Manswell fights Cuban for gold

SWIMMING SENSATION George Bovell was due to challenge for his third medal last night in the 100-metre backstroke at the Juan Pablo Duarte Aquatic Centre in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The 20-year-old is heavily favoured to claim his second gold medal tonight in his pet event — the 200m individual medley, as the 14th Pan American Games draws to a close. But the Auburn University student clocked 57.41 seconds to advance to last night’s final, the seventh fastest time in the heats. Younger brother Nicholas had to settle for the “B” finals in both the 100 m backstroke and 50m freestyle, after he was timed in 58.63 in the 100 m back and 24.05 in the 50m “free.” The national women’s 4x100 medley relay team also booked a spot in last night’s “A” final with the seventh fastest overall time. But Matthew Houllier, who dominated local swimming during the early 1990s, was unable to gain a spot in either the main or consolation final of the men’s 200 m butterfly.

Caribbean heavyweight king Kerston Manswell will also aim for the precious gold medal tonight in his final duel against Cuban Odlanier Solis at the Carlos Leo Cruz Coliseum. The Tobago-born pugilist will be looking to overturn his 2001 defeat to the Cuban at the World Boxing Championships and cop his first overall triumph at the world stage, following his second-place finish at the Commonwealth Games in Man-chester, England exactly a year ago. Sharntelle McLean and Shannon Duval placed fourth in their respective “B” finals on Thursday night. McLean, competing out of lane three in the women’s 100 m butterfly, held the lead after 50m in 30.02 seconds, but faded away in the end, finishing fourth in 1:05.00, with Mexican Paola Espana winning in 1:03.97 and Marcella Amar of Brazil following in 1:04.65. Duval, who was third midway into the women’s 100m breaststroke consolation in 36.94 seconds, placed fourth in 1:17.96. Jamaican Alia Atkinson led from start to finish, touching the wall in 1:15.37. Chef-de-mission of the Trinidad and Tobago contingent Brian Lewis revealed that top taekwondo competitor Cheryl-Ann Sankar was expected to return home last night. Sankar will require surgery for a broken leg sustained during her second round fight against Elizabeth Franco of El Salvador on Thursday.