GAMES

Source: www.guardian.co.tt

Shooter Roger Daniel is in India to compete in the Commonwealth Games with the hope of building on his 2010 medal count which already includes a gold and a bronze medal at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Puerto Rico. The 19th edition of the event starts on Sunday and runs until October 14 in New Delhi. Daniel will also be looking to improve on his performance from the last Commonwealth Games in Melbourne where he placed third in the 50m pistol. In his next major event, the Olympic Qualifiers in Brazil in November, Daniel will vie for his third trip to the world’s biggest sporting stage, having already represented T&T at Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.

Before he left for India, the 40-year-old T&T Defence Force Corporal spoke about what he hopes to accomplish in the next few months. “I’m really going to be pushing myself hard for this,” he said. “The most breathtaking moment of any athlete’s life is when he stands on the podium and hears his national anthem play. I’m looking forward to an experience like that.” A former national hockey player, Daniel first developed an interest in shooting when he joined the Defence Force in 1996 and now looks back on his introduction as a turning point in his life. “All soldiers are expected to be able to shoot and after being around guns so much, it felt like a natural fit,” he shared. “Shooting is a sport that changes you. It requires you to be still, calm and patient for very long periods of time and the training also requires you to take yourself to another level.

“How you are outside of the sport is how you are in the sport. So what you try to do mentally is keep yourself calm at all times and stay focused and just do what you have to do.” Daniel motivates himself by keeping tabs on the performances of the world’s best shooters and setting out to beat their scores. Since shooting is a relatively obscure sport in T&T though, he must deal with shortages in facilities, equipment, ammunition and targets. Despite the setbacks, he remains unfazed in the pursuit of his goals. “I’m not a person that allows frustration to get to me. You have to shut out all these things and stay focused,” he said. “If you get frustrated, your body can create a chemical that causes an imbalance so I try to avoid it.”

There is a feeling in some corners that the sport is dying in T&T but Daniel indicated he has seen an increase in interest following the national team’s third place finish at the 34th Copa Del Caribe in Puerto Rico in May. The real problems, according to him, stem from the local laws restricting young people from picking up a gun which he fears will keep the sport from developing to its full potential. “The outside world will always be ahead of us once their athletes are starting at an earlier age,” he said. “But if we can harness our young talent properly, I think we will see some future champions come out of the sport.” Looking ahead to his own future, Daniel said that shooting will be a part of his life for a long time to come.

Trinidad and Tobago won its first medal  at the 19th Commonwealth  Games as Singapore won the gold medal in the men's 50m Pistol Pair event here today at the Dr Karni Singh Range

Swee Hon Lim and Bin Gai had a total of 1094 shots to clinch the gold medal.

Hosts India had to settle for a silver medal with Omkar Singh and Deepak Sharma returning a total of 1087 points.

Trinidad and Tobago took the bronze medal with Roger  Daniel (548) and Rhodney Allen (533) amassed a score of 1,081.

Allen and Daniel are both members of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force. Their confidence boosting efforts on  day two of the Commonwealth Games competition has set the foundation for T&T's quest  to return home with four or more bag more medals in the ten sports.

Chef de Mission Annette Knott expressed optimism that T&T  team will be inspired by the bronze medal performance of the two soldiers.

"It is tough .Winning medals at the Commonwealth Games is not easy. Our athletes must be at the top of their game.I am very encouraged by the positive and focused mood in the camp.Congratulations to Roger and Rhodney. However they are both well aware that they still have other events to come and must therefore remain disciplined and focused.We have to have that determination and burning desire to push on for podium finishes and personal bests." added Knott.

Source: www.trinidadexpress.com
By Kwame Laurence New Delhi

Trinidad and Tobago's netballers were dominated in their Group A showdown with Jamaica, on the opening day of competition at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, here in New Delhi, India, yesterday.

Coping with six foot, three inch Romelda Aiken was always going to be difficult. The challenge proved to be beyond T&T, the lanky Jamaican goal shoot scoring 37 of her 43 attempts at the impressive Thyagaraj Sports Complex to steer her team to a big 75-36 win.

For T&T, goal shoot Anestacia Wilson scored 24 goals.

With the mighty Australians also in Group A, the loss to Jamaica almost certainly means T&T will not advance to the semi-final round.

"Each team came out here in the hope of medalling," T&T captain Janelle Barker told the Express, after the match, "and that was our hope as well. But one of our main goals was to improve our [world] ranking [from eighth], and I think we still have a chance.

"We lost, so it's a disappointing feeling, but we have other games ahead of us. Right now we have to do some homework, reassess ourselves, see where we made our mistakes, see where we need to improve, and work on it."

In yesterday's other Group A game, Australia whipped Samoa 76-39.

At the Dr. S.P.M. Aquatics Complex, T&T missed out on a berth in the men's 4x100 metres freestyle final by 54 hundredths of a second.

Swimming in the first of two heats, Carlyle Blondell, Joshua McLeod, Christian Homer and Jarryd Gregoire combined for a three minutes, 31.56 seconds clocking, good enough for third spot, behind Canada (3:22.01) and Singapore (3:31.02).

The second heat, however, was much faster, all six teams bettering T&T's time.

Trinidad and Tobago finished ninth overall, the eighth and final spot in the final going to Singapore.

T&T actually had the edge on Singapore after the opening leg, Blondell touching the wall in 52.41 seconds. On the second leg, however, the Asians edged ahead of T&T, moving into second spot and staying there till the end of the race.

In the final, Australia struck gold in a Games record 3:13.92, beating England (3:15.05) and South Africa (3:15.21) into second and third, respectively.

Homer produced a 26.99 seconds clocking to finish fifth in the first men's 50m backstroke semi-final heat. The Youth Olympic Games champion was 10th fastest, and did not advance to the final. McLeod was seventh in heat two in 27.35 for 13th spot, while Blondell--eighth in 28.24—finished 16th overall.

In the opening round, Homer was third in heat two in 27.12 seconds, while McLeod clocked 27.50 for fifth spot in the same race. In heat four, Blondell was fifth in 27.53.

Para swimmer Shanntol Ince is listed for action on day two of the Commonwealth Games swim meet, in the women's 50m freestyle--S9. McLeod, Gregoire and Cadell Lyons are entered in the men's 50m butterfly. And Cherelle Thompson is the lone T&T representative in the women's 100m freestyle.

In squash, Colin Ramasra swept aside Vincentian Jules Snagg 11-5, 11-3, 11-0, at the Siri Fort Sports Complex, in his opening men's singles contest. But the T&T player then exited in the round of 32, beaten 11-2, 11-4, 11-2 by Pakistan's Aamir Khan.

At the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, T&T gymnast William Albert finished 22nd in the men's individual all-around qualification event with a score of 74.900. The placing earned him a spot in tomorrow's final.

"I have some extra tricks that I have kept for finals," Albert said. "I will use them to boost my performance."

In archery, George Vire scored 683 at the Yamuna Sports Complex to finish 26th in the qualifying round of the men's individual compound. Hasmath Ali (677) and Rakesh Sookoo (671) were 32nd and 36th, respectively. They will all be back in action today, in the knockout stage of the event. Their combined score of 2,031 placed T&T 11th in team compound qualifying.

Cyclist Emile Abraham will be on show today, at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, in the men's 40-kilometre points race. He will ride in heat one.
And late last night (T&T time), Roger Daniel and Rhodney Allen were at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, bidding for honours in the men's 50 metres pistol pairs event.

Source- NZPA www.nzherald.co.nz-

A mix of penalty corner power and some slick outfield play saw the New Zealand men's hockey team ease to a predictable win against Trinidad and Tobago in their opening match at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi today.

Three of New Zealand's goals in the 7-1 win came from penalty corners as the power of defenders Andy Hayward (2) and Hayden Shaw proved too much for Trinidad and Tobago to handle.

New Zealand, ranked 7th in the world and third in the Commonwealth compared to Trinidad and Tobago's rankings of 27th and 10th, respectively, also scored four neatly constructed field goals through Blair Hilton - who bagged two, one either side of halftime - Hugo Inglis and Nick Haig, who returned from a knee injury.

But after Shaw had lashed in his first goal to open the scoring, it was Trinidad and Tobago who provided the individual play of the match when they equalised midway through the second half.

Wayne Legerton was seemingly trapped on the sideline but a mazy run, in which he beat five New Zealand defenders, ended with a cracking shot to draw them level against the run of play.

Perhaps stung by their lazy defending, New Zealand responded immediately, with striker Nick Wilson jinking his way through the defence and firing a shot which was saved, but the rebound was easily tucked away by Hugo Inglis.

Blair Hilton made it 3-1 at halftime, the striker scoring despite his team being a man down with Steve Edwards forced to spend two minutes in the sinbin after a stick clash.

Shaw and Hayward scored from penalty corners soon after the break before Hilton and Haig rounded out the scoring with well-taken individual efforts.

New Zealand's remaining group B matches are against Canada, England and South Africa.

New Zealand 7 (Andy Hayward 2, Blair Hilton 2, Hugo Inglis, Hayden Shaw, Nick Haig) Trinidad and Tobago 1 (Wayne Legerton). Halftime: 3-1.

Roger Daniel and Rhodney Allen won a  bronze medal for Trinidad and Tobago at the 2010 Commonwealth Games,  in New Delhi, India, today. The T&T marksmen copped third spot in the men's 50 metres pistol pairs event.