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• Winless T&T bow out of Concacaf Futsal Champs after 11-1 hammering by Dom Rep

  Trinidad and Tobago's Soca Warriors bowed out of the 2024 Concacaf Futsal Championship, after another disappointing loss in a dismal campaign that never really got going in Managua, Nicaragua.

  Following 4-7 and 3-5 defeats to United States and Guatemala in their first two encounters, Paul Decle's Soca Warriors required a victory in their final group encounter against Dominican Republic to keep their hopes of progressing to the quarterfinals as one of the best third-placed teams, alive.

  However, it was not to be, as their Spanish-speaking Caribbean counterparts showed no mercy in a lopsided 11-1 romp at the Polideportivo Alexis Arguello, on Monday. The win by Dominican Republic saw them join United States, Guatemala, Cuba, Costa Rica, Canada, Mexico and Panama in the knockout stage, which kicks off on Wednesday.

  Trinidad and Tobago had no response to the onslaught of Dominican Republic in their final Group C contest. David Rondon opened the scoring in the 10th, Jose Belliard struck in the 13th, and Marco Gomez added a third in the 14th to put Dominican Republic 3-0 up at half-time.

  In the second half, Rondon secured his brace in the 23rd, and Belliard followed suit in the 25th. Hector Perez penned his name on the scoresheet in the 29th, before Jameel Neptune got the twin island republic's consolation in the 30th. Rondon completed his hat-trick in the 31st and then added a fourth in the 39th, while Guillermo Lopez (33rd), Ricardo Alvarez (35th), and Christian Gardelli (40th), also got on the scoresheet for Dominican Republic.

  Meanwhile, the feature contest was a more mouthwatering affair, as Guatemala rallied for a 3-3 stalemate with United States.

  United States scored three unanswered goals courtesy of Luciano Gonzalez (14th), Nilton de Andrade (20th), and Franck Tayou (21st), before Guatemala got into their rhythm and responded through Marvin Sandoval (31st and 33rd), and Patrick Ruiz (38th).

  With the draw, Guatemala topped Group C, ahead of Dominican Republic, with United States securing one of the best third-place spots.

   

  The four quarterfinal winners will not only progress to the semi-finals, but also secure qualification to the 2024 FIFA Futsal World Cup.

• McLaren’s Oscar Piastri leads the way in rain-affected second practice at Suzuka

  Second practice for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix proved to be a damp squib as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri set the fastest time on a weather-affected session.

  Local favourite Yuki Tsunoda and his RB team-mate Daniel Ricciardo were the only drivers to set lap times early on in changeable conditions, but set their times on the intermediate tyre.

  The hour-long session began in rain and, although it later stopped, the track was not deemed sufficiently dry enough for most teams to send out their cars.

  Piastri was one of them and his time of one minute 34.725 seconds proved fast enough to top the timesheets, with the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari the only others to set representative times.

  Earlier, Max Verstappen set the pace in first practice as Willams endured another Friday to forget.

  Reigning champion Verstappen retired in Melbourne a fortnight ago but was back at it here, his time of one minute 20.056 seconds was enough to see him go quickest at Suzuka, with team-mate Sergio Perez his closest challenger 0.181 seconds back.

  A red flag halfway through the session stopped running for 11 minutes as Logan Sargeant crashed off at turn two – further adding to the Williams woes.

  Sargeant sat out the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago as team-mate Alex Albon took his car after destroying his own in a practice crash and the team currently have no spare chassis.

  Williams team principal James Vowles confirmed the car had suffered “extensive” damage and Sargeant was forced to sit out of second practice – although the lack of running meant there was little that would have been gained from taking part.

  “It is pretty significant (damage). So the chassis is OK, fortunately, but I would say pretty much everything else isn’t – so the suspension around, the gearbox is cracked, big damage.

  “At the top of the brow of the hill there, he struggled to see where his positioning was on track. So it fundamentally looks like he didn’t quite realise where he was with where the grass was on the outside and put a wheel on the grass.”

  Albon went 12th fastest after the action restarted, while Verstappen assumed his usual position as the car to beat.

  Carlos Sainz, who won in Australia last time out, was third-fastest for Ferrari ahead of the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Hamilton, while the second Ferrari of Leclerc was sixth.

• BVI down USVI 4-2 on penalties; will join Group E alongside Jamaica, et al in second round of qualifiers

  British Virgin Islands booked their spot in the second round of the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers, following a 4-2 penalty shootout win over US Virgin Islands in their play-off contest at the AO Shirley Recreation Ground in Road Town, BVI, on Tuesday.

  After playing out a 1-1 stalemate in the first leg, both teams again failed to separate themselves in a goalless second-leg encounter and so it was down to the dreaded penalties to decide the outcome. In the end, it was British Virgin Islands that held their nerves best from the 12-yard spot to progress to the business round of qualification.

  They will join Jamaica, Dominica, Dominican Republic and Guatemala in Group E for the second round of the qualifiers, which are scheduled to run between June 2024 and June 2025. A total of 30 countries will vie for spots in the final round. 

  The final round which will be played between September and November 2025, will see teams battling for five spots to the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be hosted jointly by Concacaf powerhouses Mexico, United States and Canada.

  Of the five teams, three will earn direct qualification, while the other two spots will be decided via a play-offs.