COMMONWEALTH GAMES

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

Aaron Armstrong followed in the footsteps of an esteemed group of Trinidad and Tobago sprinters when he struck bronze in the Commonwealth Games men's 100 metres dash, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, here in New Delhi, India, yesterday.

Armstrong became only the sixth person from T&T to secure a Commonwealth 100 medal, when he crossed the line in 10.24 seconds, edging teammate Emmanuel Callender (10.25) into fourth spot.

Way back in 1954, Mike Agostini grabbed gold for T&T in the 100 yards. Twelve years later, Edwin Roberts earned bronze in the same event. Hasely Crawford claimed 100m bronze in 1970 and again in 1978. Ato Boldon emerged as Commonwealth Games sprint champion at the 1998 Games. And four years ago, Marc Burns bagged 100m bronze.

"Means a lot," Armstrong told the Express, "to come out here and represent Trinidad and Tobago, for all the support that they give us. And to be in the same category as those guys is truly a blessing, because I look up to Hasely Crawford, even my dad (former T&T sprinter Ainsley Armstrong) and everybody that's paved the way for us."

Jamaica's Lerone Clarke won impressively, stopping the clock at 10.12 seconds for a comfortable cushion on Englishman Mark Lewis-Francis, the silver medallist in 10.20.

"This is my biggest victory," Clarke declared. "Commonwealth Games is a big competition, and this is my debut meet running the 100 metres for Jamaica, so I'm proud to actually be the Commonwealth champion. I came into the race with confidence. I ran all my phases right and all my rounds right, and was able to deliver."

Though pleased to be among the top three, Armstrong was disappointed about the colour of his medal.

"The expectation was to win. For this year the goal was to be ready for Commonwealth. I was set up for a big one, but had a little tangle up with the guy from Canada (Sam Effah). We locked arms…it threw me off because my strong point is the end of the race."

In the semi-final round, Armstrong displayed his finishing power, coming from behind to win heat one in 10.14 seconds, the same time recorded by second-placed Clarke.

Callender won the second heat, also in 10.14, ahead of Effah (10.16) and Lewis-Francis (10.17). In the championship race, however, Callender was slow to react to the gun, leaving himself with too much to do. The T&T sprinter battled to the line, but came up just short, Armstrong beating him by one-hundredth of a second.

Callender is listed to compete in the 200m as well and should be among the contenders for precious metal. He also has a good shot at medalling in the 4x100m relay.

"The 100 is a little more stress," said Armstrong, "a little more tension. When the relays come it's time to have fun. We're going to go out there, give it our best, and the plan is to win a gold and bring it back home to Trinidad."

Ayanna Hutchinson bowed out in the women's 100m semis.

The experienced T&T sprinter enjoyed a good start, and looked to be in a battle for the second spot and an automatic berth in the final. But Hutchinson tied up badly in the latter stages of the race, and had to settle for fourth in 11.58 seconds. The clocking was not good enough to secure qualification as a "fastest loser".

In the final, Nigeria's Osayemi Oludamola struck gold in 11.32 seconds. Vincentian Natasha Mayers (11.37) earned silver and England's Katherine Endacott (11.44) bronze.

Australia's Sally Pearson actually crossed the line first but was later disqualified after a false start review determined that she had jumped the gun the first time the sprinters left the blocks, and should not have faced the starter a second time.

Laura Turner was disqualified for the false start, but the England athlete ran under protest. As it turned out, both Turner and Pearson jumped the gun, the referee's decision to disqualify the "race winner"--following an English protest--cutting short the Australian's celebrations.

T&T athletes Lalonde Gordon and Ayanna Alexander will be on show at the Nehru Stadium today. Gordon runs way out in lane nine in the third and final men's 400m semi-final heat, while Alexander bids for precious metal in the women's triple jump.

In yesterday's one-lap preliminaries, Gordon clocked 47.07 seconds to finish third in heat five, advancing automatically to the semis.

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

Trinidad and Tobago netball captain Janelle Barker celebrated her 33rd birthday in style, at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex, here in New Delhi, India, yesterday. The experienced goal shoot was on fire, scoring 46 of her 47 attempts to lead her team to a 77-26 victory over the host nation in their Commonwealth Games Group A showdown.

Joelisa Cooper contributed 16 goals, while team baby, 16-year-old Samantha Wallace chipped in with 15.

T&T now have two wins and one defeat. In their opener, on Monday, they went under to Jamaica, 75-36, but bounced back with a narrow 52-51 triumph over Samoa on Wednesday.

In yesterday's other Group A fixture, Australia got the better of Jamaica 60-46.

At the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, T&T cyclist Njisane Phillip finished fifth in the men's sprint. In the quarterfinal round, Phillip lost in two straight rides to New Zealand's Eddie Dawkins, but rebounded to beat Scotland's Ross Edgar, Canadian Travis Smith and England's David Daniell in the race to determine positions five to eight. Edgar was sixth, Smith seventh and Daniell eighth.

Shane Perkins beat his teammate Scott Sunderland 2-0 in the sprint finals for a one-two Australia finish. New Zealand's Sam Webster claimed the bronze with a 2-0 triumph over Dawkins.

Emile Abraham finished eighth in heat two in the qualification event for the men's 15-kilometre scratch race. The placing earned the T&T cyclist a berth in today's 24-man final.

Phillip, Christopher Sellier and Thireef Smart will also be on the track, bidding for honours in the men's team sprint.

At the Dr. S.P.M. Aquatics Complex, 15-year-old para-swimmer Shanntol Ince copped sixth spot in the women's 100 metres freestyle S9 final. The youngest swimmer in the field, Ince got home in one minute, 14.00 seconds.

South Africa's Natalie Du Toit, one of the most well known para-athletes on the planet, triumphed in a Games record 1:02.36 to complete the 50 free/100 free double. England's Stephanie Millward (1:03.69) snapped up silver, ahead of Australian Ellie Cole (1:05.20).

In the preliminary round, Ince, the first T&T para-athlete to compete at a major mainstream international Games, finished third in heat one and sixth overall in 1:14.01.

On Tuesday, Ince was fifth in the women's 50 free S9 final.

Cherelle Thompson clocked 26.70 seconds to finish sixth in heat two and 12th overall in the women's 50m freestyle semis. The T&T swimmer was 11th fastest in the heats, touching the wall in 26.65 seconds.

Jarryd Gregoire was 15th overall in the men's 100m butterfly semis in 56.53 seconds, while his teammate, Cadell Lyons was 16th in 56.73.

In the heats, Lyons (55.86) and Gregoire (56.55) were 14th and 16th, respectively. Another T&T swimmer, Joshua McLeod (56.68) was 18th and did not advance to the semis.

Christian Homer was 17th fastest in the men's 100m backstroke heats, the 17-year-old swimmer clocking 1:00.33.

Late last night (T&T time), Lyons, McLeod and Caryle Blondell were in action in the men's 50m freestyle heats.

Shooters Roger Daniel and Rhodney Allen combined for sixth spot in the men's 10m air pistol pairs event, at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range. Daniel scored 568 and Allen 553 for a total of 1,121.

India secured gold with a Games record 1,163, forcing England (1,143) to settle for silver. Singapore (1,139) bagged bronze.

Daniel and Allen, who teamed up on Tuesday for bronze in the 50m pistol pairs, will be in action today in the 10m air pistol singles event.

At the Talkatora Indoor Stadium, T&T boxer Andrew Fermin was disqualified at 2:17 in the third and final round of his light heavyweight bout with Samoa's Filimaua Hala.

Super heavyweight Tariq Abdul Haqq and welterweight Aaron Prince will bid for quarterfinal berths today. Haqq squares off against Pakistan's Meer Khan, while Prince tackles India's Dilbag Singh.

In squash, Colin Ramasra was beaten in straight games by Scotland's Alan Clyne in their men's singles classic plate semifinal duel, at the Siri Fort Sports Complex. The match lasted 15 minutes, Clyne getting the better of the T&T pro 11-3, 11-6, 11-3.

At the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, T&T's hockey women lost for the third time in as many matches.

But though they were beaten 6-1 by Scotland in the Group A contest, T&T could take heart from a couple firsts. Charlene Williams was on target one minute from the end of the game for T&T's first goal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games tournament. And it was the first time the hockey women avoided double figures here in New Delhi, following 12-0 and 11-0 whippings at the hands of South Africa and Australia, respectively.

T&T will be back on the pitch today for their clash with India. And the hockey men face South Africa in a Group B match-up.

NEW DELHI: Source: http://hindu.com  by K.P. Mohan

On a day of controversy and confusion at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the women's 100-metre result was overturned by the jury after Australian Sally Pearson won the gold but was found to have false-started.

In what would have been the 24-year-old Australian's first Commonwealth Games gold, for that matter her first major championship victory, Pearson was told around four hours after her victory that she would not be the champion and the gold would be awarded to Nigerian Osayemi Oludamola.

It was heart-break for the Australian and of course it was a big surprise for the Nigerian, with the bronze-winner Natasha Mayers (St. Vincent and Grenadines) getting silver and fourth-placed Katherine Endacott (England) upgraded to bronze.

Jamaica's supremacy in men's sprinting was maintained by 29-year-old Lerone Clarke who outclassed the field in 10.12 seconds. It was a start to finish victory for the Jamaican, who is only eighth-ranked among his countrymen for the season. England's Mark Lewis-Francis (10.20s) had a medal at last from the Commonwealth Games and he was overjoyed.
Trinidad's Aaron Armstrong claimed the bronze in 10.24s.
The problem in the women's race had begun at the start itself, with England's Laura Turner being disqualified for a false start. She claimed that a fly had entered her mouth forcing her to react which caused the false start and she was allowed to run under protest. The Englishwoman finished last, but England pressed with its protest which eventually revealed to the jury that Pearson had also false-started.

Turner reacted 0.070s to the gun while Pearson did so at 0.071. Both breached the allowable limit of 0.1000. The false start control apparatus would have detected both at the start, but Pearson's infringement was only noticed when the English protested.
Both Turner and Pearson were disqualified, but Australia lodged a counter protest which took hours to decide. Australia's contention that Pearson had only responded to a false start triggered by Turner was thrown out.

Clarke who won in great style, was never challenged and had a fraction of a second to spare towards the end for a sideways glance.
“It feels amazing. It's my first championship victory. I know I am the best in the Commonwealth,” said Clarke whose 10.12s was the best seen in Delhi.

Source: www.newsday.co.tt

“CALYPSO GIRLS” netballers rebounded from their 75-36 thrashing by Jamaica when they narrowly edged Samoa 52-51 in a Group ‘A’ clash as the 19th Commonwealth Games continued in New Delhi, India, yesterday.

The game was a see-saw affair at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex, as Samoa led 12-11 at the end of the first-quarter and 27-26 at the half.

But the “Calypso Girls” netballers rallied with a 13-10 third-quarter, to enter the final phase 39-37 in front, and held on to the nail-biting win.

Joelisa Cooper scored 26 of 29 attempts and Anestacia Wilson 26 of 30 attempts for the Trinidadians.

Boxer Aaron Prince advanced to the second round in the welter-weight category after a convincing win over St Lucia’s Miguel Auguste at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium. The bout was stopped after one minute and 24 seconds of the third and final round, with Prince leading 9-4 on the judges’ cards.

Rifle shooters Roger Daniel and Rhodney Allen, who copped bronze on Tuesday in the 50m pistol pairs, finished ninth and 12th respectively in the men’s singles 50-metre pistol at the Dr Kami Singh Shooting Range while, at the Yamaha Sports Complex,

Trinidad and Tobago men archery team were narrowly beaten 224-219 by India in the compound team men’s elimination quarter-final.

Cyclists Njisane Phillip, Haseem McLean and Thireef Smart failed to advance past the first round of the men’s kieren

At the Dr SPM Swimming Complex, Joshua McLeod (52.07 seconds), Jarryd Gregoire (52.08) and Caryle Blondell (52.60) took the top three spots in heat four of the men’s 100m freestyle first round but failed to reach the semi- finals because of their slow times.

The TT hockey men suffered a second straight defeat at the Maj Dhyan Chand National Stadium, when they went under 4-0 to England in Group ‘B’ yesterday.

Canadian-born gymnast William Albert finished 21 out of 24 in the men’s individual all-round final, tallying 75.2 points,

There were mixed results for Trinidad and Tobago on the track, in the men and women 100m sprint, at the JN Stadium.

Marcus Duncan was the only athlete who failed to advance past the first round, clocking 10.59 seconds to finish fourth in heat two, but Emmanuel Callender, Aaron Armstrong (men) and Ayanna Hutchinson (women) progressed.

Callender won heat three in 10.29, the fastest time of the event, Armstrong won heat eight and Hutchinson was third in heat two in 11.71.

In today’s 100m semis, Armstrong will be in lane seven of the first semi, Callender in lane five of the second men’s semi while Hutchinson is in lane four of the first women’s semi.

The rifle shooting pair of Daniel and Allen will be back in action again today when they compete in the men’s pairs 10m air pistol. In track cycling, the quarter-finals of the men’s sprint will be contested today, with Phillip due to participate, while veteran Emile Abraham will be in the qualification stage of the men’s 20-kilometre scratch race.

Andrew Fermin will be aiming for success in the boxing ring, when he faces Filimaua Hala of Samoa in the first round of the light heavyweight category.

In the swimming pool, in the men’s 100m butterfly first round, Jarryd Gregoire will compete from lane eight in the fourth heat while, in heat five, Joshua McLeod is in lane one and Cadell Lyons in lane seven.

Christian Homer will feature in the first round of the men’s 100m backstroke, in lane seven of heat four and Cherelle Thompson will be in the women’s 50m freestyle first round, from lane six of heat four.

The national women’s hockey team will be seeking to avenge two lopsided losses to South Africa and Australia, when they meet Scotland in a Group ‘A’ match, while the netballers play hosts India

Despite not advancing to the semifinal round, two of the three T & T athletes achieved personal bests in the 100 metre freestyle event swum of this morning (India Time) at the Commonwealth Games in India.

All three T & T  swimmers were seeded in heat four, and copped the top three places in the heat. Caryle Blondell lead the heat up to the 50m mark where he split 25 seconds flat. However it was Joshua Mc Leod who stopped the clock first in a personal beat 52.07 seconds to win the heat, improving on his personal best of 52.11.

Jarryd Gregoire was just 0.01 behind Mc Leod, and he too surpassed his personal best which was 52.37. Blondell placed third in 52.60 seconds. The final results placed the trio 21st, 22nd and 24th respectively. The fastest qualifier for the event was Gideon Louw of South Africa in 49.24. Brothers Shaune (49.93) and Brett Fraser (50.21) of the Cayman Islands gave the Caribbean a berth in the semifinal placing 7th and 11th respectively. T & T based Guyanese athlete Jessica Stephenson placed 5th in Heat One of the 200m breaststroke female in a time of 2:49.56.  

Mc Leod, Gregoire and Cadell Lyons will compete in the 100m butterfly tomorrow. Christian Homer will also be in action in the 100m backstroke. Cherelle Thompson is also expected to compete in her pet event the 50m freestyle.

Australian sprinter Sally Pearson has been stripped of a Commonwealth Games gold medal, hours of celebrating victory in the 100m final.
Pearson crossed the line first, finishing in 11.28 seconds, but the result was protested by Englishwoman Laura Turner due to a false start.

Pearson and Laura Turner both appeared to false start but only Turner was given a red card and was disqualified. She successfully argued her case and stayed in the race, competing under protest.
Sally Pearson was the Commonwealth Games 100m champion for just four hours. Photo / AP
Turner finished eighth in 11.57, but the official results listed her as disqualified.

Turner upheld her protest after the race which led to Pearson also being disqualified after four hours of deliberation, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The gold medal will be given to Nigeria's Osayemi Oludamola who finished the race in second place.

Pearson was briefly the first Australian woman to win the 100 since Raelene Boyle in 1974.

Source: http:// www.trinidadexpress.com By Kwame Laurence in New Delhi

Shanntol Ince created history at the Dr. S.P.M. Aquatics Complex, here in New Delhi, India, yesterday, becoming the first para athlete to represent Trinidad and Tobago at a major international Games. The 15-year-old swimmer celebrated the occasion by advancing to the women's 50 metres freestyle S9 final. Ince clocked 34.07 seconds to cop fifth spot in the championship race. In the preliminary round, she had finished third in heat one and sixth overall in 34.30. Natalie Du Toit was first home in the final, the South African touching the wall in 29.82 seconds. Australia's Annabelle Williams (30.03) claimed silver, while bronze went to England's Stephanie Millward (30.09).

Joshua McLeod was the best of the three T&T swimmers on show in the men's 50m butterfly semis. He finished fifth in heat one and 10th overall in 24.88 seconds. The top eight advanced to the final. Cadell Lyons (25.13) and Jarryd Gregoire (25.54) were 12th and 15th, respectively.

In the preliminaries, Lyons was 13th fastest in 25.16 seconds, while McLeod (25.19) was 15th and Gregoire (25.57) 16th.

In the women's 100m freestyle preliminaries, Cherelle Thompson finished 27th overall in one minute, 00.46 seconds.

Gregoire, McLeod and Caryle Blondell will be in the pool today, in the opening round of the men's 100m freestyle.

T&T's hockey women lost 11-0 to champions Australia. Emily Hurtz netted a hat-trick for the Aussies.

"We are very disappointed," said T&T player Alana Lewis, after the game. "We needed more discipline. We have a lot of work to do, and we need to focus on our defence."

The T&T women were beaten 12-0 by South Africa on Monday.

At the Yamuna Sports Complex, T&T archers George Vire and Rakesh Sookoo exited in the round of 32 in the men's individual compound. Vire was beaten 2-0 by Canadian Andrew Fagan, while Sookoo lost 2-0 to Welshman Owen Kalmaru.

Both Vire and Sookoo won in the first round of the knockout phase, but their teammate, Hasmath Ali lost his opening contest. He went under 2-0 to another Welshman, James Thomas.

Sookoo edged Northern Ireland's Darran Hall 10-9 in a tie break, after they had won a set apiece and battled to a draw in the other set. Vire stopped Cypriot Marios Perdikos 2-0.

T&T do battle with hosts India today, in a men's team compound elimination match.

Emile Abraham was among the starters in heat one in the men's 40-kilometre points race, at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex. However, the T&T cyclist did not finish.

Today, Thireef Smart, Njisane Phillip and Haseem McLean will compete in the men's keirin. And in the men's sprint, Phillip, McLean and Christopher Sellier will fly the T&T flag.

Gymnast William Albert will be in action today at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, in the men's individual all-around final.

At the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, T&T sprinters Emmanuel Callender, Aaron Armstrong and Marcus Duncan face the starter in the opening round of the men's 100m dash, on day one of the Commonwealth Games athletics meet. Ayanna Hutchinson will be in action in the women's 100m.

At the Siri Fort Sports Complex, T&T squash pro Colin Ramasra faces Malta's Bradley Hindle in a men's singles classic plate quarter-final fixture.

T&T boxer Aaron Prince takes on St Lucia's Miguel Auguste in a welterweight bout, at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium.

And in netball, T&T tackle Samoa in a Group A match-up, at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex. In their opening fixture, on Monday, T&T lost to Jamaica, 75-36.

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.