SWIMMER George Bovell and boxer Kerston Manswell are amongst five sports personalities and administrators to receive National Awards today, at President’s House, St Ann’s from 6 pm, for loyal and devoted service to Trinidad and Tobago in the sphere of sport.

The awards were conferred under the Order of the Trinity on the occasion of the 41st anniversary of Independence. The 20-year-old Bovell and long-standing track and field administrator Wilton Jackson will each collect the Humming Bird Medal Gold while Manswell, retired professional golfer Robert McKenna and president of the Trinidad and Tobago Umpires Association Harry Mahabal are the recipients of the Humming Bird Medal Silver. Bovell, who is entering his second year at Auburn University in the United States, won two gold medals in the 200-metre individual medley (clocking the fifth fastest time in history) and 200m freestyle at the recent Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The six-foot-five-inch tall Bovell also placed fifth in the 200 IM at the World Championships in Barcelona, Spain in July.

Manswell, a 26-year-old heavyweight pugilist from Roxborough, Tobago, took three silver medals at recent international meets —- the 2002 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games at El Salvador, the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England and the just-concluded Pan Am Games in Santo Domingo. Mahabal said yesterday he would dedicate the Humingbird Silver Medal to his late parents. Speaking from his Dinsley Avenue, Trincity home an emotional Mahabal said: “I am very honoured to have received such an award and I would like to dedicate it to my parents Alfred and Teresa Mahabal —- both of whom are now deceased. I would also like to dedicate it to all the umpires in Trinidad and Tobago.” The 62-year old has been recognised for his contribution to sport, especially umpiring. “It is good to be honoured after 37 years in the field of umpiring. I am very happy with the accolade and I would like to thank the government of Trinidad and Tobago for their kind gesture.” Mahabal who recently retired as a Materials Manager at Caribbean Packaging Industries Limited said he has enjoyed his stint as an umpire and still dons his umpiring coat up until today, although he is heavily involved in the administration of the sport. Recently Mahabal was made vice-president of Area-4 by the West Indies Cricket Umpires Council and has already started working on the development of the regional officials.

FULL POINTS will be the incentive for CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh as they face the struggling Arima Fire in a double-header at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar, Arima in today’s 15th round of the T&T Pro League.

Jabloteh hold the lead in both divisions — 36 points in the seniors and 31 in the Under-20s — and will be fancying their chances against the firemen who are currently eighth in both standings. Fire are not expected to pose a stiff challenge to the Jabloteh team who have stepped up a gear in the Under-20 age group —- with a late burst to overtake South Starworld Strikers —- and now rest comfortably in front with a five-point advantage. The Jabloteh seniors have been more efficient and ruthless in their displays this season, raking up a league-leading 42 goals and conceding a miserly 10. W Connection will attempt to make up lost ground when they host South West Institute of Football (SWIF) at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva while former national striker Jerron Nixon makes a return to local football when he dons the North East Stars uniform against “Stallions” Caledonia AIA at the Sangre Grande Recreation Ground. All senior matches kick off at 4 pm with the Under-20 matches beginning two hours earlier.

Without the speed and power the world’s second fastest man Darrel Brown, Trinidad and Tobago’s chances of collecting a second medal at the 9th IAAF World Outdoor Championships were dashed yesterday when the senior sprint relay quartet failed to advance to the 4×100 relay final at the Stade de France.

Eighteen-year-old Brown, the world’s new youth record holder and world silver-medallist, felt the pangs of a pulled muscle during his historic final when he had to come from behind to edge out his senior world-rated sprinters for the silver medal in 10.08. He has been an integral part of the sprint relays teams, which have lowered the national relay record twice at the 2001 Edmonton World Championships and the 14th Pan-American Games held in the Dominican Republic earlier this month. Yesterday, with Marc Burns, Ato Boldon, Jacey Harper and Nicconor Alexander, racing in that order; TT placed fourth in the third round of the quarterfinal heats. They clocked 38.89, which allowed them to qualify for the semi-final as one of the four fastest after the top three teams from the four rounds advanced. TT were fourth to Poland (38.52), Netherlands (38.72, National Record), and Jamaica (38.84, Season Best).

The United States with 200-metre gold medallist John Capel, Bernard Williams, Davris Patton and Josh Johnson clocked the fastest time in the first semi-final round in 37.99. They had won quarterfinal heat one in 38.28 ahead of France (38.61), Germany (38.91), Ghana (38.94) and Dominican Republic (39.09). Jamaica, who had finished just ahead of Trinidad and Tobago in heat three in 38.84, replaced leadoff runner Julien Dunkley with finisher Ricardo Williams and used Asafa Williams at the anchor leg. This worked in their favour as they improved in the semi-final and placed second in 38.45. Poland (38.50, SB), Japan (38.58) and Netherlands (38.63, NR) outpaced TT (38.84) and made it through to today’s showdown final. Great Britain’s Christian Malcolm, Darren Campbell, Malcolm Devenish and Dwain Chambers powered to victory in the other semi-final in 38.26 and established themselves as a one of the favoured team for the gold medal. They switched 100-metre bronze medallist Campbell with Mark Lewis-Francis in the “semis”? and looked very smooth in the exchanges with Chambers just coasting home. Brazil (38.50) and Nigeria (38.58, SB) were automatic qualifiers as the first three in each “semi?” and the two other fastest advanced. TT by placing sixth behind Japan and Netherlands lost out of the opportunity to vie for a higher placing and a second medal to add to Brown’?s silver in the 100 metres dash.

Home Construction Limited continued their winning ways last weekend in the CL Financial football series at Squadron Ground, Arouca.

HCL outplayed Clico to register an emphatic 5-0 win after their drubbing of Tru Valu the weekend before by the same scoreline. It was the only match in the competition last weekend. The tournament features the football talent in the CL Financial Group. HCL will bid to continue their impressive run  against British American on September 7. Matches continue today in the CL Financial Football League with a double-header at Squadron. British American come up against Net Fire Associates at 2 pm; followed by a clash between Tru Valu and Angostura at 4 pm. It has also been announced that the CL Financial knock-out competition will kick off on Satuirday, November 1 and end on Sunday, November 16 with the final.

TRAINERS have completed all preparations with their runners in the feature Sagicor Independence Cup, and  the stage is set for an anticipated 1850 metres race on the turf course at Santa Rosa Park, Arima, tomorrow. With the presence of three Barbados-owned runners among the 13-horse field, it guarantees a maximum purse of $200,000, having met the criteria of a three-tier system put in place by the sponsors.

Should only one line-up in the event, however, stakes money will be sliced in half, and if  none of the Bajans face the starter, then prizemoney will revert to the orioginal $75,000. Most trainers were tight-lipped when asked about their chances of  taking the top slice of the purse. And  those with fancied runners have been exuding  confidence in their charges. The Barbadian team of Feet On Flames, Lion Country and Hard Dancer, having had a feel of the grass course on which they will travel left-handed are quietly confident they can spring a surprise. The camaraderie shown by our Caribbean neighboura in answering the call to compete, shows a healthy sign and could be the spark to re-ignite the inter-island rivalry in horseracing.

This inter-island rivalry has been sadly lacking in recent times, either because of improper organisation or the steep travel cost. Grant Lourenco has the strongest hand in the field with Sugar Mike and Invincibility in the Grade One event. Sugar Mike is likely to start favourite, based on his outstanding record this year. From five starts, this versatile son of Ponche/No Sugar have won four over varying distances. His winning sequence was only broken in the Indian Arrival Day Turf Handicap, beaten into fourth by Outswinger, Dottie’s Way and stablemate Invincibility, three rivals he will face off  with. The manner in which Sugar Mike disposed of his opposition since that time tells the tale of  the massive progress made. Sugar Mike should only be opposed on the perception that he is a much better horse on the sand track than the turf, and could be vulnerable against the youngster speedsters who  handles the tighter turns and undulations better.

Trainer Lourenco thinks very  highly of  his other runner Invincibility, and feels the three-year-old has time on his hand and will be better over the longer trips with time. John O’Brien  who won the event with Chanticleer, Adawar and Golden Shufleur over  the last four years was bullish about his chances of lifting the Cup again with Phantom Bidder. When asked about his chances, the champion trainer laughed and responded by opening the race programme on the page with the record of past winners. He then settled in soon after and said his charge is firing on all cylinders. And comparing the weight with Sugar Mike,  thinks Phantom Bidder would reverse the placings of their last meeting and add another notch to his race-winning belt in a race which has been growing in status since being sponsored by insurance firm Sagicor Outswinger, another fancied runner in the event is unbeaten on the turf. His preparations going into the event has been tepid, which gives the impression  that something is amiss. But trainer Jack Debideen is master of the art of getting his horses right for the big occasion, and the frontrunning Outswinger who handles the tight bends well and who is also blessed with fighting qualities,  must not be discounted.

ARIMA Race Club’s “Horses in Training” list became thinner over the last two days with deaths on and off the course of  two horses. The duo died under different circumstances at the racecourse at Santa Rosa Park, Aima.

Judge Judy an unraced imported three-year-old was euthanised after she broke a leg in the backstretch during an exercise gallop on Thursday with stable companion Dare To Dream. Her death was followed  by that of  Saadiya who met his demise while being loaded into a horse van to be taken for a swim in Carenage. As he was being loaded, the four-year-old bay colt suddenly reared up, striking his head on the roof of the van. A wabbly, Saadiya slumped to the ground bleeding from the mouth. Trainer Grant Lourenco who was nearby, rushed to Saadiya’s assistance, dousing his head with water from a hose borrowed from an ARC worker who was watering plants, while a veterinarian was summoned. But all his efforts failed, and Saadiya succumbed.

THE World Track and Field Championships have closed in Paris.
 No, don’t stop reading!

This is the second day (the opening ceremony was the first) on which all the nations of the earth come together in man’s common urge, shared since time began, to shave another 100th of a second off the world record for running 200 metres on an oval track that brings you back to the very spot where you started from. A truly noble purpose. In case you were not able to watch the ceremony on television as it goes out “live,” I am bringing you now the run-down of the main events so that you can relive them in your own time and in your own home. All timings are approximate based on Eastern Caribbean time differences and my personal calculations.

7.20 pm: Ceremony opens, with parade of World Athletics Commissioners down the track.
7.21 pm: False start. Commiss-ioners sent back to starting blocks. Slow-motion video replay shows that several commissioners had beaten the gun, mostly through being too old and deaf to hear it.
7.24 pm: Commissioners get away to a clean start.
7.27 pm: Commissioners bunched together halfway down the track, holding up the Sporting World Championships banner with the “Football” motto: “The important thing is not to win, but to take bribes.”
7.30 pm: Release of 10,000 doves over the Richly Franchised Stadium.
7.35-7.45 pm: Squads of cleaners remove dove-droppings from stadium floor. David Coleman says: “The doves are nervous, and —  goodness me! — Who wouldn’t be on this great day?”
7.50 pm: Commissioners’ parade nearly finished. Some lean on each other and are disqualified.
7.55 pm: Entry of lone runner with a torch (could have been stolen from Olympic Committee for Athens 2004), who has run all the way from somewhere just outside the stadium, thus completing the last link in a chain that stretched all the way back to McDonald’s in Athens.
7.56 pm: The lone runner circles the track in complete silence, lapping some of the commissioners, who refuse to leave the track unless bribed to do so. She is an unmarried French runner of mixed Asian and West Indian parentage with one child, symbolising viewers around the globe who couldn’t get a baby-sitter today.
7.58 pm:American TV announcer says: “She’s so far ahead that none of the other runners has appeared yet! What a display of running from the front!” He is taken aside and put right.
8.00 pm: News comes through that of the 10 doves randomly tested after the fly-past; six have failed an illicit birdseed test. Hemp, cannabis and other substances are said to have been found. “This is going to cast a shadow over the whole games,” says announcer.
8.02 pm: The lone runner climbs the steps to the World Bowl (borrowed from the Olympics committee) and lights the flame for “Saviour in Sport.”
Symbolically, thousands of Euro Dollars are released and flutter to the ground, where the commissioners collect them.
8.10 pm: The parade of nations begins. First is the French team, resolutely dressed in uniforms that have nothing French about them.
8.11pm: The French team is stopped on the track by the French immigration and customs services squad, for search and inspection purposes. This is in response to protest that the other teams have come through rigorous searches at the airport, and it is unfair if the French don’t as well.
8.15pm: French team declared clean as a whistle. “This is going to give the games the great send-off it needed,” says an emotional announcer.
8.37 pm: News come through that several commissioners have failed a random bribe test. They were offered bribes and failed to take them. They have been disqualified.
8.40 pm: News come through that the lone Trinidadian long distance runner has been disqualified for refusing to eat a Big Mac, the official greed symbol of the games. “This sends out a message that nobody wants to hear,” says announcer while chewing on a burger from Burger King.
10.00 pm: The Kuwaiti team march on to the Iraqi cum American national anthem. Testing of musicians shows presence of beer in many players’ blood-system.
10.20 pm: Random testing of World Championships flame shows presence of carcinogenic substances that is against international combustion agreements.
World flame is disqualified. “Oh, this is the sort of thing of which we want less rather than more on such a hopefully great day as this,” says American television announcer.
10.21 pm: American announcer is randomly tested and disqualified after traces of…  This article has been discontinued after traces of the truth in sport have been discovered following a random legal search. 
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Curtis Cox of Trinidad and Tobago is expected to return to St Lucia for the second Annual Cara Suites 10K Classic. The Trinidadian won the title last year, and has already confirmed that he will be defending his crown.

The race route will be from Sandals Halcyon at Choc to Pigeon Point, and will be staged on Sunday, September 7 at 4 pm. This route is expected to both assist and challenge runners, as it contains hills and also has gentle sea breezes. TT road running officials Jan Westmaas and Alan Baboolal have expressed interest in the competition, and are encouraging a strong turnout. After meetings between Guyana Athletic Association President Claude Blackmoore and Gros Islet President Joseph “Reds” Perriera, Guyana have confirmed that their top 10K runners will participate in the event. Long distancer runners are expected from throughout the Caribbean incuding Antigua, Barbados, Martinique and Grenada. The total amount of money up for grabs is over EC$7,000, with a top prize of EC$2700 (US $1000). There will also be awards for the oldest and youngest top finishers. The awards ceremony will take place immediately after the race. The race will also include an over 35 Masters’ Section, which has been both highly competitive and popular since the inception of the race.

A 14-member Trinity Masters Swim Club will represent Trinidad and Tobago at the seventh Latin and American Masters Swim Meet from September 1-5 in Barbados.

Open to swimmers 26 years and over, the team is led by Munich 1972 Olympic swimmer and World Master’s Swim Championships gold medallist Geoffrey Ferreira. The team also includes US-based Master Michael Stollmeyer, Triathletes Donna Pollard and Jackie Jodhan and Wayne Crooks who recently circled Trinidad in a kayak. The meet, which has been hosted by Barbados, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Fort Lauderdale in Florida, USA and Costa Rica, features competition in the butterfly, freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke in five age groups. There is also an open water swim over 3000 and 5000 metres on September 6.

The full Trinity Masters team is: Geoffrey Ferreira, Patty de La Rosa, Bruce Kaufmann, Richard Knaggs, Randy Attin, Jackie Millar, Gordon Borde, Louis Martin, Paul Alloy, Peter De La Rosa, Michael Stollmeyer, Wayne Crooks, Leslie Nunes, Donna Pollard and Jackie Jodhan.