TT quartet in Commonwealth medal quests today

JEREEM RICHARDS will lead a TT quartet, vying for track and field medals today, at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

Richards, the 2017 IAAF World Championships 200-metre bronze medallist, qualified for today’s Commonwealth half-lap final after a convincing victory in his semi-final race yesterday at the Carrara Stadium.

The 24-year-old, in the third and final semi, crossed the finish line in 20.41 seconds, with Northern Ireland’s Leon Reid second in 20.61.

In heat two, another TT sprinter, Kyle Greaux, placed second in 20.66, behind Anguilla-born English runner Zharnel Hughes who clocked 20.37.

Greaux was initially third, behind Hughes and South Africa’s Anaso Jobodwana, who ran 20.61. However, according to reports in the South African media, the TT team successfully appealed an earlier decision by the technical officials to allow Jobodwana to compete despite a false start.

In today’s final, scheduled for 7.56 am (TT time), Richards will face the starter in lane four, while Greaux will be in lane eight. The other finalists are Jamaica’s Warren Weir (lane one), Zambia’s Sydney Siame (lane two), Canada’s Aaron Brown (lane three), Hughes (lane five), South Africa’s Clarence Munyai (lane six) and Reid (lane seven).

Semoy Hackett will be seeking a medal in the women’s 200m when the final takes place at 7.38 am (TT time).

In yesterday’s semis, Hackett was third in heat one in 22.97, trailing Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson (22.28) and England’s Dina Asher-Smith (22.44). The veteran TT runner progressed as one of the two “fastest losers”.

In heat two, Kai Selvon was fifth in 23.42 while Kamaria Durant, in heat three, was sixth in 23.83.

Today, Hackett will compete in lane one, alongside (lanes two-eight) England’s Bianca Williams, Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Jackson, Canada’s Crystal Emmanuel, Asher-Smith and a pair of Jamaicans, Olympic champ Elaine Thompson and Shashalee Forbes. At 5.30 am, Sparkle McKnight will be aiming to finish on the podium, in the women’s 400m hurdles. McKnight will feature in lane four, alongside Jamaica’s Ristananna Tracey and Ronda Whyte (lanes one and two), Scotland’s Eilidh Doyle (lane three), Jamaica’s Janieve Russell (lane five), South Africa’s Wenda Nel (lane six), Nigeria’s Glory Nathaniel (lane seven) and Canada’s Sage Watson.

Three athletes were due to complete last night – Para-athletic Olympic and World champ Akeem Stewart in the men’s discus qualifying round, Cleopatra Borel in the women’s shot put qualifying round, and Alena Brooks in the women’s 800m first round.

TT continued to have a rough time in the sport of shooting.

In the 50m Pistol Men’s Qualification, at the Belmont Shooting Centre, Roger Daniel was ninth with a score of 529-5 while Rhodney Allen was 12th with 518-2. Only the top eight advanced to yesterday’s final.

At the Belmont Full Bore Range, in the Queen’s Prize Individual Finals Day One, Delborn Joseph (98-7) is 27th and Michael Perez (94-5) is 31st, among the 33-man field. The second day of action was due to be staged from 10 pm (yesterday TT time).

TT also had a day to forget, in squash, at the Oxenford Studios.

In the Mixed Doubles Pool F, the pair of Charlotte Knaggs and Kale Wilson were brushed aside by Australia’s Rachel Grinham and Ryan Cuskelly 11-0, 11-4 while, in the Men’s Doubles Pool A, Wilson and Mandela Patrick were hammered 11-0, 11-2 by the Aussie duo of Cuskelly and Cameron Pilley.

Last night (TT time), the Patrick-Wilson pair were expected to face Fiji’s Sailesh Pala and Romit Parshottam.

TT had a mixed bag yesterday in table tennis, also at the Oxenford Studios.

In Mixed Doubles, the duo of Dexter St Louis and his stepdaughter Rheann Chung defeated Guyana’s Nigel Bryan and Natalie Cummings 12-10, 11-4, 11-5. But, in the second round, St Louis and Chung lost to Singapore’s Xue Jie Pang and Yihan Zhou 11-2, 10-12, 12-10, 8-11, 11-6.

In Men’s Doubles first round, Yuvraaj Dookram and Aaron Wilson defeated St Vincent’s Andre Mitchell and Romano Spencer 11-4, 11-5, 10-12, 11-4 and, in the next round, they whipped Philip Wing and Vicky Wu of Fiji 11-9, 13-11, 11-7.

But, in the Men’s Singles Round of 32, Nigeria’s Segun Toriola took care of Aaron Wilson 11-7, 11-1, 10-12, 11-3, 11-3 while Chung fell to India’s Madhuricka Patkar, in the Women’s Singles Round of 32, 11-7, 12-14, 11-9, 11-2, 11-9.

Today, in the Men’s Doubles Round of 16, the pair of Dookram and Aaron Wilson will face Australia’s Hu Heming and Yan Xin.