T&T’s Emmanuel Mayers booked a spot in tonight’s final of Men’s 400m Hurdles after a second placed finish in his semifinal heat at the 16th Pan American Games, Guadalajara, Mexico at the Telmex Athletics Stadium, yesterday. The 22-year-old Mayers, running out of lane four in the first of three semifinals completed the one-lap event in 49.86 seconds to grab the second automatic qualifying spot behind Jamaican winner, Isa Phillips (49.62). Brazil’s Mahau Suguimati (50.20) and Dominican Republic’s Felix Sanchez (50.22) were the automatic qualifiers from heat three while Cuban, Cesar Cisneros (48.99 Season Best) and Dominican Republic’s Winder Perez (50.12) qualified from heat three.
T&T’s Moriba Morain, 19, was eighth in the first of three Men’s 200m semifinal in 20.91. He placed second in the third of five heats in 20.90 seconds. The winner was Ecuador’s Alex Leonardo Quinonez, who won in a personal best of 20.73. Venezuelan Jose Acevedo (20.93) and Mexico’s Juan Jose Reyes (21.54) were third and fourth, respectively, to reach the semifinal ahead of tonight’s final. On Tuesday night, T&T sprinter Emmanuel Callender won this country’s third medal and second bronze after he placed third in the Men’s 100m final in 10.16 seconds to trail Jamaican Lerone Clarke, who won in a personal best of 10.01 and St Kitts/Nevis veteran, Kim Collins (10.04).
T&T’s other medal winners so far are, a silver by shooter, Roger Daniel in the Men’s 10m Air Pistol, and bronze by cyclist Njisane Phillip in the Match Sprint event. Running out of lane four, Callender crossed the finish line in 10.16 seconds. First home was Commonwealth Games champion, Jamaican Lerone Clarke clocked a personal best 10.01 seconds running from lane five to win gold while Kim Collins, of St Kitts/Nevis got silver (10.04), running out of lane five. The other finishers were Dominican Republic’s Carlos Rafael (10.26), Brazil’s Nilson Andre (10.26), USA’s Albert Newman (10.31), Colombian, Jose Gomez (10.33) and Cuban, David Lescay (10.39). Last night at the Pan American Hockey Stadium, the national women’s team met Cuba in a fifth to eight semifinal clash with the winner meeting Mexico which whipped Barbados 3-1 in the other match.
In the main draw semifinal, Pool A winner Argentina trounced Pool B runner-up, Chile 4-0 in its semifinal and will meet the USA for the gold medal after the Americans beat Canada 4-2. At the Nissa Gymnastics Complex, Thema Williams was 20th in the Women’s Individual All-Round event with a combined score of 47.050 points. This after scores of 12.900 (horse), 11.550 (uneven bars), 10.925 (beam) and 11.675 (floor exercise). Today will be a busy day for the T&T track and field athletes.
The men’s 4 x 100m relay team (Emmanuel Callender, Darrel Brown, Joel Dillon, Jamol James and Moriba Morain) compete in the second semifinal from 3.45pm against Mexico, Jamaica, Honduras, Ecuador, Cuba, and Chile. Bahamas, Puerto Rico,USA, Brazil, St Kitts/Nevis, Belize and Colombia are in semifinal one. Cleopatra Borel goes after gold in the women’s Shot Put final from 4.50pm; James lines up in the men’s 800m semifinal at 5.45pm; Pillar Mc Shine faces the starter in the women’s 1,500m final at 6.05 pm.
Source: www.guardain.co.tt