This Easter weekend cricket will replace kite-flying as the major activity as all head to the Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain to witness the clash between the mighty Australians and the talented West Indies led by superstar batsman Brian Lara.

The Caribbean cricketers will be going all out to square the series after going under by nine wickets in the First Test at Bourda Oval, Georgetown Guyana last week. The teams arrived in Trinidad on Tuesday evening and have been hard at practice, since Wednesday fine-tuning their skills ahead off the clash at the Mecca of Caribbean cricket, the Queen’s Park Oval. Trinidadians will be going out to support their players and especially the TT boys who are on the team. Lara and Daren Ganga both got hundreds in the First Test, while pacer Mervyn Dillon will be looking to get among the wickets. TT are well represented at the top level with Lara as skipper, Gus Logie as coach and Ronald Rogers as trainer.

BRENT KUEI TUNG booked a place in today’s finals in the Boys Under-18 singles after a 6-1, 6-0 whipping of Thomas Staskiewicz in Tuesday’s semi-finals.

Action was at the Catch National Junior Tennis Championships, which is currently being held at the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo. Kuei Tung will face the winner of yesterday’s other semi-final matchup between Yohansey Williams and Jerome Ward. The Girls Under-18 singles finalists were also decided yesterday, following the encounters between Olivia Bennett/Sparkle Prentice and Sanian Lewis/Dayna Grazette. In Tuesday’s quarterfinals, Prentice eased past Toni Lewis 7-6 (10-8), 6-1, Lewis crushed Erin Dennison 6-0, 6-0 and Grazette blanked Richelle Jeremie 6-3, 6-0. The singles finals in the boys U-10, U-12, U-14 and U-16, as well as the girls U-12, U-14 and U-16 were expected to be played yesterday.

Tuesday’s Results
Boys U-10 semis — Daewoud Kabli bt David Clarke 6-0, 7-6 (7-2); Abdoulaye Camara bt Jonathan Gouveia 6-1, 6-2.
Girls U-12 semis — Raye Ann Sandy bt Nalini Maharaj 6-0, 6-0; Nicolette Leacock bt Akeela Smith 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Boys U-12 semis — Jovani Lewis bt Christopher Brash 0-6, 6-2, 6-2; Liam Gomez bt Seve Day 6-7 (7-1), 7-5, 6-2.
Girls U-14 semis — Shenelle Mohammed bt Carlista Mohammed 6-1, 6-2; Kiran Pereira bt Samantha De Gannes 6-3, 6-2.
Boys U-14 semis — Simeon Sealy bt Lendl Smith 6-1, 6-2; Richard Chung bt Desta Sandy 7-6 (7-5), 6-0.
Girls U-16 semis — Keshia Lewis bt Geaneth Small 6-1, 6-0; Jeneice Ward bt Stephanie Barrow 6-0, 6-1.
Boys U-16 semis — Kyle Hannays bt Aaron Wong 6-0, 6-0; Matthew De Gannes bt Sean De La Bastide 6-2, 6-0.

Monday’s quarterfinal Results
Boys U-10 — Jonathan Gouveia bt Luke De Caires 6-3, 6-4; Dawoud Kabli bt Blayne Gomez 6-3, 6-3; David Clarke bt Jabrille Kabli 7-5, 6-1; Abdoulaye Camara bt Akeil Duke 6-1, 6-0.
Girls U-12  — Raye Ann Sandy bt Chlome James 6-0, 6-0; Nalini Maharaj bt Christina Bennett 6-3, 6-3; Akilha Smith bt Kernel Teasdale 6-1, 6-2; Nicole Leacock bt Sheneice Joyeau 6-1, 6-0.
Boys U-12 — Liam Gomez bt Jeremy Pantin 6-0, 6-0; Jovani Lewis bt Leon Fraser 6-3, 5-7, 6-4; Christopher Brash bt Vaughn Wilson 6-1, 6-0; Seve Day bt Raval Deonarine 6-1, 6-1.
Girls U-14  — Kiran Pereira bt Carissa James 6-0, 6-1; Samantha De Gannes bt Amunu Adogwa w/o; Shenelle Mohammed bt Amrika Ramjewan 6-0, 2-0 retired; Carlista Mohammed bt Jendaya Hosten 6-0, 6-0.
Boys U-14 — Simeon Sealy bt Joshua Pantin 6-0, 6-0; Lendl Smith bt Jack Su 6-3, 6-2; Desta Sandy bt Jared Gouveia 6-0, 6-1; Richard Chung bt Dirk Ramdial 6-1, 6-1.
Girls U-16 — Jeneice Ward bt Khadija Landeau 6-0, 6-0; Stephanie Barrow bt Zakiya King 6-4, 6-4; Keshia Lewis bt Sharda Saroop 6-0, 6-2.
Boys U-16 — Kyle Hannays bt Sean Woodham 7-5, 6-2; Sean De La Bastide bt Rajiv Doon Pundit 6-0, 6-0; Matthew De Gannes bt Marc Hem Lee 7-5, 6-7, 6-4; Aaron Wong bt Brad Wallace 6-0, 6-4.
Boys U-18  — Thomas Staskiewicz bt Kino Francis 6-4, 0-6, 6-4; Brent Kuei Tung bt Mark Balgobin 6-2, 6-2; Yohansey Williams bt Jared Phillip 6-3, 6-3.

Sunday’s Results
Boys U-12 — Leon Fraser bt Jerome Branker 8-4; Jovani Lewis bt Kyle Delzin 8-6; Christopher Brash bt Denilson Christopher 8-0; Jeremy Pantin bt Aaron Ismael 8-2; Vaughn Wilson bt Kevan Lee Lum 8-7 (8-4); Liam Gomez bt Nkosi Lewis 8-2; Raval Deonarine bt Tariq Mohammed 8-1; Seve Day bt Renaldo Santana 8-0.
Girls U-14 — Shenelle Mohammed bt Charlotte De Souza 8-1; Carissa James bt Kimbar Cox 8-0; Adogwa Amunu bt Rachael Constance 8-4; Samantha De Gannes bt Arielle De Quesney 8-3; Carlista Mohammed bt Renele Forde 8-0; Kiran Pereira bt Samantha Carter 8-0; Jendaya Hosten bt Melanie Wint 8-5; Amrika Ramjewan bt Kara Fortune 8-0.
Boys U-14 — Simeon Sealy bt Anthony Gibson 8-0; Joshua Pantin bt Kyle Vincent 8-2; Lendl Smith bt Ryan Gomez 8-0; Jack Su bt Akeem Anderson 8-1; Desta Sandy bt Kibwe Gooding w/o; Dirk Ramdial bt Paul Sammy 8-2; Richard Chung bt Owen Walker 8-0.
Girls U-16 — Stephanie Barrow bt Lakshmi Mohammed 8-6; Keshia Lewis bt Simone Liverpool 8-1; Sharda Saroop bt Rhea Dookeran 8-5; Zayika King bt Renee Cruickshank 8-0; Jeneice Ward bt Krizia Layne 8-2; Khadija Landeau bt Naila Saleem 8-2.

Saturday’s Results
Boys U-10 — Jonathan Gouveia bt George Haidar 8-0.
Girls U-12 — Christina Bennett bt Shaneece Patrick 8-0; Kernel Teasdale bt Akilha James 8-5; Sheneice Joyeau bt Tricia Baptiste 8-0.
Boys U-12 — Keval Lee Lum bt Shea Best 8-0.
Girls U-14 — Samantha De Gannes bt Sanya Ramjattan 8-2.
Boys U-14 — Joshua Pantin bt Andre Blackburn 8-3; Ryan Gomez bt Alex Dahru 8-4; Paul Sammy bt Javed Razack 8-3; Dirk Ramdial bt Aasan Lewis 8-6.
Girls U-16 — Krizia Layne bt Nikita Parden 8-0; Khadija Landeau bt Veja Charles 8-4; Zayika King bt Anurani Chadeesingh 8-1; Lakshmi Maharaj bt Anesha Deonarine 8-1; Stephanie Barrow bt Leah Gajadhar 8-7; Simone Liverpool bt Martina Chow 8-2; Keshia Lewis bt Taneja Young 8-1; Sharda Saroop bt Dahlia Dennison 8-1; Jeanette Small bt Vanessa Buchoon 8-1; Nafisa Wharwood bt Nneka George 8-0.
Boys U-16 — Jesus Lopez bt Elliot Linton 8-3; Sean De La Bastide bt Ashvede Gobin 8-0; Mark Yearwood bt Jason John 8-3; Kyle Hannays bt Kwesi Jackson 8-0; Karel Allen bt Kris Gray 8-4; Aaron Wong bt Aarn Mohammed 8-4.
Girls U-18 — Jillian Gonzales bt Tenille Bernard 8-6; Toni Lewis bt Erin Dennison 8-0; Sanian Lewis bt Sparkle Prentice 8-1.
Boys U-18 — Mark Balgobin bt Khaleel Rajack 8-5.

Royal Flush is expected to be installed favourite for the the Union Park Turf Club Easter Guineas on Easter Monday at Santa Rosa Park, Arima.

This follows his outstanding performance in his first try around two turns and will race from Gate 13 in the Arima Race Club Day 12 feature. The slot was drawn for the Mary Navarro-owned colt at the draw for post positions held at the sponsors Off Track Betting outlet in Marabella yesterday. At the function, Justice Wendell Kangaloo, president of the UPTC, said his event was always one which turfites looked forward to in the past and promised to continue the sponsorship as long as the Arima Race Club allowed.

Kangaloo reminded those in attendance that his club sponsored the event in 1993, the last  occasion it was staged at the Union Park racecourse and was happy to be given the opportunity again by the Arima Race Club. He alluded to “a  match made in heaven,” stating  that the ARC needed the sponsorship and his club was glad be reunited with the Classic representing the first leg of the triple crown. Kangaloo failed to disclose the amount of  the sponsorship deal, but said it was an increase over last year’s figure. Glen Mendez’s pair of Top Of The Class and Celebration Time, who will also be among the market leaders, drew lanes 15 and five for the 1800 metres event for which 17 runners drew, but only a maximum of 16 will start. Affirm Decision, the stablemate of Royal Flush, will start closest the rails in the three-year-old contest and Sweet Tempo, another member of from trainer Glen Mendez’ string, will start from the extreme post.

Champion trainer John O’Brien, who won the event the most since racing was centralised in Arima in 1994, also goes into the event with a three-pronged attack. Cornerstone, who finished runner up to Royal Flush last time will race from gate six, Hannibal’s Will is in eight and Isle Be there in 14. Starting positions were also drawn yesterday for the Champagne Stakes, the supporting feature  on Monday’s 11-race card. In the 1600 metres Turf contest where seven will go to post, Adawar and Phantom Bidder, who will be representing trainer John O’Brien’s barn, were slotted for lanes three and four, with Sure Ting and Sugar Mike leaving gates one and seven respectively. Following are the framed races, entries, weights and jockeys for the entire card:

Reigning Solo national senior champions Anil Seepaul and Sabrina Cassie are on course to successfully retain their individual badminton crowns. Both champions were involved in the preliminaries and quarterfinals rounds of the Trinidad and Tobago Badminton Association annual Senior Championships play-offs at the Jean Pierre Complex, mucurapo on Monday night.

Three-time champion Seepaul will battle promising Surujadeen Mohammed in the first semi-final encounter while former champion David Lee Kim will be fully tested by rising star Kerwyn Pantin in the other semis. Mohammed, unable to prove himself against Seepaul in the recent TTBA Open championships semi-final because of exhaustion will be a highly motivated player in the showdown.

In the recent TTBA Open championships, Seepaul, despite not being in the best frame of mind and nurturing a slight injury, showed glimpses of his true class and overcame a spirited Pantin in the grand finale. With a series of power smashes and superbly-controlled drop shots, Seepaul recorded an easy 15-1 and 15-1 quarter-final win over Jeremy Lewis while Mohammed disposed of Devon Kublal at 15-2 and 15-3 in another quarter-final contest. Lee Kim upstaged Anderson Morris while Pantin had to pull out all stops to turn back the challenge of newly crowned Junior Under-19 champion Rahul Rampersad who extended his senior counterpart to three sets. Pantin won at 15-6, 12-15 and 15-4.

On the distaff side, seven-time Cassie smashed out Daysha Francis at 11-2 and 11-6 while her doubles partner and major singles rival Zeudi Mack edged out a fired up Kesma Benito in a 10-13, 11-3 and 11-9 in a three-set thriller. Cassie takes on former junior champion Nadine Julien who outplayed Kamasha Robertson 11-2 and 11-0 while Mack will be up against Stephanie Mitchell who toyed with Kimberley Lovero in the other quarter-final winning at 11-1 and 11-3.

On Tuesday night, Seepaul teamed up with former national champion Ronald Clarke and they humbled Shaun Sookdeo and Devon Kublal 15-3 and 15-1 in their doubles quarter-final and must be highly fancied to retain their tandem title once again. This evening they should take care of the Avinash Lakhan and Noor Williams combination while the youthful pair of Mohammed and newly-crowned junior triple champion Rahul Rampersad will be sternly tested by Pantin and Lewis in the other “semis.”

Cassie and mixed doubles partner Clarke showed flashes of brilliance and dominance as they overpowered doubles specialist David Lee Kim, a seven-time senior champion, and former junior champion Nadine Julien by a 15-6 and 15-7 margin. They are down to meet Mohammed and Mitchell pair in the “semis” while Seepaul and Mack will tackle Pantin and Benito in the other “mixed semis?.” The Cassie/Mack pair will be up against the Mitchell/Julien combination in the women’s doubles final. In the round-robin “semis”, the Cassie/Mack team downed the Francis/Lovero duo at 15-0 and 15-0 while the Mitchell/Julien combination stopped Francis/Lovero at 15-3 and 15-5. All the champions will be selected to represent the country at the annual Caribbean Regional Badminton Championships (CAREBACO), which will be hosted locally by the TTBA during the month of July.

LOS ANGELES: Kobe Bryant has been reluctant to shoot early in recent matches, opting instead to get Shaquille O’Neal and his other Los Angeles Lakers teammates involved in the offence.

With a push from coach Phil Jackson, that changed on Tuesday night. Bryant scored 20 of his 32 points in the first quarter, and O’Neal added 19 points and scored the 9,000th rebound of his career in the third period as the Lakers took command early in beating the hapless Denver Nuggets 126-104. “I think Phil wants me to be more assertive at the beginning of the match, so that’s what I tried to do tonight,” Bryant said. With the playoffs about to begin, look for that strategy to continue. Jackson asked Bryant to be more aggressive offensively in late January, and the result was a streak of 13 matches in which Bryant scored 35 or more points.

The Lakers won 11 of those 13. In the first quarter against the Nuggets, Bryant shot six-of-nine, including two-of-three from three-point range, and went six-of-seven from the foul line. He also had four rebounds, two assists, two steals and only one turnover in the period, which ended with the Lakers on top 42-24. The Nuggets weren’t closer than 14 points after that. It was 69-41 at halftime and 103-73 entering the fourth quarter. Bryant and O’Neal could have done a lot more damage, but the one-sided nature of the game made that unnecessary. Bryant wound up playing 26 minutes and O’Neal played 24, and neither left the bench in the fourth quarter.

The win was the seventh in eight matches for the Lakers, but the three-time defending NBA champions lost any chance of getting home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs when Portland beat Phoenix 120-102. The Lakers will finish fifth or sixth in the Western Conference, depending on what happened last night in the final matches of the regular season. They open the playoffs Saturday or Sunday at Dallas, Minnesota or Portland. If Minnesota beats Memphis and Portland beats the Los Angeles Clippers, the Lakers will finish sixth and face Dallas in the first round.

JUNIOR tennis players from 33 overseas countries are expected in Trinidad and Tobago for the IBM sponsored International Junior Championships from April 21 to 26.

Sanctioned by the International tennis Federation (ITF) the competition forms part of the Caribbean Junior Circuit and is the most prestigious junior tournament on the local tennis calendar. Based on their performances players are awarded points which go towards their world rankings. Organised by the Tennis Patrons Association (TPA), the competition was officially launched yesterday at the PSA Tennis Centre, Long Circular Road, St James.

In attendance were Vincent Pereira, president of the TPA; tournament director/co-ordinator Jean Merry; TPA secretary Christine Alexis; Tennis Association president David James; Clyde Alleyne, General Manager IBM World Trade Corporation; Leslie Welsh, Manager Human Resource at IBM; and Melville Black. Pereira said yesterday the Tennis Patrons, a non-profit organisation, owe much of their success to their hard working committee members and stressed their commitment to providing the best opportunities for the young players to excel at the highest levels. He expressed his appreciation to IBM who have been benefactors of the tournament now celebrating its 10th year, heralded by the publication of a special brochure to commemmorate the auspicious occasion. IBM’s Alleyne highlighted the information technology giant’s involvement worldwide in social, cultural, sporting and charitable causes with a presence in Trinidad and Tobago dating back three decades.

Alleyne committed IBM to the tournament in future  and promised that this year’s show will be the best ever judging from the overwhelming response from overseas and local entrants despite what he described as “a difficult world environment”. He said with so many impressionable minds converging on Trinidad and Tobago, it was an excellent opportunity to promote awareness of the twin-island state and also to expose local players to the high standard of play of the visitors. Tennis Association president James praised the marriage of the Tennis Patrons Association and IBM which he said has spawned exciting TT talents like Winnington Grazelle, Kiran Perreira and others. He said his association is currently in “development mode” and the IBM tournament complements the objective of the national organisation to put this country on the international tennis map.

Apart from the multi-national contingent coming from the latest leg of the circuit in Barbados, players from the world famous Chris Evert Academy and the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida, USA will also be here. Competition will be in the Under-18, Under-14 and Under-12 Categories for Boys and Girls playing at the PSA Tennis Centre; Country Club, Maraval; and the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo. Among the top local players in the fray are Ryan Lorimer, Winnington Grazette, Stuart Perkins, Michael Clarke (18 and Under Boys); Nicole Agostini, Anastasia Weedon, Brittany Delaney (18 and Under Girls); Jonathan Drew, Richard Chung, Lendl Smith (14 and Under Boys); Olivia Bennett, Yolande Leacock, Kiran Perreira (14 and Under Girls); Seve Day, Liam Gomez, Leon Fraser, Jovani Lewis, Christopher Brash (12 and Under Boys); Nicollette Leacock, Rayeann Sandy (12 and Under Girls).

ENTRIES keep pouring in from Caribbean countries for this year’s 29th edition of Hampton International Games scheduled for May 3 and 4 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port-of-Spain.

But up to yesterday, Games chairman Rawle Raphael said he had no word from government or the Sports Ministry regarding his request for financial assistance. Raphael said Learie Scipio head of  the Games Financial Committee had informal discussions with Prime Minister Patrick Manning and Sport and Youth Affairs Minister Roger Boynes during the recent Southern Games. He said Scipio told him government promised “some funding” but did not disclose any amount.

Since December last, Hampton requested a grant/loan of $10 million over five years, which will assist in the Games achieving Grand Prix status by the International Association of Athletic Federations. Raphael said “up to this morning (yesterday) I received a ‘fax’ from Chandra Sturrup of Bahamas, indicating her willingness to compete at the Games.” He said, top international athletes, world 100 metres record holder Tim Montgomery, Coby Miller, Tim Harden, Justin Gatlin, Tayna Lawrence, Debbie Ferguson, Zhanna Pinttsevich and Savatheda Fynes are standing by, awaiting tickets to fly in for the Games. “Once we get the money we will be having most if not all these world-class athletes at the Games.” Raphael said.

He also said entries were received from 73 athletes from the Striders Club of Barbados, another 23 from Guyana, three from Grenada and he had several e-mails and “fax’ messages he had not yet dealt with. Meanwhile, Hampton announced admission charges for the two-day Games — $20 uncovered stands for adults and $10 for children, $60 adults and $30 childred for coveren stands each day. And there is a “price-cutter” of $90 adults and $200 per carload of five in covered stands for both days.