Bradley Jacks is a budding journalist and an avid sports fan. His love of research and sports has led him to SportsMax.tv, a place where those passions work hand in hand to allow him to produce content.
Track and field superstars Shericka Jackson and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone are set for an exciting clash in the 60m at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix at the New Balance Track in Boston on February 4.
Jackson, who finished as runner-up in Jamaica’s National Sportswoman of the Year awards last week, had a magnificent 2022 season which saw her 21.45 to become the fastest woman alive in the 200m on her way to winning gold in the event at the World Championships in Eugene.
She also ran a new personal best of 10.71 to finish second in the 100m behind Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce. Jackson, 28, has a 60m personal best of 7.04 which she ran to finish sixth at the World Indoor Championships in Serbia last year.
The USA’s McLaughlin-Levrone, 23, is also coming off a spectacular year which was crowned with her being named as the World Athletics Female Athlete of the Year in December.
In July, she became the first woman in history to run a sub-51 second 400m hurdles when she ran a sensational 50.68 to win her maiden 400m world title. That was after she broke her own then-world record of 51.46, which she ran to win gold at the Tokyo Olympics, with a 51.41 effort at the US Championships in June. McLaughlin-Levrone has never run a 60m race.
World Championship 100m finalist Aleia Hobbs and World Indoor Championships 60m silver medallist Mikiah Briscoe will also be in the field in Boston.
Unbeaten half-centuries from Alex Hales and Sherfane Rutherford led the Desert Vipers to a comfortable seven-wicket win over the MI Emirates in their DP World IL T20 fixture at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
The Emirates’ innings got off to the worst possible start with openers Muhammad Wasim (5) and Vritiya Aravind (3) being removed within the first three overs after the Vipers won the toss and elected to field first.
Grenadian Andre Fletcher and former West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran then combined to put on 43 for the third wicket before Fletcher fell in the ninth over for 21 to leave them 53-3.
Captain Kieron Pollard then joined Pooran at the crease and the pair batted excellently, eventually bringing up their 100-run partnership in the 19th over, the same over which saw Pooran bring up a well-compiled 50.
Pollard brought up his 50, his second in a row, in the previous over with a trademark straight six.
The partnership reached 116 when Pooran was finally dismissed, bowled by Tom Curran in the final over for 57.
In the end, the Emirates closed their innings 169-5 off 20 overs with Pollard not out on 67 from 39 balls including one boundary and six sixes.
The Vipers chase was rocked early when Trent Boult removed Rohan Mustafa for one in the first over to bring captain Collin Munro to the crease.
Hales and Munro put on a partnership before Munro was removed by a spectacular catch from Kieron Pollard for 41 in the eighth over.
One brought two for the Emirates as Samit Patel got his second wicket in the over, removing Sam Billings for just one to leave the Vipers 76-3 bringing Sherfane Rutherford to the crease.
At the halfway stage of the chase, the Vipers were 101-3 with Hales (34) and Rutherford (18) going smoothly.
The pair continued along and Hales brought up his fifth score of 50+ in a row in the 15th over before a single in the 16th over brought up Rutherford’s 50 off just 26 balls.
The match was ended in the 17th over when Rutherford hit a boundary and then a single to lead the Vipers to their fourth win in five games.
Hales ended up unbeaten on 62 from 44 balls while Rutherford faced 29 balls for his 56. Hales’ knock included six fours and two sixes while Rutherford hit four fours and three sixes.
Scores: MI Emirates 169-5 from 20 overs, Desert Vipers 170-3 from 17.3 overs.
Indian Captain Harmanpreet Kaur and opener Smriti Mandhana starred to lead India to a 56-run win over the West Indies in the South Africa Women’s T20I Tri-Series at Buffalo Park in South Africa on Monday.
An unbroken 115-run third-wicket partnership off 70 deliveries from Smriti Mandhana and Captain Harmanpreet Kaur helped India post 167-2 off their 20 overs after winning the toss and batting first.
The first wicket came in the final over of the first powerplay when wicket-keeper Rashada Williams took a sharp catch off the bowling of Karishma Ramharack to remove Yastika Bhatia for 18 with the score on 33.
Mandhana and Harleen Deol then came together and put on a further 14 runs before an eventful ninth over. A Deol boundary brought up India’s fifty before she was trapped in front for 12 by Shanika Bruce one ball later. This brought Kaur to the crease and the pair never looked back.
Mandhana brought up her 20th T20I fifty with a boundary off Shabika Gajnabi in the 16th over and smashed a six off Afy Fletcher in the 19th over to bring up India’s 150.
In the final over, Kaur brought up her ninth 50 in T20Is.
In the end, Mandhana hit 10 fours and one six on her way to an unbeaten 74 off 51 deliveries while Kaur finished with 56 off 35 with eight fours.
Shanika Bruce took 1-25 from her four overs for the Windies.
Despite losing only four wickets in their chase, the West Indies fell well short of their target, finishing 112-4 from their 20 overs.
Shemaine Campbelle top-scored with 47 while captain Hayley Matthews got 34 not out for the Caribbean side.
In a change at the top of the order, Rashada Williams, who batted at three in the first game against South Africa, opened the innings alongside Britney Cooper.
The West Indies lost their first wicket in just the second over when Cooper was dismissed by off-spinner Deepti Sharma for a first ball duck. In another change, Campbelle joined Williams at the crease.
Williams was next to go as she became Sharma’s second victim for eight to leave the Windies 20-2 in just the fourth over. Shabika Gajnabi came in at four.
At the end of the first powerplay, the Windies only managed 25 runs. The second ball of the seventh over saw the demise of Gajnabi for three off the bowling of Rajeshwari Gayakwad.
Captain Matthews then joined Campbelle in the middle and the two batted as well as they could given the team’s awful first powerplay.
They brought up their 50-partnership in the 14th over and looked set to bat through the remaider of the innigs before Campbelle’s 57-ball knock finally ended in the 18th over when she was caught brilliantly on the boundary by Amanjot Kaur off the bowling of Radha Yadav.
Deepti Sharma took 2-29 from her four overs while Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Radha Yadav took 1-16 and 1-10 from four overs, respectively.
Scores: India Women 167-2 from 20 overs, West Indies Women 111-4 from 20 overs.
India now has two wins from as many games in the Tri-Series while the West Indies have now lost their first two games. The West Indies will next play South Africa on Wednesday. South Africa won the first clash between the two by 44 runs on Saturday.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Rasheed Broadbell were crowned as Jamaica’s National Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year, respectively, at the 2022 RJRGLEANER Sports Foundation National Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Awards on Friday at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel.
The 35-year-old Fraser-Pryce, now a five-time National Sportswoman of the year after wins in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2019 previously, produced an outstanding year in which she won her fifth 100m title at the World Athletics Championships in July, in Eugene, Oregon, leading a Jamaican sweep of the podium places with Jackson finishing second in a personal best 10.73 seconds and Elaine Thompson-Herah third in 10.81 seconds.
Fraser-Pryce was also the Diamond League 100m champion in 2022 and ran a world-leading 10.62 seconds among her record seven sub-10.70 100m races during the season.
Meanwhile, Broadbell enjoyed an excellent breakout season in which he ran 13.08 seconds to win 110m hurdles gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and enjoyed some strong Diamond League performances, including a personal best time of 12.99 seconds while defeating American World and Olympic champion Grant Holloway of the USA at the Lausanne Diamond League meet in August, before finishing second to Holloway at the finale in Zurich the following month.
World 200m champion Shericka Jackson and West Indies all-rounder Rovman Powell, who led the Jamaica Tallawahs to their third Caribbean Premier League T20 title and Jamaica Scorpions to their first Super 50 title in 10 years, were the respective runners-up.
Clemson sprinter Kiara Grant started her 2023 collegiate season in ominous form with a personal best and world leading 7.09 seconds to win the 60m at the Red Raider Open at the Sports Performance Centre in Lubbock, Texas on Friday.
The 22-year-old former Alpha standout’s time was also a new ACC record, shattering Tonya Carter’s record of 7.15 seconds, which had stood for 23 years. She is also now the joint eighth-fastest Jamaican in the event.
American Marybeth Sant-Price, the World Indoor bronze medalist from last year, was second in 7.18 with Sedrickia Wynn of Texas State taking third place with a time of 7.35.
Elsewhere, Jamaican Texas Tech sprint hurdler Demisha Roswell produced a time of 7.98 seconds to finish second in the 60m hurdles.
The 25-year-old Vere Technical alum, who lowered her 100m hurdles personal best to 12.44 last season, was beaten by Kentucky’s Masai Russell who ran a collegiate record 7.75 for victory.
LSU’s Leah Phillips was third in 8.14.
West Indies left arm seamer Sheldon Cottrell took 3-14 from his four overs to help the Desert Vipers secure a dominant 118-run win over the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the DP World IL T20 at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Friday.
The Vipers took first strike and piled up an impressive 219-4 from their 20 overs thanks to an excellent 59-ball 110 from man-of-the-match Alex Hales which included seven fours and six sixes.
Captain Colin Munro added 56 while Guyanese left hander Sherfane Rutherford contributed a rapid seven-ball 23 including two fours and two sixes.
Sri Lankan pacer Lahiru Kumara was the Knight Riders’ best bowler with 2-31 from his four overs.
Then, despite a fighting 57 off 29 balls from Andre Russell, the Knight Riders were reduced to a paltry 108 all out in just 15.1 overs.
Cottrell was well supported by Sri Lankan leg spinner Wanindu Hasaranga and English medium pacer Benny Howell who took 2-21 and 2-6, respectively.
The Vipers now have three wins in as many games and are top of the table while, on the other hand, the Knight Riders are last with four losses from four matches.
Dominican Triple Jumper Thea Lafond has been named by Dominican newspaper The Chronicle as their 2022 Person of the Year.
“Thank you to The Chronicle for this honor and for listening to my story,” said Lafond-Gadson in a post in Instagram.
“2022 was a truly blessed year! Let’s make 2023 even better,” she added.
The 28-year-old Lafond enjoyed a career-best season in the triple jump in 2022.
In addition to a gold medal at the NACAC Championships in August, she took home silver at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham later that month and enjoyed a fifth-place finish at the World Championships in Eugene in July and a fourth-place finish at the World Indoor Championships in Beograd in March.
Lafond also won the triple jump at the Rabat Diamond League in June.
Kingston College standout Dujuan ‘Whisper’ Richards is among 32 players invited to training sessions with Reggae Boyz Head Coach Heimir Hallgrinsson at the Jamaica Football Federation headquarters at the University of the West Indies on January 17 and 18.
The 17-year-old Richards recorded 29 goals and 19 assists in the Manning Cup and led Kingston College to the semi-finals.
The full list of players is as follows:
Kemar Foster (Waterhouse FC), Ramone Howell (Waterhouse FC), Ricardo Thomas (Dunbeholden FC), Peter McGregor (Dunbeholden FC), Trivante Stewart (Mount Pleasant FC), Ky-Mani Campbell (Mount Pleasant FC), Demario Phillips (Mount Pleasant FC), Devonte Campbell (Mount Pleasant FC), Jamoi Topey (Mount Pleasant FC), Tafari Chambers (Mount Pleasant FC), Sue-Lae McCalla (Mount Pleasant FC), Alwayne Henry (Mount Pleasant FC), Odane Murray (Mount Pleasant FC), Eric Edwards (Arnett Gardens), Kimani Arbouine (Arnett Gardens), Earl Simpson (Arnett Gardens), Ajuma Johnson (Arnett Gardens), Richard King (Cavaluer SC), Dwayne Atkinson (cavalier SC), Collin Anderson (Cavalier SC), Kyle Ming (Cavalier SC), Jeadine White (Cavalier SC), Gawaine Austin (Portmore United), Oshane Staple (Harbour View FC), Colorado Murray (Harbour View FC), Jahshaun Anglin (Harbour View FC), Nicholas Hamilton (Harbour View FC), Okeemo Jones (Chapleton Maroons), Malachi Douglas (Chapleton Maroons), Dujuan Richards (Phoenix Academy), Jason Wright (Molynes United).
The sessions will commence at 3:00pm.
Texas standout and St. Lucian 100m and 200m national record holder Julien Alfred opened her 2023 indoor collegiate season with a 23.10 effort to win the 200m at the University of Louisville Cardinal Classic at the Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Centre.
Jamaica's Kevona Davis, also of Texas, was second in 23.57 while their teammate Lanae Thomas ran 23.65 for third.
The time was also a new facility record for the St. Lucian who is coming off a phenomenal 2022 season in which she won 100m titles at the Caribbean Games and NCAA Championships.
She also took 100m silver at the Commonwealth Games and became the NCAA record holder in the indoor 60m.
Reggae Warriors forward Michael Lawrence has signed with English Championship club Bradford Bulls for the 2023 season.
This move ends his 16-year spell with the Huddersfield Giants where he made 324 appearances.
The 32-year-old Lawrence, who made his debut for Jamaica in 2019, has represented the Reggae Warriors five times was a member of their squad at the 2021 Rugby League World Cup in England.
He previously represented the England Knights, a feeder team for the English Rugby team, twice from 2012-2013.
West Indies All-rounder Rovman Powell starred to help the Dubai Capitals to a 73-run win over the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in Friday’s opening match of the DP World ILT20 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Capitals skipper Powell top scored with 48 while Indian Robin Uthappa got 43 to lead the team to a competitive 187-6 from their 20 overs.
Powell’s knock came off just 29 balls and included three fours and as many sixes while Uthappa’s innings lasted 33 deliveries with three fours and one less six.
Joe Root and Sikandar Raza also both chipped in with 26, respectively, against two wickets apiece from Ravi Rampaul (2-36 from four overs) and Ali khan (2-45 from three overs). Captain Sunil Narine and Andre Russell were the other wicket-takers.
Powell also produced the goods with the ball with 2-15 from two overs as the Knight Riders were reduced to just 114-9 off their 20 overs
Mujeeb Ur Rahman was also excellent with the ball conceding just 16 runs in four overs to go along with his two wickets.
Paul Stirling was the only Knight Riders batsman to produce any resistance with a 38-ball 54 including five fours and two sixes.
Barbadian 400m superstar Sada Williams took home four awards at the Barbados Olympic Association’s annual Awards Ceremony on December 22 at the Hilton Barbados Resort.
Williams, who won gold in the women’s 400 metres at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in a new meet and national record of 49.75, was rewarded for that feat.
In addition to being named Senior Female Athlete of the Year, she also received the International Excellence award and the coveted President’s Award from BOA chief, Sandra Osborne.
“I am extremely honoured to receive such an important award – the President’s Award. I also want to recognise the other nominees who also had an outstanding season,” the 25-year-old World Championships bronze medallist said.
“The successes I had this past season would not have been possible without the contributions and encouragement of so many people, too many to name and I sincerely thank each one of you for helping me make this a memorable season and for giving me a chance to win this award,” she added.
In addition to her medals at the World Championships and Commonwealth Games, Williams also took silver at the NACAC Championships in the Bahamas in August.
Jamaican footballer Tarick Ximines has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with Belgian Pro League club Cercle Brugge K.S.V, the club made the announcement via social media on Wednesday.
Ximines, 18, played a vital role in Jamaica College’s success in the recently-concluded schoolboy football season which saw them win the Manning Cup and Champions Cup double.
He also played for two Jamaica Premier League teams Harbour View and Mount Pleasant, scoring one goal in 16 games for the former and one goal in five appearances for the latter.
Ximines has also made two appearances for the Reggae Boyz and became the youngest ever Reggae Boy to feature for the senior team in a Concacaf World Cup Qualifier at 17 years and 5 months when he made his debut against Canada at the BMO Field on March 27.
Netball Jamaica has received a major financial boost towards its preparations for the 2023 Netball World Cup scheduled for July 28-August 6 in Cape Town.
The association, on Tuesday, received a $10 million sponsorship from National Baking Company and are looking to raise $51 million to cover its expenses in the build-up to the marquee event.
“It is a big day for us at Netball Jamaica. We are grateful to National for coming on board,” said President Tricia Robinson.
Their final preparation before the World Cup will come in a three-match series against England which will take place from January 11th- January 15th.
“We are really looking forward to this tour. It will give the coaching staff an opportunity to see exactly where we are in terms of preparation for the World Cup,” Robinson said.
The first match, on the 11th January, will take place at Manchester’s AO Arena, before the teams travel down south to the Copper Box Arena in London for back-to-back games on the 14th and 15th January.
Former Reggae Boyz striker Dever Orgill has signed for Turkish team Bodrumspor.
Orgill spent last season at Manisa FK, also in Turkey, scoring three goals in 10 matches in a season where he was plagued with injury.
“We signed a contract with Dever Orgill, the Jamaican footballer who wore Manisa FK jersey last season. We wish him success in the Bodrumspor uniform,” the team said on its Facebook page.
Bodrumspor finished third in the TTF Second League last season.
Orgill scored four goals in 18 appearances for the Reggae Boyz between 2010 and 2019.
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