way."
He said the morale on his team is "alright" and promised that they will add some more plays to their book and be back next year to play hard, "its all about practice," he ended. 
Next year the league expects the number of teams to increase from eight to 12.
Below are the final statistics from the championships game.
Goodman’s Bay Spartans
QB – Jayson Clarke – 5 TD’s and
WR – Patrick Lockhart – 4 TD receptions
WR – Javier Bowe – 1 TD reception
CB – Tasman Evans – 1 interception returned for a TD
CB – Carl Rolle – 1 interception
LB – Charles Johnson – 2 sacks
The Warriors
QB – Lemon Garospe – 5 TD’s
WR – Bubba Smith – 4 TD’s receptions

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Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser won the battle of the Caribbean female sprinters at the Herculis Super Grand Prix meet in Monaco yesterday.

Fraser was quickest out of the blocks and led all the way, crossing the finish line in 10.91 seconds. Jamaica’s defending World champion Veronica Campbell-Brown did not recover from a slow start and was third in 11.03. Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie of the Bahamas was second in her season’s best of 10.97.

"When you get under 11 seconds it’s always good," Fraser said. "I’m just happy that I came out here and won against a quality field."

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