GAMES

The inaugural Pan American Games rugby competition at the Tlaquepaque Stadium, Guadalajara, was deemed an instant success.
After 12 grueling, action-packed matches under the heavy Mexican sun, every one of the eight competing teams made rugby history as Sevens was first played in a multi-sport event in the Americas.
“Rugby being played in the Pan American Games is superb for everybody involved and for the future of the game in the whole continent,” said a delighted IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset. “The level of support was very positive to see and we are playing in a rugby field that will be one of the legacies for Mexican Rugby.”
Canada proved the team to beat after a solid opening day with three victories from their three matches. With eight players that were in Rugby World Cup 2011 a month ago, their physicality was too strong for their Pool Aopponents.
 
Against a Brazilian team that got better during the day, the Canadians scored seven unanswered tries to win 45-0 before beating Chile 35-7.
The big pool match was against neighbours USA however and a 29-21 victory. “It is always an important game for us, but with the added incentive that they are a core team at the HSBC Sevens World Series, it is important for us to show we can beat them,” said Nathan Hirayama, at 23 a veteran of the Canadian.
USA found the opening day tough – they had to work hard for their opening 14-7 win against Chile and then drew with Brazil 19-19, coming back from a half time 12-5 deficit and were not able to close the match down.
Brazil, who earlier in the year shocked the rugby world by beating Argentina in the South American Sevens, recovered from the heavy early loss to draw with the USA with the last move of the game.
From a tap penalty, Felipe Silva ran in an angle to wrong-foot the defence to score close to the posts. Lucas ‘Tank’ Duque scored the goal to draw the game. They then went on to defeat Chile 14-7, showing maturity to control a hard opponent.
Argentina top Pool B
In Pool B Argentina showed signs of an improved team in winning its three games despite an early scare against Mexico.
The home team, basking in the excitement of playing in the newest of rugby venues in their country, drew first blood when Pascal Nadaud scored in the second minute. The almost capacity crowd erupted in celebration; despite not being to sustain the lead against a Nicolás Bruzzone-led team that won 26-5, the Mexican display was heartening.
The Argentines went on to beat Guyana 40-0 in a six-try display and worked hard against bitter rivals and neighbours Uruguay.
 
“This is a process and we are getting better with each game,” said hooker Santiago Bottini. “We are here to win the Gold Medal and were going step by step. Whoever we play will be hard.”
 
The Uruguayans, with a team that included a few “veterans” of IRB age grade tournaments, beat Mexico and Guyana by similar scores – 20-0 and 22-0. They failed against Argentina but still took a lot of positives from their 10-26 loss.
 
Mexico had their moment during the opening day’s matches, being a headache for Argentina and Uruguay. Against Guyana, the qualifier from the NACRA regional sevens and a must win game, they were unable to control their anxiety and lost by the narrow margin of 12-5.
 
Sunday will open with quarter-finals and will then move on to medal matches.

Source: www.irb.com

Emmanuel Callender will bid for precious metal in the men's 100 metres final, at the Pan American Games, in Guadalajara, Mexico, today.

Callender booked his lane in the final when he finished second in semi-final number two, at the Telmex Athletics Stadium, yesterday.

The Trinidad and Tobago sprinter clocked 10.17 seconds.

St Kitts and Nevis track star Kim Collins topped the field in 10.00.

In the first semi-final, Jamaica's reigning Commonwealth Games champion Lerone Clarke won in 10.17.

In the opening round, Callender topped heat two in 10.13 seconds. However, his T&T teammate Darrel Brown could only finish fifth in heat three in 10.63, and did not advance to the semis.

Quincy Wilson was listed for action in yesterday's men's discus event. However, the 20-year-old T&T field athlete did not compete.

In gymnastics, T&T's Thema Williams finished 40th overall in the women's qualifying competition, yesterday. She scored 12.375 in the vault, 11.350 in the uneven bars, 11.050 in the floor exercise and 10.825 in the balance beam, for a total of 45.600.

Williams' best finish was in the uneven bars. She was 34th. The T&T gymnast finished 46th in the balance beam and 48th in both the vault and floor exercise.

Williams did not advance to the all-around final, and is not among the finalists in any of the apparatuses. She is the first reserve in the all-round final.

T&T's hockey men lost 3-1 to Chile, yesterday, and did not advance to the semi-final round. T&T finished third in Group A.

Chile went ahead in the 15th minute, Jan Christian Richter scoring from a penalty corner. Atiba Whittington equalised for T&T in the 36th. But thanks to Sven Thomas Richter, Chile were back in front 15 minutes later. And in the 65th minute, Martin Hernan Rodriguez sealed the result.

Canada topped Group A, and Chile finished second.

In the men's football tournament, T&T take on Uruguay at 11 o'clock this morning (T&T time) in their final Group A fixture.

Following 1-1 draws with Mexico and Ecuador, today's game is a must-win for T&T.

Full points would move T&T into second spot, behind Mexico, earning the "Young Soca Warriors" a semi-final berth. A draw or loss, however, and the Uruguayans would secure a spot in the last four.

By Kwame Laurence

Source: www.trinidadexpress.com

Trinidad and Tobago's Under-23 footballers kept alive their hopes of progressing to the Pan American Games semi-finals when they held Ecuador to a 1-1 draw yesterday at the Omnilife Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico.

But the T&T hockey women lost their final match of the group phase against Canada 2-1 despite taking the early lead at the Pan Am Hockey Stadium.

It took the "Soca Stickwomen" just seven minutes to get on the scoresheet, Arielle Ramchand- Du Quesnay doing the job from the field, an advantage they took to the break.

But T&T had just three shots at goal to the Canadians' 24 attempts and that pressure told in the end, as Brienne Stairs (61st minute) and Katherine Gillis (68th) scored late field goals to hand the North Americans victory.

For the young "Soca Warriors", second half-substitute Trevin Caesar spanked a volley beyond Ecuador goalkeeper Sebastian Jaramillo off a pass by Jamal Gay in the 69th minute, just one minute after being introduced by coach Angus Eve.

Before that goal, Trinidad and Tobago were 1-0 down to the South Americans, who took the lead in the 17th minute through Michael Jackson Quinonez.

The result means that Ecuador are out of the tournament and T&T now need victory against Uruguay tomorrow in order to advance to the final four.

Mexico lead T&T's group with four points from two matches after a 1-1 draw with T&T and a 2-1 win over Ecuador. Uruguay beat Ecuador 1-0 and were scheduled to face Mexico late yesterday.

Caesar was happy with the team's performance after getting a point against Ecuador.

"Today we showed again that we could compete and we have a fighting spirit in the team. The coach gave us instructions and we went out there and tried to deliver," the young forward told T&T Football Federation media officer Shaun Fuentes.

"Scoring here in Mexico to help us get a point is a marvellous feeling for me," Caesar added, "but it's a reward for the whole team effort."

As he waited on the ball from Gay, Caesar said he just tried to keep calm and place the ball well. That shot keeps T&T's fate in their own hands and the striker is looking forward to the next match.

"We have everything to play for in the next game," he added, "and we can do it."

Today, Trinidad and Tobago's hockey men meet Chile with a spot in the final four on the line. T&T previously lost 7-2 to Canada, but thumped Barbados 11-1.

T&T football squad vs Ecuador: Andre Marchan, Kareem Moses (Jeromie Williams), Aquil Selby, Joevin Jones, Leslie Russell, Mekeil Williams, Sheldon Bateau, Jayson Joseph, Kevin Molino, Micah Lewis (Trevin Caesar, 68th), Jamal Gay (Marcus Joseph, 79th).

Source: www.trinidadexpress.com

October 21 - Ian Troop, the chief executive of the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games Organising Committee, hopes that the successful staging of the event could lead to a winning Olympic and Paralympic bid from the Canadian city.

Toronto has twice bid to host the Summer Olympics Games - the first coming in 1996 when they finished third behind the eventual winners, Atlanta, and the second in 2008 when they were runners-up behind the victors Beijing.

But Troop, who is currently here for the 2011 edition of the Pan American Games, feels Toronto can impress the International Olympic Committee (IOC) when they host the next addition of the competition in 2015 and subsequently launch a third, successful bid for the Games.

"We have had two very well-prepared Olympic bids in recent years and we certainly put up a real challenge in both of them," Troop told insidethegames.

"As we look at it, our focus is obviously on staging a terrific Pan American Games but we really hope our contribution will be able to demonstrate Toronto's capability to host major sporting events such as the Olympics which perhaps people don't realise.

"We want the people of Toronto to say, 'Wow, wasn't that a tremendous event, now let's go and get an Olympic Games.'

"We obviously have a major multi-sport event to put on and there is a lot of work to do so we are going to be focused specifically on that challenge and on hosting a fantastic Pan American Games.

"But if we can do that in front of the whole world and the IOC, we will be setting a fantastic platform and a fantastic base for any future Toronto Olympic bid."

Troop was appointed Toronto 2015 chief executive back in February 2010 and given a $350,000 (£221,800/€254,000) annual salary to oversee the $1.4 billion (£888 million/€1.1 billion) project after stepping down as an adviser with OMERS Private Equity.

He has over 28 years of experience in the consumer packaged goods industry, including with Procter & Gamble and ConAgra Foods International, and said the Canadian city is very much on track to host a successful event in four years when Toronto will see around 8,000 athletes from 41 nations compete across 37 sports.

"We are completely on schedule; we are on budget and we are therefore tracking right where we need to be," Troop said.

"We are also getting great pick-up from the sponsors and will be making some exciting announcements on that front in the near future.

"So I think we're in a really good position at this point to have our venues ready in 2014 for the test events for what will be a phenomenal competition.

"I mean, this is the second biggest multi-sport event in the world and it will be the biggest ever Games in Canada, including the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games, which shows you the sheer scale.

"There will also be a huge economic impact for Toronto.

"There is a $700 million [£444 million/€508 million] spend on construction as well as further spend on the Athletes' Village, a separate project over and above that $700 million, which has created 15,000 jobs.

"Then you have the fact that there will be new, world class sporting facilities in Toronto that will be a major benefit not only to the city and the people in it but also for a potential Olympic bid.

"So there will be strong legacies on multiple levels and that is a big part of the return on the investment for these Games."

By Tom Degun

Source: www.insidethegames.biz

The favorite debut with a favorable score of 11-0

City: Guadalajara, Jalisco, México
Date: 2011-10-19

Finally, Hockey was started at the Pan American Games Guadalajara 2011, Argentina defeated Trinidad and Tobago 11-0.

First Period
Trinidad and Tobago did not show its real game level, and was easily overcame by Argentina. The first goal was scored in the minute 2 of the encounter by Soledad Garcia.
Carla Rebecchi stressed out Trinidad and Tobago's defense, and scored the second with a ball which seemed controled by Trinidad and Tobago, which was not recovered and three minutes later Claudia Rebechi just had to turned around to pass the ball and Argentina's number ten made the first goal.
Claudia Rebechi had to turn around and shot against Petal Derry to score the second for "Las Leonas" for the joy of their fans, who traveled all the way from Buenos Aires to support their favorites.
The third goal was scored by Rosario Luchetti, who took advantaged of two mistakes of the fullbacks Blair Wayne and Avion Ashton. In the minute 21, with a penalty corner Noel Barrionuevo scored the fourth.
Soledad Garcia left laid Petal Derry, who tried to stopped the shot, which finished being the fifth, in the minute 22. Trinidad could not make a come back and Delfina Merino scored the sixth for Argentina.

Second Period
Argentina scored the seveth goal, also in the minute two, with a penalty corner taken by Noel Barrionuevo. Two minutes later, a penalty corner was penalized and again was scored by Noel Barrionuevo, doing the eighth of the game.
Trinidad and Tobago got close and actually improved, but it was not enough, at the minute 23 Noel Barrionuevo, made the fourth goal for her and the ninth for Argentina, which made her the main player of the encounter. Petal Derry, the goalkeeper, nor the fullback Blair Wynne could dodge it.
Despite the lose, Petal Derry was a key player for Trinidad and Tobago not to receive more goals.
Carla Rebechhi scored the tenth goals, and the eleventh was done by Delfina Merino, which finished with the victory of Argentina.

Source: www.witensports.com