The match got off to a shaky start for Binnie who only won two points while losing a lop-sided first game. However, the Jamaican quickly regained form to dish out a decisive beating to his Guyanese rival.

The victory was sweet revenge for Binnie who took the senior CASA title in 2009 but lost it to Chin the following year.

Personal triumph

“This win is a personal triumph for me because one of my goals for this year was to take back my Caribbean men’s title which I had lost to Richard in 2010,” Binnie said.

“Last year, I didn’t win a single game when Richard beat me and this time around I got off to a nervous start when I lost the first game, but I just kept my head and stayed focused, and there was no looking back after that,” he added.

The Caribbean Championship caps off a dream year for Binnie who has been steadily adding local and international titles to his resume. In February, he won the deciding game which secured a 13th straight US National College Championship for his school, Trinity College. At the end of the college season he was named most valuable player by Trinity and was also listed among the All American College Squash Players and the All Academic American College Players for 2010-2011.

And just last month, Binnie won the All Jamaica senior men’s championship without dropping a game. The 21-year-old is now looking to join the men’s professional circuit once he finishes university next year.

The 2011 CASA senior championships is now under way in Grand Cayman. Focus now shifts to the team competition which started yesterday and ends tomorrow.

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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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This is a dream come true,” said an elated Alicia Ashley yesterday, as she savoured her Saturday-night victory over Texan Christina Ruiz, at Hunts Point in the Bronx, New York. Jamaican-born Ashley defeated Ruiz by unanimous decision in the 10-round fight to take home the World Boxing Council (WBC) super bantamweight title.

Ashley, whose record is now 17 wins, nine defeats and one draw, made an unsuccessful challenge for the title on August 20, 2009, when she dropped a controversial majority decision to Marcela Acuna, in Argentina. Since then, she said, her goal had been to take this particular title home.

“The WBC title is the one most highly regarded, and that is why I wanted to win it. For me, this is mission accomplished.”

Her opponent, Ruiz, who entered the ring with a 6-3-1 record, with four knock-out victories, was seen as a dangerous power puncher. Ashley said that she was aware of this, and, as a result, was wary when the fight started.

Things turned quickly during the fight.

“The strange thing is that when she caught me, I did not have any problem absorbing her power punches, but after I landed some solid left hooks and an uppercut early in the fight, I could see that she was hurt, and backed away. She became very cautious after that, and I did not have any problems with her. I used my quickness to good advantage and she could not find any answers. She just could not catch me with anything solid, and I think that she only won one round,’ Ashley said.

The judges agreed with her, as one judge scored the fight 100-90, another 99-91 and the other 98-91, a clear indication that Ashley was the superior fighter on Saturday night.

When asked what was next for her, she said, “Other people want to go to Disneyland, I want to go to Jamaica. I have not been home for a while and I want to get there very soon. The next dream to be fulfilled for me is a title fight in Jamaica.”

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Published: Sat, 2011-07-16 20:00

Jamaica won the 2011 regional under-15 cricket crown with a four-wicket victory over Barbados in the fifth and final round of the tournament yesterday at UTT’s ground in Omera. The Jamaicans finished the round-robin tournament with 40.1 points to claim the title. T&T finished second with 34.6 points after their win over the Leewards in their match. The Guyana, Windwards match ended in a draw with the former finishing third. Yesterday, Barbados resuming on 57/6 in their second innings were bowled out for 79 with Christopher Tufton 3/10, Ramaal Lewis 3/22 and Hakeem Wright 2/11 doing the damage. Jamaica then made a meal of the victory target but got home at 78/6. Spinner Chad Williams took 4/22 to finish the match with 12 wickets.

T&T was also in winning form and easily took care of the Leewards at Honeymoon Park. Resuming yesterday on 120 for seven the Windwards crashed to 134 all out. Shawn Tuitt fought a lone battle getting an unbeaten 91, while Shane Smith 3/28, Jesse Bootan 3/15 and Camillo Carimbocus 2/3 ensured T&T had an easy target. The hosts then got the winning target at 126 for four with Brian Christmas getting 44 and Jeremy Solozano 36. Going into the final day, Guyana still had a chance of lifting the title but fell away after stubborn resistance from the Windwards. Tagnarine Chanderpaul struck his second fifty of the match to take them to 254 for seven off 60 overs. This left the Windwards with a victory target of 267 runs held out for the draw at 199/8. Chad Phillip stroked 56 and Gidron Pope 45. The pick of the Guyanese bowlers was the consistent Steven Sankar with 4/66.

SCORES

REGIONAL UNDER-15 SCORES
At Honeymoon Park: Leewards 147/7 (30)(Avier Christian 41, Shakeel Martina 34, Mark Gookarran 14, Shane Smith 2/29, Justin Joseph 2/30) & 134 all out (42.2)(Shawn Tuitt 91no, Shane Smith 3/28, Jesse Bootan 3/15, Camillo Carimbocus 2/3) vs T&T 156/4 (30)(Jeremy Solozano 58no, Brian Christmas 20, Kerron Kanhai 27, Justin Joseph 25no, Daniel Dorum 3/45) & 126/4 (19.5)(Brian Christmas 44, Jeremy Solozano 36, Daniel Dorum 3/28). T&T won by 6 wkts. TT 12.9pts, Leewards 0pts.Man-of-match Jeremy Solozano.

At NCC: Guyana 159/2 (30)(Shimron Hetmyer 62, Tagnarine Chanderpaul 51no) & 254/7 (60)(Tagnarine Chanderpaul 58, Kemo Paul 50, Deron Hypolite 4/88) vs Windwards 147/8 (30)(Roland Cato 46, Chad Phillip 41, Steven Sankar 3/49) & 199/8 (62)(Chad Phillip 56, Gidron Pope 45, Steven Sankar 4/66) – Match draw. Guyana 6.4pts, Windwards 3.1pts. Man-of-match: Tagnarine Chanderpaul.

At Omera: Barbados 84 all out (34.5)(Joshua Drakes 26, Shakeel Richards 18, Jafari Toppin 15, Hakeem Wright 5/21, Ramaal Lewis 3/23) & 79 all out (51.3)(Matthew Jones 26, Christopher Tufton 3/10, Ramaal Lewis 3/22, Hakeem Wright 2/11) vs Jamaica 86 all out (31.5)(Odain McCatty 28, Nicholas Walters 22, Carl Reid 21, Chad Williams 8/18) & 78/6 (31.4)(Odain McCatty 19, Malcolm Whyte 17no, Chad Williams 4/22, Matthew Jones 2/29). Jamaica won by 4 wkts. Jamaica 12.4pts, Barbados 0pts. Man-of-match: Chad Williams.

Final Standings

Pos TEAM P W D L NR PTS
1 JAMAICA 5 1 4 0 0 40.1
2 T&T 5 1 3 0 1 34.6
3 GUYANA 5 0 4 0 1 31.5
4 WINDWARDS 5 0 4 0 1 18.9
5 BARBADOS 5 0 3 1 1 14.3
6 LEEWARDS 5 0 2 1 2 10.2

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Binnie played No. 4 for the Bantams and went 3-0 in the CSA National Championship Tournament including the national-title-clinching, 3-1 win to give Trinity a 5-4 victory against Yale in the CSA Finals. Binnie was 18-2 record this winter, which tied him for second on the squad in wins and winning percentage, and won two matches to advance to the CSA National Singles Championship Quarterfinals. Binnie was ranked as the No. 13 player in the nation at the end of the year. He finishes his squash career with a 52-5 record, and a Malloy Championship Trophy won at the CSA Singles Championships in 2008-09. Binnie, who will continue to play soccer for the Bantams in the fall, was the U-19 National Champion in his native Jamaica. A graduate of Campion College, he is the son of Gill and Ray Binnie.

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Defending champion Alyssa Mullings retained the girls’ Under-13 title at the Caribbean Area Squash Association’s (CASA) Junior Championships, which is currently under way in Georgetown, Guyana.

Mullings easily beat Amanda Haywood of Barbados 11-2, 11-2, 11-6 to take the regional championship for the second consecutive year.

Mullings’ triumph on Sunday follows her impressive performance at the Allied Insurance Brokers All Jamaica Squash Championship last month, where she also took the national Under-13 title.

“Alyssa came into the competition focused and determined to retain her title and her efforts have paid off,” said national junior coach, Karen Anderson.

“It was very clear from her performance that she is at a different level from the rest of her peers across the region, and it will be exciting to see how far she can go in the sport as she matures,” she added.

With her championship win, Mullings has been the top performer so far among the Jamaican contingent at the week-long tournament.

Fourth place

Jamaica’s Under-15 boys’ champion, Jake Mahfood, beat Julian Jervis 9-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-7 to take fourth place in his age group. In addition, Stephan Morrison and Jonathan Walker finished fifth and seventh, respectively, in the Under-13 boys’ competition.

All Jamaica boys Under-17 and Under-19 champion, Ashante Smith, beat Jean-Claude Jeffrey for fifth place in the Under-17 competition and Lauren Mahfood placed sixth in the Under-19 category.

The Jamaicans are now focused on the team competition, where the players made an impressive start, as the boys took on Cayman and won all of their five matches. In the girls’ team competition, Jamaica beat Barbados 4-1.

The championships will run until July 14.

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Hosts Jamaica have qualified for the 2011 FIFA Under-17 World Cup after defeating Honduras 2-1 at the Montego Bay Sports Complex today.

With the victory Jamaica advanced to the semi-final stage of the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship against the United States on Friday.

Jason Wright scored both goals for Jamaica – one in either half – before Honduras pulled a goal back in the 64th minute. Jamaica flagged towards the end of the match but held on despite prolonged periods of possession for the Central Americans.

In the group stages Jamaica had drawn 2-2 with Trinidad and then produced a more fluent performance to beat Guatemala 1-0.

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JAMAICA’S 19-year-old middle-distance sensation Natoya Goule, a South Plains College freshman, broke the third national record in the NJCAA last Friday when she posted 2:44.73 in the 1,000 metres at the Texas Tech Quad Meet in Lubbock.

Goule, in her usual style, took the lead early and never let up, winning by almost 11 seconds. The Manchester High past student broke countrywoman Inez Turner 20-year-old mark by 4.47 seconds.

She added the NJCAA 400 metre record on February 5 when she clocked 53.27 seconds, and the 600 yards on January 21 in a personal best 1:18.82 on an oversized track.

A member of last year’s World Junior Championships 4x400m bronze relay team, Goule hopes to make her mark at the NJCAA Indoor Championship on March 4 at Texas Tech University.

Meanwhile, Dane Hyatt of Lincoln University in Missouri ran a season-best 47.46 seconds in the 400 metres to secure a berth in the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from March 11-12.

Hyatt was competing at the Nebraska Tune-Up meet in Lincoln, Nebraska, last weekend which he won and will join compatriots Roxroy Cato also of Lincoln, and Leford Green and Akino Ming of Johnson C Smith Unviversity.

Other Jamaicans competing at the Nebraska Tune-Up was Nicholas Gordon of the University of Nebraska, who won the long jump with a mark of 7.75 metres on his first jump.

Chad Wright, also of the University of Nebraska, was third in the shot put with a throw of 17.60 metres, after his Huskers teammates Americans Luke Pinkelman, 19.43 and Tyler Hitchler, 18.42.

Edwin Allen past student Gayon Evans of Oklahoma Baptist University equalled her personal best 7.33 seconds in the 60 metres to stay atop the field in NAIA.

The 21-year-old Evans, a member of the 2007 World Youth Championships silver medal medley relay team and the 2008 World Junior Championships 4x100m silver medal quartet, also ran a personal best 23.98 seconds in the 200m.

She beat countrywoman Verone Chambers, also an Edwin Allen past sudent, who clocked a personal best 24.05 seconds.

Both will be on show at the NAIA Indoor Track Championships on March 3-5 in Ohio.

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FIFTEEN-year-old Breanna Roman of Swimaz Aquatic Swim Club smashed nine meet records at the four-day Walter Rodney Age Group National Championships which ended at the National Stadium Pool to signal her readiness for the Carifta Swimming Championships set for the Easter Holidays in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Roman, a student of Campion College after transferring from Immaculate Conception High a couple years ago, showed the form that made her a champion at the Caribbean Islands Swimming Championships (CISC) held in Jamaica in 2008.

“I am back where I was three years ago,” said Roman when she won the 100m freestyle at the CISC here. During that championship she suffered a “slap tear” and had to pull out of the competition.

She spent one year out of the pool to recover from surgery.

“I haven’t felt that pain since,” said Roman, who evolved into a star when a growth spurt at the age of 12 pushed her up to five feet, seven inches. Now with broad shoulders grounding out powerful strokes, Roman motored her way to meet records in the girls’ 15 and under 800m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 50m breaststroke, 400m freestyle, 200m breaststroke, 100m freestyle, 100m breaststroke, 50m freestyle, and a share of the 50m backstroke.

Linval Rowe, her coach since she was age nine, noted that training gave Roman the confidence to perform well. “I told her that she would do well,” Rowe emphasised.

“She is very committed, dedicated, and talented. Imagine one swimmer breaking nine records at one meet,” he added.

In all 28 individual meet and four relay records fell at the Walter Rodgers Championships, a FINA qualifying competition, with 16-year-old Alexia Royal-Eatmon cracking five, and Tornadoes Swim Club’s 14-year-old Priscilla McClure shattering four.

Olympian Allan Roy Marsh, a vice-president of the Amateur Swimming Association of Jamaica, said at the end of the meet: “This is the most exciting I have ever watched.”

Tornadoes Swim Club defended their title, amassing 1,443.50 points, beating Marlin Swim Club (1,217.50), Y Speedos (996.50), Stingray Swim Club of Cayman (728), Swimaz Aquatic (464), Blue Seal (354.50), Flying Fish Ambassadors (177), Unattached Tornadoes (24), Wahoo Swim Club (16), Royal Swim Club (14), and Blue Marlin (three).

Royal-Eatmon, unattached, broke the records in the girls’ 15 and over 50m butterfly, 200m individual medley, 200m backstroke, and 100m backstroke; while McClure set new standards in the girls’ 13-14 50m breaststroke, 200m breaststroke, 200m butterfly, and 100m breaststroke.

Acting president of the swimming association Martin Lyn said the likely 36-member team to the XXVI Carifta Swimming Championships in Bridgetown, Barbados on April 23-26 will be announced next week.

Achievement trophies went to Roman in the girls’ 15 and over, Danielle Boothe of Cayman’s Stingray in the girls’ 13-14, and Sidrell Williams of Marlin, Timothy Wynter of Tornadoes, and Antoine Young of Blue Seal in the boys’ 13-14.

Two events that had spectators on their feet were the boys’ 13-14m 200m butterfly with both Williams and Young clocking 2:29.81 for gold, and the girls’ 13-14 400m medley, which Stingrays won in a time of 5:12.85, just ahead of Tornadoes (5:15.36), and Marlin (5:15.81).

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Caribbean teams taking part in the Caribbean Under-20 Boys’ Championship now know their opponents for the competition taking place in this city from March 28 to April 10.

This follows the draw to determine the groups which took place yesterday.

Group A will feature hosts Guatemala, fellow Central American nation Honduras, and Caribbean side Jamaica.

The United States, Central American side Panama, and Caribbean nation Suriname will comprise Group B.

Group C will include Canada, Central American nation Costa Rica, and the Caribbean Football Union’s Guadeloupe.

Mexico as well as the CFU pair of Trinidad & Tobago and Cuba will make up Group D.

The tournament will determine the CONCACAF’s four qualifiers for the Under-20 boys’ World Cup in Colombia from July 29 to August 20.

Like the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship, the top two teams in each group will advance to the quarter-finals in the CONCACAF Under-20 competition — from April 5 to 6 — with the winners qualifying for Colombia.

The winner from Group A will play the runner-up from Group B and vice versa in the quarter-finals, and Groups C and D will also play crossover knock-out matches.

The semi-finals will be played on April 8, with the Championship match two days later.

A full schedule is expected to be released next week.

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