THE MINISTRY of Education announced yesterday that with immediate effect all Government recruiting and training institutions must accept Grades I, II and III in the new six-point CXC grading scheme as entry requirements. The Ministry said the base line mark in the old Grade II is equivalent to the base line mark in the new Grade III. Grades I, II and III in the new scheme are therefore recognised for entry to post secondary and tertiary institutions, for recruitment and appointment to the general Public Service and to the teaching service at primary school level, and for entry into government training institutions. Educational institutions and employment agencies are asked to take note of this decision and to be guided accordingly.
NEWSDAY Production Supervisor Ramesh Seecharan, who was killed in a vehicular accident last week, was cremated at the Shores of Peace, Mosquito Creek following an emotional funeral service at his Rousillac home yesterday morning. Friends and relatives paid glowing tribute to Seecharan, who was remembered as a devoted husband who was committed to his family and work. Family friend Janet Ratiram remembered him as a supportive husband to his wife Padmini. She said: “He was really there for her at all times.” Ratiram recalled Seecharan’s fondness for river limes, saying that he was planning one for the weekend but would not be around to enjoy it. She also applauded the vision and commitment he showed in publishing with his wife what was the first local Indian cultural newspaper, ‘Dil’.
One of Seecharan’s relatives remembered how he had planned to present his wife with another wedding ring in honour of their 20th anniversary which would have been celebrated this month. His brother Mukesh struggled to hold back tears as he said: “There was nothing Ramesh could not handle.” He later made a promise to support Seecharan’s family: “Anything you need just call me, I’ll be there for you.” Seechran’s widow sobbed as she was embraced by her daughter Lauren and sister Renuka. His mother, Parthy, struggled to hold back the tears, but after a while they flowed freely. Close friends, Edwin Williams and Ringo Maraj, reminisced about the good times they had with Seecharan. Williams said: “I learnt everything from Ram. Ram helped everyone, sometimes to his own detriment.”
He said Seecharan displayed “dedication and selflessness” in whatever endeavours he pursued. Maraj recalled the workmanship of his friend and the way he easily kept and maintained a cordial relationship with others. Students from the nearby Rousillac Hindu School sang at the funeral. Family pundit Baldath Maharaj urged the gathering to examine their lives and make positive changes. He told them they must perfect themselves in the physical body to achieve “everlasting happiness.” He also advised them to treat their jobs as a duty. He added: “Do your job wholeheartedly, do it with joy, do it for others.” Following the service, Seecharan’s body was taken to the Shore of Peace, Mosquito Creek, for cremation.
A 90th minute goal by Joe Public striker Nigel Pierre sealed Trinidad and Tobago’s first international football win under new coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier, a 2-0 victory over Kenya’s Olympic team at the Kasarani Stadium, Nairobi, yesterday. The victory was the first for TT on African soil and should now set the pace for their two remaining matches against Botswana on June 10 and South Africa five days later. TT were coming off a decent display in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Kenya’s Senior team but the homeside’s Olympic team was not to be overridden on the day. They gave their Caribbean counterparts a strong run leading up to their 2004 Olympic qualifier against South Africa later this month.
Kerwyn Jemmot and Travis Mulraine were introduced into the TT starting eleven but the team was guilty of allowing their opponents to see more of the ball in the opening half although they never allowed the Kenyans to control proccedings. TT’s Scottish-based striker Colin Samuel should have sent the visitors ahead in the 29th minute when the Falkirk man was played through by Mulraine but his low right-footer was saved by a diving Arnold Origi near the six-yard box. Mulraine also went close when he intercepted a pass in the Kenyan defence but directed his effort high and wide in what was a first half of little excitement for the 2,000-odd fans. Fevrier then introduced Dale Saunders for Spann and Pierre for Jemmot early in the second half as TT, though finding scoring opportunities hard to come by, enjoyed better possession for much of the remaining 45 minutes.
A neat build-up then broke the deadlock on 64 minutes. Pierre combined with Scotland who held the ball up nicely before giving the oncoming Carlos Edwards to calmly chip the ’keeper from the right top of the six-yard box for a 1-0 TT lead. As the final whistle approached. Pierre, celebrating his 24th birthday, collected a deep clearance from Ince, inside the penalty box and held off a couple defenders before rifling home from close up. T&T line up: 21. Clayton Ince, 2. Brent Sancho, 3. Reynold Carrington, 4. Keyeno Thomas, 5. Dale Saunders, 6. Avery John, 7. Carlos Edwards, 8. Silvio Spann (5. Dale Saunders, 46th), 9. Jason Scotland (15. Conrod Smith, 84th) 11. Colin Samuel (14, Nigel Daniel, 79th) 18. Kerwyn Jemmot (16. Nigel Pierre, 60th), 19. Travis Mulraine (12. Anton Pierre, 79th) Subs not used: 22. Jan Michael Williams, 13. Derek King,
ST. GEORGE’S: West Indies captain Brian Lara, buoyed by his team’s fabulous nine-wicket whipping of world champions Australia in Sunday’s seventh and final Cable and Wireless One-Day International (ODI), says his team proved again that they can be competitive. Lara also praised the batting of recalled opener Wavell Hinds who once again masterminded the Windies victory with an unbeaten 103 which included three sixes and six fours. He said this victory has once again shown that the West Indies is still a competitive team. “We came to Grenada knowing that Australia at some point in time is going to try to play good cricket. They wouldn’t want to go home losing both matches so we played good cricket, better than the Australians played over the weekend and we deserved to win so I’m very happy,” Lara said.
“Man of the Series” Hinds, with his second consecutive hundred, Lara (75), and “Man of the Match” Chris Gayle (60), powered the West Indies to 249 for one off 43.3 overs, after Australia had totalled 247 for eight off 50 overs, with Darren Lehmann hitting 107, against Gayle (5-46). The West Indies handsomely won the last three matches in the ODI series to finish on a high note, and Australian captain Ricky Ponting was clearly disappointed, despite winning both the Test (3-1) and ODI (4-3) series. “It was a bit of a sour taste on a pretty good tour,” said Ponting. “We played excellent Test cricket in the first three Tests and we played pretty good one-day cricket in the first four and to go home having lost the last three is disappointing but I think there was a lot of positive coming out of the tour in both Tests and One-Day cricket for the Australian team. “This team doesn’t like losing so to lose three matches in a row will make everyone a bit keener to play better next time,” Ponting said. The Australians left for home yesterday and following a short break will contest a Test and one-day series against minnows Bangladesh.
President of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control (TTCBC), Alloy Lequay has formally written Minister of Works and Transport Franklyn Khan yesterday concerning the loss of luggage by the Australian cricket team at Piarco International Airport. The normally mild-mannered Lequay said he was very upset by the incident on Tuesday which has tarnished the country’s image internationally. ”After the loss of luggage I was very upset. It was not the first time that this thing has happened at Piarco. I said I was going to write the relevant authorities and yesterday I had three letters hand delivered to them. I wrote to Minister Franklyn Khan, the Commissioner of Police and to BWIA,” Lequay said. “The contents of the letters was very short and direct. I told them that this situation has caused the country and the region a terrible embarrassment and hence they must act quickly to bring the culprits to justice,” the cricket boss added.
This is the fourth such occasion that a touring cricket team has been robbed at the airport. The Australians have suffered on three occasions, while the South Africans also had their stuff stolen in 2001. In 1999 Australian paceman Glenn McGrath lost his luggage at Piarco and was lucky to have it returned to him intact a couple days after. The estimated $10,000 loss suffered by the Australians has captured international headlines and raises concerns especially since the region will host the 2007 World Cup. ”We are going to host the next cricket World Cup and it would be very embarrassing for people around the world to read of this fiasco. We need to do some serious investigation into this matter and bring the perpetrators to justice. This I think is the only way we can put an end to this embarrassment,” Lequay said. The Australian team left Grenada yesterday for Bermuda for a short holiday before making the journey home. They won the Tests 3-1 and the One-Day International series 4-3. West Indies will take on Sri Lanka in a three one-dayers and two Test matches later this month. The Sri Lankans are expected in Grenada and will play their first match against a Shell Academy side.
CANTERBURY: Carl Hooper’s Lancashire completed a 75-run victory over his old club Kent in their four-day English County Championship match that ended at the St Lawrence Ground yesterday. Set 415 runs to win, Kent folded for 339 after a fighting top-score of 79 from Mark Ealham. On Sunday, Hooper had struck a second innings 48 as Lancashire tightened their grip on the match by scoring 334 — setting Kent their huge winning target. Resuming at 123 for four, Kent were always under pressure as medium pacer Greg Chapple (4-66) and left-arm spinner Gary Keedy (4-79) made inroads into their batting and eventually ensured the victory. Hooper had spent six successful years playing for Kent during the 1990s when he scored 22 centuries for the club.
CRAB CONNECTION crawled into the final of the UWI Employees Super Football League knockout series, when they shut out Economy Strikers 2-0 on the UWI ground. The Crabs got goals from Kevin Baptiste and Sheldon Thomas to clinch their vic-tory. Now Crabs will meet Harvard in the final. Harvard advanced 4-3 on penalties after playing to a 1-1 draw with Augustown after regulation and extra-time. Sayid Fuentes scored for the Harvard lads, while Joel Waldron notched the equaliser. These same teams, Crab Connection and Harvard meet in the Premier Division final on Sunday at the same venue, while Futgof and Flippers FC meet in the First Division decider on Saturday. Ambassadors and Paramount National Unity meet and UWI tangle with TSTT in Over-40 Division knockout action today, while Moosai’s FC take on Only Stars in the same series tomorrow.
ORGANISERS of the recent Caribbean Aerobics Championships 2 have declared the fitness clash as their best presentation to date. And plans are already underway for next year’s competition at which a wider cross-section of the region will be present to stake their claim. The finals comprised keen competition in the Endurance Marathon; Team; Pairs and Individual competitions held on Saturday at the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo. Emerging Endurance Marathon winner was Eleanour Patrick, a 36-year-old Maraval resident who trounched a field of 95 fitness enthusiasts for the $10,000 winners’ cheque and the challenge trophy. In second place was crowd favourite Nicole Cain who placed second for the second consecutive year while third was Ceemoy Murray. The trio led a sweep of the top five positions by women. Selwyn Melville, organiser of the competition said yesterday he was satisfied with the performance of the participants which he said was of a higher level than last year’s inaugural Caribbean Aerobics Championships. He said this year participants came from Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Puerto Rico and Jamaica. However the overseas entrants were not able to unseat the local competitors who more than held their own in the finals.
“We were able to promote a show which was more refined this year since we learnt from our mistakes and were more co-ordinated in the production. Also more attractive prizes and incentives were offered for both athletes and patrons which added more interest and motivation,” said Melville. The well-known sports commentator and events co-ordinator said he was pleased with the general outcome and discounted reports of a disturbance on Saturday night. Reports stated that disappointed supporters of one participant attempted to throw some missiles when the results were announced. However Melville said this was an isolated event and had no bearing on the show nor had any significant impact. “The show was not interrupted, no one was hurt neither were the security called in. In fact there was no disturbance, just an isolated incident which did not deserve the prominence it was eventually given after the fact,” said Melville.
Also giving full marks for the show was Newsday’s Marketing Representative Dominic Hinds who was present on Saturday for the duration of the competition. “I was moved to express my appreciation to the organisers on the way the entire competition was conducted. It was a first class presentation and cannot be marred by the deviant behaviour of persons who obviously do not respect order and conform to good conduct,” said Hinds yesterday. He complimented Melville for the successful conclusion of the zonal competitions and the finals and said he looked forward to Caribbean Aerobics Championships 3.
Results
Burnout: 1 Eleanour Patrick 2:06.16; 2 Nicole Cain 2:00.16; 3 Ceemoy Murray 1:59.16; 4 Angela Parris 1:53.45; 5 Michelle John 1:52.08; 6 Nicole Robinson 1:51.09; 7 Gerard Forde 1:49.53; 8 Yarma Lakhan 1:49.56; 9 Gerard Richards 1:47.55; 10 Gerard Arneaud 1:45.05.
Teams: 1 Jillian Aimable, Narissa Lezama, Jenelle Lezama, Varma Lakhan 82 pts; 2 Nicole Guevara, Tricia Arkles, Kavita Maharaj 76; 3 Joycelyn Richards, Dinish Bachan, Narisa Singh 66.
Pairs: 1 Narisa Singh, Joycelyn Richards 84.5 points; Jason Chapman, Carla Portillo 76; 3 Kamlan Aleong, Delton Frank 72.
Individuals: 1 Neil Diaz; 2 Anderson Morris; 3 Varma Lakhan.
Veterans’ player Derek “Cornbread” James and team-mate Barry Stewart each scored 22 points to help their team to a 69-63 win over Maloney Old School as the Eastern Community Basketball League continued at the Maloney Indoor Sport Complex on Sunday night. Playing at home, Maloney failed to delight supporters with a win despite Anderson Joseph’s valiant 15 and Junior Cain’s defiant 11 points in the keenly contested Second Division match. In the earlier fixture Grande Young Stars went down 63-59 against Hackers in the First Division which saw Grande’s Richard Mungo score a match-high 32 points and snatch 16 rebounds. Mungo’s support came from Kester Brereton who scored 15.
Hackers were not going to be bystanders though as Grande made a strong thrust for victory. Allister St Louis led the Hacker counter-charge with 17 points and seven rebounds. Allan Pierre put in 13 points and held 13 rebounds and Keith Thomas completed the onslaught with 11 points. The women’s match carded to start the night’s action saw Malick Tigers take full points, Police Women failed to turn up. In other matches on Thursday night in the Second Division, Veterans beat Macoya Forum 76-60; and Unit Trust Maloney Pacers beat TSTT 69-58. On Saturday in the Second Division, Caledonia Clippers schooled Brian Chase Academy beating them 85-37; while in the First Division Colours beat Police 64-54 and Brian Chase Academy fell 56-38 to Grande All Stars. Action in the league continues from Tuesday to Thursday; and on Saturdays and Sundays.
CHAMPIONS Defence Force put themselves in a strong position to retain their title in the Port-of-Spain Netball League, when they bested arch-rivals Police 45-40 in their Pearl Francis Championship Division match at the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo. Trinidad and Tobago goal-shoot Anastascia Wilson led the Army-Coast Guard girls offensive in Saturday’s tension-charged encounter with 16 goals from 23 attempts. Calypso Girls utility players Stacey Sparks had 13 from 23 and Rhonda John 11 of 15. Lanky Patrice Goring scored 29 goals from 39 attempts, Beverly Hernandez 14 of 26 and Beverly Rodgers two of four for the policewomen. Mucurapo Ex-Pupils won by default over Chips, while San Juan Jabloteh were default winners over Arima United.
But Uppers routed Defence Force 50-35 in their Angela “Pinky” Drayton “A1” Division match at the same venue. Goal-attack Debra Martin was in most accurate form, nailing 35 goals from 36 attempts while Olivia Le Platte had 15 goals from 22 attempts for the winners. For the Defence Force second team, Karlene Sylvester scored 27 of 38 attempts and Donna Chase, eight of 12. Zenith whipped Netaces 34-30 in another thrilling match in the same division. Helen Curden netted 25 goals, Melissa Snaggs had five and Michelle Slater four for the winners. Cheryl Ann Warren, 22, and Karen Sandiford, eight, scored for Netaces. Soul City thumped Arima Ball Masters 50-20 in another match, with Debra Beckles scoring 32 goals and Michelle Boyce, 18, for the winning team. Natasha Roachford hit eight, Kathy Ann Cain, seven, and Alana Flemming, five, got goals for the losers.
