TT pigeons climb in world rankings

Trinidad and Tobago are 10th in the world after the recently concluded Mira 2003 World Championship pigeon races in Portugal held from July 11 to 13. From a slate of 27 countries, TT went one up over Belgium (11th) over a distance of 22 km. TT, the sole Caribbean participant, clocked four minutes and four seconds behind winners Columbia. Latin American neighbours Mexico and Brazil placed second and 19th, respectively. In the World Championship Individual races, Anne Marie Ferreira clocked a time of 15:29:54 finishing in the top 20. Anthony Emmanuel came in two places behind in 21st position in  15:30:29 while Desmond Mohamed took 74th spot in 16:47:37. Mark Farrugia of Malta took top spot in 15:25:50.

Austria’s Lutz Primes won the Grand Prix Gaspar Vila Nova Individual; and Valdemar Oliveira and Liliana Andreia Silva, both of Portugal, settled for second and third place, respectively. President of the Trinidad Pigeon Association (TPA) Ernest Ferreira said he was pleased with the results since Trinidad had placed higher than many of the top pigeon racing countries. “We did well considering that this is the second biggest sport after football in countries like Portugal, Belgium and Spain,” Ferreira said. In December, TT is set to compete in the international competition in Cuba.