Sport

• Veterans strike

Veteran bridge player and Mandeville resident Ripton Savin doesn't compete often in Kingston, but when he does he's usually deadly, as he was in Monday's leg of the Horace Payne Memorial when he paired with fellow veteran Balmain Brown to produce the round of the week (63.89 per cent) to win.

Savin has been competing for more than 40 years but remains as sharp as a tack. Second went to Hubert 'Brodsy' White and Michiko Asonuma (62.50 per cent) with another vintage pair, Herbie Gauntlett/Maurice Clarke (54.17per cent) third.

Balmain's son, whiz-kid Junior Walter Brown, teamed with his declarer coach Richard Phillips to win Wednesday's leg of the Dr David Levy Trophy. Their 58.73 per cent game was good enough to pip Winston Chin You and Audley Astwood (57.14 per cent) with Marlene Fulford and Monica Cools-Lartigue (54.76 per cent) third. It's been a dry period for the juniors as school has taken priority, but the summer months should see them turning out again in numbers for some exciting battles with their seniors.

• Clarendon Division One

The quarter-finals of the 2010 FX Trader Clarendon Division One competition will begin today. The qualified teams are: Group A - Comfort, Harlem, Freetown and New Longsville. Group B: Spartan, Chatteau, Treadlight and Cockpit.

Today's matches: Comfort vs New Longville at Comfort, 3:30 p.m. At Clarendon College: Spartan vs Chatteau.

Tomorrow's matches: Freetown vs Harlem at Bodles and Treadlight vs Cockpit at Treadlight.

• Racing on the double

Racing United continued their good form this season when they defeated Christian Pen 2-1 on aggregate, to lift the e-Services trophy in the second-leg final of the Portmore Division Two Football League. The match ended 1-1 but Racing had a 1-0 win in the first leg. The result handed the Gregory Park-based team the title.

Striker Jermaine Fogah gave Christian Pen a lifeline in the fifth minute but Horace Buchanon's diving header in the 44th minute levelled the score at 1-1. Racing copped the mid-season title, also over Christian Pen, earlier in the season. Both teams will play in next season's St Catherine Division One League.

• Portmore 5K walk/run

The second National Health Fund Portmore 5K walk/run, set for tomorrow starting at 7:30 a.m., will now include a bikeathon. The 5K walk/run will precede the bikeathon and there will also be a number of contests, including hula hoop, skipping and football juggling.

Hugh Lawson, CEO of the NHF, said, "We decided to include a bikeathon and other contests to add variety to the event, and thereby expand the number of people who would want to participate."

Marvin Anderson, president of the Endurance Cycling Club of Portmore, says cycling has always been part of the Portmore community and he welcomes the inclusion of a bikeathon in the NHF-sponsored event.

"We are happy to join with NHF to promote the whole concept of a healthy lifestyle, as this is in the best interest of the Portmore community. Our membership in the cycling club ranges from juniors to masters, with our oldest member being 73 years old, and so we look forward to a wide cross section of the community coming out to participate in the event."

The route for the NHF 5K walk/run will begin at Portmore Drive and run through Westchester Drive, Redwood Avenue, Benbow Avenue, Shenton Avenue, Germaine Road on to Bridgeport Road and Portmore Parkway and will finish at the Portmore Heart Academy.

• Battle on for quarter-final spots

There is an intriguing battle on for two quarter-final spots in Division One as the Impulse-sponsored Portmore/St Catherine Domino League continues today and tomorrow with rescheduled games. The battle for seventh and eighth spots is among Village Link (46 points), who have finished their fixture, eighth-place Prozz and Conzz (45 points), having one match in hand, and ninth-place Eradication (44 points), with two games in hand.

Eradication have the best chance of the three, and can finish in seventh spot if they win their games on the weekend. Eradication play out-of-contention Police Sunday morning at 10:30 in an unfinished match at home. The scores when power cut stopped play earlier in the season were Police 197, Eradication 190. The team that reaches 300 first wins.

Later that day, Eradication will finish their fixture against sixth-place Right Stuff (47 points) at Gregory Park. Right Stuff can finish fourth if they defeat Eradication and win another rescheduled game against third-place Caribbean Classic at Cedar Grove, starting at 6 p.m. today.

Prozz and Conzz should go past Village Link with a win against last-place and host team Masterpiece tomorrow morning at 11:30. In a game of only academic interest, leaders Eagle View (73 points) take on 10th-place Hurricane in Braeton tomorrow.

• Watson Grove to feel the heat

Watson Grove will this afternoon feel the heat from a rampant Cumberland team as the clubs clash in the feature match of a double-header in the Senator Arthur Williams-sponsored Portmore Under-15 football League at the Watson Grove field at 3 p.m.

Cumberland have been steady, and in two games thus far thumped Passagefort United 3-0 and thrashed newcomers Portmore United 4-0. In the opening match at the venue at 1 p.m., Greater Portmore take on Clifton. At Ferdie Neita Park, wounded Portmore United should get the better of strugglers Passagefort United while Westport tackle Hellshire United in a 1 p.m. opener.

• Big task for Power of Faith

Zone Two aspirants Power of Faith Ministries (PFM) International will have it all to play for when they challenge out-of-contention Miracle Open Bible in the lone match in the Power of Faith Ministries Twenty/20 Cricket League at Lime Tree Oval this morning at 10 o'clock.

Miracle lost two games in a row and this game is only of academic interest, while PFM International are still in with a chance of making it to the semi-finals if they can beat Miracle this morning and Faith Temple in their final match of the preliminary round. In a game last Saturday, Faith Temple defeated Miracle by 28 runs.

• World Youth Challenge 2010

The Jamaica Hockey Federation (JHF), in association with the International Hockey Federation, will celebrate World Youth Hockey Challenge 2010, which starts this morning from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Mona hockey field in St Andrew and ends tomorrow. The JHF will be targeting children and youth in the six to 21 age group. The theme for the two-day event is 'It's all in the game.' The organisers promise a fun-filled weekend of games including 3v3, 6v6, 11v11, skills and techniques demonstrations, video and rap sessions.

• Hockey expansion in schools

In an attempt to expand the sport of hockey in high schools in the island, the Jamaica Hockey Federation (JHF) donated 110 sticks to 11 new schools, each collecting 10 sticks. The presentation was made at the Mona hockey field.

Annmarie Smith, youth and schools coordinator for the JHF, said the donation of the sticks, which were provided by the International Hockey Federation, is part of her federation's goal to spread the sport of hockey in schools across Jamaica. "This is about the development of hockey at the junior level," Smith told The Gleaner.

• Christian Pen, Daytona in KO clash

Christian Pen will try and leave this year's Portmore Football League with silverware when they battle Daytona in tomorrow's Colin Fagan-sponsored Division Two knockout final at the Passsagefort playing field at 3 p.m.

This is Christian Pen's third final of the season. The previous ones were the mid-season final and the league final, and both matches saw them losing to double champions Racing United. Christian Pen will go into the match as favourites but Daytona could spring a surprise.

• McCook's Pen win Division One title

McCook's Pen held off a strong challenge from Royal Lakes Thursday evening to cop the St Catherine Division One title 5-3, on aggregate, after playing to a 2-2 draw at the Spanish Town Prison Oval. Chadrick Taylor and Dowell Brown scored for McCook's Pen while Omar Tate bagged a pair of penalties for Royal Lakes.

• Both teams will play in the Major League next season.

Wanderers became the third team to qualify for the Major League when they defeated Waterford in a play-off recently. Meanwhile, De la Vega United won the Captain's Bakery and Grill-sponsored Major League on penalties over Portsmouth in the late game at the Oval. Portsmouth won the second leg 1-0 in regulation time, which forced the game into penalties, as De la Vega had taken the first leg by a similar 1-0 margin. De la Vega went on to win 5-3 on penalties.

• VMBS St Mary Under-13

The VMBS/ St Mary Football Association Under-13 football competition will kick off tomorrow at the St Mary Sports Complex, Gray's Inn, Annotto Bay, at 2 p.m.

The 1 p.m. official press launch will be followed by the opening match between Friendship United Football Club and Gayle Authentic Strikers Football Club. The second match will feature Gray's Inn Football Club against Windsor Castle Football Club.

• MultiCare Champs

Greater Portmore High School emerged champions at the 2010 MultiCare Foundation's Track and Field Championships which was held at the G.C. Foster College on Tuesday, May 11. Greater Portmore High amassed 172 points to win the 15th staging of the event ahead of Windward Road Primary and Junior High, who scored 160 points, and Haile Selassie High, who finished third with 142 points.

Greater Portmore High topped the male division with 108 points and picked up another 64 points in the female category. Windward Road Primary and Junior High led in the female division with 84 points and collected 76 points in the male events, while Haile Selassie High took an even 71 points in both the male and female categories.

The meet was the culmination of months of training by the young athletes from the 31 MultiCare-assisted schools in east, west and central Kingston and Greater Portmore, who competed in sprint, middle-distance and relay events in four classes - 10-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18 and an open category.