James Adderley with the latest in Sports News
james adderley
Good evening I’m James Adderly and here is another portion of Sport’s Monday.
The 2nd of the Belize Cycling Association’s weekend races for 2011 blasted off from I front of Leslie’s Imports on the Western Highway as 54 of the elite and Masters riders made a bid to complete the 26 mile ride in less than an hour. Last week’s race was concluded in 1 hour 3 mins 24 secs which prevented the Association from issuing out any prizes. So let’s find out what happens in week two and they’re off.
We’re at the finish line where a 12 man pack is in already and in mad dash to the W. It’s Brandon Cattouse with the slight lead as Chris McNish challenges but Cattouse of C Rey prevails for the win in 1 hr. 3 mins 10 secs. McNish of Benny’s Megabytes takes 2nd place while Darnell Barrow of Santino’s pulls up 3rd, Melvin Tillett and David Henderson rounds out the top 5. Folks the 1 hour time finish was not reached in this race thus no prizes were issued.
Just in case you’re wondering this is the main pelathon in a 30 man sprint for 13th place as Geon Hanson easily beats out Barney Brown and Mark Staine in a time of 1 hour 4 mins.
shalini zabaneh
At the Jr. Class Justin Wade of Team Indeco and his teammate Joel Borland finished 1st and 2nd in a time of 1:15:20. Two minutes later Keron Morrison of M&M Engineering pulls up unchallenged for 3rd place.
In the mean time the sprint for 4th place in this division is a heated one but hats off to Giovanni Lovell who edges his M&M challenger.
Meanwhile Shalini Zabaneh won the female race with a time of 1 hour 4 mins, 17 minutes ahead of 2nd place finisher Liona Humes.
The Saturday races continue with a 3rd presentation by the BCA on January 29th. Of course the countdown is on to the next big event – the 16th Annual DigiCell Valentine Cycle Classic – set for February 13th and you won’t want to miss it.
We now turn to the chess tournament staged at St. Ignatius School on Saturday by the Belize District Chess Association which had invited all schools in the nation, both primary and secondary but only Cayo, Orange Walk and Belize participated.
david martinez
David Martinez, President, Belize District Chess Association
“It’s basically a family chess day that was organized by the Belize District Chess Association. We invited all districts around the country and we had positive response from Cayo District and also positive response from Orange Walk. Today we had approximately seventy to eighty kids here present. Along with parent and volunteers and everything we had more than a hundred and fifteen persons present.”
Nevertheless today is a day of competition for the young minds in a truly cerebral sport and this where the pairings are decided before the even begins.
We were fortunate enough to catch the defending champion at 13 and over Akeem Jenkins as he jumps out of the starting gate with a win over Brandon Marsden. He makes his final move emphatically and with confidence as he moves on to the next round.
Indeed the sooner you start the better it is and here is Zhair Lizama receiving an award for being the youngest player at 6 years old.
At the 8 and under class Akeem Roches of Grace Primary beat out Cesar Escalante for top honors.
Kyle Rodriguez finished 3rd in the 9 and 10 class. Kyle Shal grabbed the runner-up spot while Quinton Rodriguez emerged the winner. Brandon Usher picked up 3rd place in the 11 and 12 years class. Erwin Wills takes 2nd place and the champion of this group is Dwayne Rodriguez. 
At the 13 and over level, Brandon Marsden finished 3rd, Steve Flowers is the 2nd lace finisher and the champion is Akeem Jenkins who makes it two in a row at this level of play.
President Martinez have us a glimpse into the future of chess in Belize.
David Martinez
“Last week, the Belize National Youth Chess Foundation brought in international grandmaster, Mareesh Ashley to train all the coaches, all the best coaches in the country and the top ten players from the entire country of Belize. They were selected by district, by the district associations and they are considered to be the top ten and they went to the training with Master Ashley and also international Master Sonia Sepeda from El Salvador which came for an intense training here in Belmopan. It was an intense three days training whereby we actually train these kids to a next level whereby we can participate and win better, be more competitive abroad. The CODICADER is coming up and we plan to send a team.”
In football news here are the results of play in the Caribbean Motors Cup from over the weekend. The BDF got our San Felipe Barcelona in 2-1 score while FC Belize and Toledo Ambassadors were stalemated in a 1-1 finish.
Finally In basketball news, the Belize Telemedia national U-15 and U-17 tournament as presented by the Belize District Basketball Association kicks off this Friday January 28th inside the Civic Center. Come out and support the next generation of primetime ballers.
