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National judo competitor Christopher George won two senior male titles when Judo T&T (JudoTT) held its annual National Judo Championship at the Chinese Association in St Ann’s, on Saturday.

All the country’s top judokas converged in St Ann’s to compete and test their skills at the country’s most exciting and important event on the local judo circuit.

George, 30, of Queen’s Park Judo Club won the senior male over 90kg category and the open category, steamrolling the opposition. George is set to represent T&T at the Central American and Caribbean Games next month.

Also claiming titles on the day were Kai Sammy, Suraya Ali, Giovanni Lopez, Luke Walker, Gabriella Wood, Adrian Aquan and Jelanie Boyce.

RESULTS

Senior Male Over 90 Kg
1 Christopher George – Queens Park Judo Club
2 Kendell Padarath – Queens Park Judo Club
3 Kerwyn Carrabon – Southern Warrors Mixed Martial Arts

Senior Open Male
1 Christopher George – Queens Park Judo Club
2 Jelanie Boyce – Culb Judo Inc
3 Kendell Padarath – Queen’s Park Judo Club
3 Thomas Teufel – Queen’s Park Judo Club

Infantile 1
1 Kai Sammy – Queen’s Park Judo Club
2 Aidan Greaves – Maria Regina
3 Nicholas Siu Butt – Dunross Prep
4 Nicholas Lai – Maria Regina

Infantile 2
1 Suraya Ali – Queen’s Park Judo Club
2 Jeillon Jackman – Queen’s Park Judo Club

Intermediate 1 Male
1 Giovanni Lopez – Holistic Primary
2 Joshua Ahwai – Queen’s Park Judo Club
3 Adam Siu Butt – Dunross Prep
4 John Nahous – Dunross Prep

Juvenile Male
1 Luke Walker – Queen’s Park Judo Club
2 Brandon Lakhan – Culb Judo Inc
3 Christian Victor – Arima Judo Club
4 Aswad Harvey – Queen’s Royal College

Senior Female Open
1 Gabriella Wood – St Joseph’s Convent
2 Christie Modeste – Queen’s Park Judo Club

Senior Male Up To 73 Kg
1 Adrian Aquan – Queen’s Park Judo Club
2 Jason Sieunarine – Queen’s Park Judo Club
3 Omar Smith – Rough House

Senior Male Up To 90 Kg
1 Jelanie Boyce – Culb Judo Inc
2 Devon Brito – Queen’s Park Judo Club
3 Thomas Teufel – Queen’s Park Judo Club
3 Robert De Gannes – Queen’s Park Judo Club

Judo Spirit Award
Joshua Ahwai
Queen’s Park Judo Club

Ippon Trophy
Luke Walker
Queen’s Park Judo Club

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T&T’s Soca Princesses will be looking to make it three wins in a row when they meet Costa Rica in the semi-finals of the Concacaf Women’s Championship in Chester, Pennsylvania, on Friday.  “Coming into this tournament we knew all we needed was two wins to get out the group. Those two wins have now seen us into the semi finals where we hope to make it three wins in a row,” said captain Maylee Attin-Johnson following T&T’s 2-1 victory over Guatemala on Monday night which sealed this country’s place in the semi-finals. The squad was scheduled to arrive in Chester around 3 pm yesterday.

T&T also defeated Haiti but lost to the United States. “We knew US was going to be challenging. But we always believed we were a class above Haiti and Guatemala,” she continued. About her penalty strike which turned out to be the winner after Guatemala pulled a goal back later on, Attin-Johnson added: “It definitely boosted my confidence. I haven't been playing my usual game but I think this game I came into my own on the offensive side of things which is a plus for the team.”

Admitting that the build up to the tournament had its challenges for the T&T team, Attin-Johnson credited the TTFA for being able to negotiate to have Randy Waldrum take over the reigns of the team prior to the Caribbean Finals which followed a training camp in Houston earlier this year. He is assisted by his son Ben and goalkeeper coach Lincoln Phillips. “I definitely want to give credit to the Association (TTFA) for bringing in Randy. It's a fantastic feeling seeing that all the hardwork is finally coming to fruition. We have a world class coaching staff that prepares us well. Once we execute the game plan, it's going to be difficult to beat us and we hope that on Friday we go out there and do so,” she said.

Attin-Johnson said the team is eager to turn the tables on Costa Rica after they defeated the T&T Under 20 Women in their final World Cup qualifying match in January. “We haven't played to our full potential thus far and we haven't fielded our full team throughout this tournament due to injuries, so we hope that the three days rest will do well for the injured ones. We are very anxious for this game and we want to avenge the Under 20 loss to them.” If T&T loses on Friday, they will have a further chance for a World Cup spot at the third place match on Sunday and a possible home and away playoff with Ecuador looms in November.

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Bridgetown—The West Indies Cricket Board yesterday said it was deeply embarrassed by the premature and unfortunate end to the recent tour of India and apologized to the BCCI and all stakeholders—especially the cricket loving public of the West Indies and India—for the events leading up to the development. The Board met in Barbados yesterday and agreed to review the events which led to the fiasco.

In a subsequent release, the Board said it  was establishing a Task Force, comprising critical stakeholders, to review the premature end of the tour. “The Task Force will meet with all parties, including WIPA and the players, before reporting its findings to the Board of Directors.” The Board will also request a meeting with the BCCI, as well as schedule an urgent debriefing with the West Indies team management unit which accompanied the team.

The WICB also said it will use its best endeavours to ensure a successful tour of South Africa as scheduled. The release said the WICB was mindful of the related decisions of the BCCI Working Committee (See story on this page). It said in light of the longstanding good relationship between WICB and BCCI, which goes back decades and has produced numerous mutual benefits, the WICB was looking forward to meeting with the BCCI to discuss these decisions which can have serious implications for West Indies cricket.

The release noted: “WICB believes that a way can be found to repair the damage that has been caused and to ensure that similar events do not recur, with the focus being on the betterment of West Indies and world cricket. “The WICB thanks all stakeholders, particularly the ICC, BCCI, their broadcasters and sponsors for their patience and understanding in this matter and looks forward to the continuation of a strong relationship between our Boards.” The WICB further stated it was committed to acting as expeditiously as the situation allows, and will provide further information to the public as soon as it was appropriate to do so. (CMC)

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Work on the new T&T Football Association Constitution will begin this week when representatives of the Independent Football Reform Commission (IFRC), Fifa and Concacaf meet with president of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) Raymond Tim Kee and local officials. A press conference will be held tomorrow to announce major announcements concerning T&T football. Concacaf representatives Reudi Broennimann, Primo Corvaro, and Marco Leal will join Tim Kee and selected local representatives to serve on the Constitutional Reform Panel to begin work on the new TTFA Constitution that will be presented to the TTFA Executive Committee, members and stakeholders for national review and ratification.

The ratification process and several other areas of concern cited by Fifa will also result in the delay in TTFA elections until after June 15, 2015. However, regional zone elections will take place as originally scheduled. “When I came into office two years ago, I vowed to make meaningful change to this FA, first by taking the necessary steps to improve our on the field product and second, by initiating efforts to develop a new structure and governance model for T&T football,” Tim Kee stated.  The origins of the reform effort were born soon after Tim Kee’s election as FA President when he met with Fifa officials, including Fifa President Sepp Blatter, to discuss the way forward for T&T football.

The idea of the Reform Commission was later introduced to and accepted by Fifa representatives during the 2013 Concacaf Congress in Panama, site of the page two presentation of the now infamous Simmons Report that detailed the events and activities surrounding the World Cup bribery scandal that took place in Trinidad in 2011. After convincing Fifa that T&T possessed enough knowledge and talent to achieve substantive reform, the TTFA president began assembling individuals, such as Shaka Hislop, T&T Olympic Committee president Brian Lewis, and Senator Elton Prescott S.C., to join what would be known as the IFRC. “I would like to thank members of the IFRC for their tireless effort in producing a document that can be a template for other sporting NGBs and, of course, thank you to Fifa and Concacaf, particularly Fifa secretary Jerome Valcke and Concacaf president and Fifa VP, Jeff Webb, for their supporting role in our efforts to make football a better governed entity that will now have a real chance at operating and serving all of its members and stakeholders directly.” added Tim Kee.

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