Carib Scope

分类： sports

  • Five top-10 drivers set to miss BMF Rally2

    Five top-10 drivers set to miss BMF Rally2

    The 2026 Barbados Rally2 Championship is bracing for a dramatic shake-up of its standings this Saturday, as the fifth round of the Barbados Motoring Federation Championship kicks off without five of the current top 10 drivers. The most high-profile absence comes in the form of series leader and 2022 title holder Stuart Maloney, who is stepping away from his usual driving seat to take on co-driving duties for his brother Mark at the iconic Sun & Stars Rally, launching on September 12.

    Heading into this weekend’s blue-riband event, the championship battle is already unusually competitive. Three different drivers have claimed victories across the opening four rounds, and an additional three racers have notched podium finishes, leaving the title fight wide open for contenders to seize momentum. The gap at the top is razor-thin: only 30 points separate current leader Stuart Maloney from his brother Mark, who sits in sixth place, meaning a strong showing this weekend could completely rearrange the overall standings.

    The potential for disruption does not end with the Maloney brothers. Third-placed Jamaican driver Kyle Gregg and fifth-placed Jeff Panton, a four-time winner of the Sun & Stars Rally, are also absent from the entry list, opening even more opportunities for lower-ranked competitors to climb the table. Currently sitting second and fourth in the overall standings are 2024 champion Josh Read and Adam Mallalieu, the youngest driver on the 2026 grid. Read already claimed victory at this season’s opening round at BRC Shakedown Stages, while Mallalieu is chasing his first ever Rally2 Championship win after taking second place behind Stuart Maloney at the First Citizens King of the Hill event earlier this year.

    This year’s Sun & Stars Rally, hosted as part of the MCBI championship, will see competitors cover 12 stages spanning 62 kilometres across the parishes of St John and St George. The on-track action is scheduled to get underway at 1:55 p.m., starting with the first of three runs along the 4.3-kilometre Society-to-Pool stage, which will alternate with three passes over the 6.1-kilometre Malvern-to-Sweet Vale route. Following a dinner break at the Service Park located at The Lodge School, crews will complete the remaining stages in reverse order. The first Sweet Vale-to-Malvern run is set for 6:30 p.m., with the final Pool-to-Society stage expected to wrap up by approximately 10 p.m.

    MCBI President David Williams shared insights into the lead-up to the event, noting that the cancellation of the 2025 Sun & Stars Rally dealt a significant blow to all involved. “Losing last year’s Sun & Stars was a big blow, not only in financial terms, but also for our competitors and volunteers. A lot of work goes into the planning of these events and it is disappointing for everyone when something out of our control means we can’t go forward,” Williams explained. Still, he expressed optimism about this year’s running, pointing to strong competitor interest as a positive sign. “It is encouraging to see such strong support from competitors again this year; with a couple of days before entries close, we are already in the mid-thirties — there are some close battles in the classes and just two double-header speed events to go after this, so the guys are keen to keep scoring points.”

  • Bhatia keeps Knight Riders unbeaten

    Bhatia keeps Knight Riders unbeaten

    The 2026 Limacol Women’s Caribbean Premier League continued its early-season action at Bridgetown’s Kensington Oval on Thursday, September 10, with expansion franchise Jamaica Empress falling to a dominant nine-wicket defeat at the hands of two-time defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders. The result keeps TKR’s unbeaten start to the tournament intact, with the side cruising to victory with more than eight overs left in their 101-run chase.

    The game’s foundation for victory was laid long before TKR stepped into bat, after the Knight Riders won the toss and elected to insert the debutante franchise into bat. From the first ball, TKR’s bowling unit set a relentless tone, breaking open the Empress batting lineup early: the side lost two wickets on consecutive deliveries in just the second over, with one of those scalps being star former Australian captain Meg Lanning, one of the most high-profile signings of the new franchise.

    While middle-order batter Rashada Williams offered steady resistance, compiling a patient 40 runs off 47 deliveries, she received little consistent support from her batting partners as the Empress struggled to build any meaningful momentum throughout their 20 overs. The side finished their allotted innings at 100 for 9, with Chinelle Henry – who had starred in the Empress’s opening match victory – finishing on an unbeaten 22 to close out the innings.

    Leading TKR’s bowling attack was Player of the Match Karishma Ramharack, who delivered a masterclass in controlled spin bowling. Ramharack finished with figures of 3 wickets for just 11 runs across her four full overs, leading a disciplined collective bowling effort that kept the Empress’s run total far below par.

    In response, TKR’s run chase was calmly and expertly led by opening batter Yastika Bhatia, who produced a dynamic innings that kept the required run rate well under control from the first over. The side lost only one wicket throughout the chase: Laura Harris was stumped after being beaten by a sharply turning delivery from spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba, with the score at 35 for 1 at the end of the fifth over.

    By the time Harris departed, TKR was already well positioned to secure a second consecutive win. Captain Deandra Dottin joined Bhatia at the crease, and the pair put together an unbeaten 69-run second-wicket partnership to seal the win. Dottin contributed a quickfire 22 runs off 15 deliveries, while Bhatia remained unbeaten at the crease on an impressive 57 runs off 34 balls, steering the side across the finish line with 53 balls still left to spare.

    Looking ahead to the next round of fixtures, TKR will next take on the Guyana Amazon Warriors, while the Jamaica Empress – who hold a game in hand over most of the competition – will look to bounce back from their first defeat of the season with a match against the Barbados Tridents.

  • Column: Evalueren en bijsturen!

    Column: Evalueren en bijsturen!

    Suriname has long been recognized as a breeding ground for elite athletic talent. For decades, both male and female athletes from the South American nation have delivered standout individual performances that have left a lasting mark on regional and global sports, while Suriname’s national and club teams have also notched remarkable achievements in team competition over the years. In recent years, however, a clear downward trend has emerged: with only a handful of exceptions, locally trained Surinamese athletes have failed to secure competitive victories at regional and international sporting stages, leaving the sports community grappling with a pressing question: why have performances fallen so far short of expectations despite the country’s deep pool of natural talent?

    This question cannot be resolved from behind a desk, argues Surinamese sports analyst Mireille Hoepel. A comprehensive, multi-faceted investigation into the entire athlete development pipeline is urgently needed to pinpoint where the system is failing. Hoepel emphasizes the importance of assessing whether Suriname’s approach to nurturing athletes has stagnated, holding to outdated methods that worked in the past but have not adapted to evolving global sports standards. If training and development strategies have been updated in recent years, she adds, a rigorous evaluation is required to confirm whether these changes have been effective—and policymakers and sports leaders must be willing to make mid-course corrections if current approaches are not delivering results.

    To fully unpack the causes of widespread performance decline across Suriname’s sports sector, all key stakeholders and contributing factors must be examined. Hoepel notes that potential weaknesses could lie anywhere in the system: from athletes’ immediate training environments and personal support networks to access to high-quality medical and scientific backup, or even structural flaws at the level of governing sports organizations. Once the root causes of underperformance are identified, Hoepel stresses that the sports community must be prepared to implement sweeping changes to reverse the trend. Urgent reform is required to lift Surinamese sport back to a competitive, acceptable standard, and early intervention is critical: young athletes must be introduced to proper training pathways and professional expectations from the start of their careers to build the mental and technical foundation needed to compete at the highest level.

    Targeted, strategic action is particularly critical for Suriname’s most popular sport: football. Hoepel argues that the country must first identify a clear, proven formula for sustainable success before committing resources and investments to improve the sport. Without this foundational analysis, wealthier Surinamese football clubs often fall back on impulsive, ad-hoc player transfer policies. While clubs are entitled to manage their own budgets, Hoepale notes that a far more effective approach is to first map gaps in a club’s player development and squad before signing new talent.

    A recurring issue across Suriname’s local football scene, Hoepel observes, is poor finishing accuracy among domestic players, a problem that plagues nearly all of the country’s clubs. To address this widespread gap, Hoepel proposes that the Suriname Football Federation (SVB) reach out to Surinamese football professionals based in the diaspora to leverage their specialized expertise. By sharing their knowledge and experience with local clubs, these experienced professionals could deliver a much-needed quality boost to the goal-scoring ability of Suriname’s homegrown footballers, helping to lift the overall standard of the sport across the country.

  • Young Barbadian developing new approach to athlete assessment

    Young Barbadian developing new approach to athlete assessment

    A young Barbadian former competitor is revolutionizing athlete development and post-injury care across his home country with a data-driven new program that addresses longstanding gaps in local athletic support. Nineteen-year-old Michael J.D. Hall, who competed competitively in both swimming and karate before turning his focus to sports science education, has developed the Barbados High Performance Athlete Assessment Initiative, a groundbreaking project designed to overhaul how personalized training plans are created and how injured athletes rehabilitate.

    Set to launch publicly on September 12 at the Hilton Barbados Resort, the initiative will operate as a free public resource, with young athletes under the age of 20 identified as its core priority group. For Hall, the project is rooted in personal experience and a desire to give back to the Caribbean community that shaped his athletic journey: after earning his bachelor’s degree in Strength, Conditioning and Sports Nutrition from University College Birmingham in the UK, he’s bringing cutting-edge sports science home before returning to the institution to pursue postgraduate study.

    “Having competed as an athlete myself, I know exactly which critical resources today’s young Barbadian athletes are missing,” Hall explained in comments ahead of the launch. “When I began preliminary testing, I was shocked to find that many athletes don’t have access to structured rehabilitation programs after getting hurt. Earlier this year, we all watched multiple athletes get injured at the CARIFTA Games, and several still haven’t made a full recovery. This initiative is built to fix that: we identify individual weaknesses early, build resilience, and prepare athletes to compete at their best.”

    Hall’s approach leverages advanced sports science technology, specifically the VALD System, a tool that maps muscular imbalances that often go undetected until they result in injury. To date, he has already completed baseline assessments for more than 30 athletes across four popular Barbadian sports: football, swimming, road tennis, and track and field.

    As Hall notes, subtle muscular imbalances are a normal part of athletic development – most people have one dominant leg or arm, for example – but when that imbalance exceeds a 10% gap, the risk of acute injury rises dramatically. His program flags these risks early, before athletes take the field, and creates customized training and rehab plans to close gaps and reduce injury risk. After each assessment, participating athletes receive a fully personalized plan, including targeted recommendations for recovery and performance improvement.

    Initial feedback from the pilot testing phase has been overwhelmingly positive. Many participants had no idea they had underlying imbalances that put them at risk, and coaching staff have welcomed the initiative as a way to offload the work of strength and conditioning planning, letting them refocus their energy on skill and technique development. “Athletes have been really grateful for the insight, and coaches love the support,” Hall said. “When an athlete gets hurt, I can step in to build and manage their rehab program, taking that work off coaches’ plates.”

    The public launch event this weekend will feature an in-person appearance from a VALD System representative, plus talks from leading guest sports experts and an open mic session where attendees can ask questions about the initiative and athlete care. After the launch, Hall will return to the UK to complete his master’s degree, with plans to specialize in either strength and conditioning or sports analytics – a path he has dreamed of since childhood.

    “From a young age, I knew I wanted to work in sports, even when I moved from competing to the science side of the field,” he said. “I can’t stand sitting behind a desk all day – I need to be active, working with athletes, and making a tangible difference in the sport I love.”

  • CWI appoints veteran coach as batting consultant

    CWI appoints veteran coach as batting consultant

    Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced the appointment of seasoned New Zealand-born coach Bob Carter as its new batting consultant, tasking him with a core mission to lift batting performance across the Caribbean region and build a sustainable pipeline of elite talent for coming generations. The official announcement, made Wednesday, lands at a pivotal juncture for West Indies cricket, as the side prepares for a stacked schedule of upcoming international competitions over the next two and a half years.

    Bringing more than three decades of high-level coaching experience to the role, Carter officially stepped into the position on September 1, and will collaborate across CWI’s men’s, women’s, and youth cricket programs. He will partner with existing regional and high-performance coaches to reinforce the local coaching ecosystem and nurture a deeper talent pool of skilled batters.

    In comments following his appointment, Carter emphasized his long-standing coaching philosophy: “My focus has always been on supporting players and coaches to reach their full potential, and I am looking forward to working alongside the regional and high-performance coaches to help achieve that.”

    Carter boasts an extensive resume across top global cricket circuits. From 2012 to 2025, he held the position of High-Performance Coach with New Zealand Cricket. He also served as head coach of the New Zealand Women’s national team between 2019 and 2022, and held two stints as assistant coach for the New Zealand men’s side. Earlier in his career, he took on head coaching roles for New Zealand domestic sides Canterbury and Wellington, and served as director of cricket at England’s Northamptonshire County Cricket Club.

    His first on-the-ground assignment will kick off later this month, with a regional tour covering all six of West Indies’ first-class cricket territories: Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Leeward Islands, and the Windward Islands. During the tour, he will work directly with local players and coaching staff to assess current standards and implement early improvements.

    Carter’s role is structured around two central priorities. First, he will deliver specialized technical guidance to both current elite batters and emerging young talent. Second, he will build the capacity of regional and high-performance coaches to design and deliver personalized, effective batting training programs for players at all levels.

    CWI Director of Cricket Miles Bascombe explained that the appointment forms a key part of the governing body’s broader push to upgrade regional coaching infrastructure. “West Indies teams will participate in at least six global events over the next 24 to 30 months, including the Men’s World Cup Qualifier next February. The steps we take now are intended to lay the groundwork for success. Bob’s immediate job is to raise the technical standard heading into these events,” Bascombe noted.

    Bascombe added that the long-term success of the appointment will be measured by sustainable change, not just short-term results: “But the measure of this appointment is not what our top six look like in twelve months. It is whether the coaches he works with come out of it better at teaching batting than they went in, and whether that reaches the coaching education modules the rest of the region is taught from. That is what lasts.”

    The hiring comes as part of CWI’s wider technical development initiative, following a review by the Cricket Strategy and Officiating Committee that identified two key priorities for West Indies cricket growth: targeted specialist technical support, and systematic strengthening of regional coaching capacity. With the 2027 Men’s ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier set to take place between February and March next year, the appointment comes at a critical time to prepare the side for upcoming global competition, while building long-term strength across the regional cricket ecosystem.

  • Cricket West Indies appoints veteran English coach as batting consultant

    Cricket West Indies appoints veteran English coach as batting consultant

    Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced a key addition to its high-performance coaching setup, confirming the appointment of experienced former first-class cricketer Bob Carter as the organization’s new batting consultant. Born in Britain, Carter joined the CWI team officially on September 1, signing an initial 12-month contract that will see him support development programs across both the men’s and women’s national cricket setups.

    Carter brings a wealth of coaching knowledge accumulated over more than a decade of high-level cricket leadership. His most prominent previous role was head coach of the New Zealand women’s national cricket team, a position he held from 2019 through 2022. Before stepping into that head coaching role, he spent 13 years as a high-performance coach for New Zealand Cricket, starting in 2012. Though Carter retired from full-time coaching duties in 2025, he has remained active in the sport in recent months, completing consultancy work for the Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord’s Cricket Ground and leading a specialized coaching clinic at the Saint Lucia Cricket High-Performance Centre.

    In his first project with CWI, Carter will embark on a multi-stop regional tour launching later this September. The tour will take him across six major cricketing hubs in the Caribbean: Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Leeward Islands, and the Windward Islands, where he will work directly with regional players and coaching staff.

    The timing of Carter’s appointment is strategically planned, coming roughly six months before the West Indies men’s national team competes in the 2028 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, scheduled for February and March. This tournament marks the second consecutive time West Indies has had to compete in the qualifier to secure a spot in the main Cricket World Cup draw.

    Speaking in an official statement released by CWI, Carter emphasized his enthusiasm for the new role and his respect for West Indies’ cricketing legacy. “West Indies cricket has a proud tradition of producing outstanding batsmen, and my job is to help build the base to produce future generations of world-class players,” Carter said. “My focus has always been on supporting players and coaches to reach their full potential, and I am looking forward to working alongside the regional and high-performance coaches to help achieve that.”

    Miles Bascombe, CWI’s Director of Cricket, framed the hire as a critical investment ahead of a packed schedule of elite international competition. “West Indies teams will participate in at least six global events over the next 24 to 30 months, including the Men’s World Cup Qualifier next February,” Bascombe noted. “Bob’s immediate job is to raise the technical standard heading into these events.”

  • Cricket brings the Commonwealth together as leaders and future stars unite for CHOGM 2026

    Cricket brings the Commonwealth together as leaders and future stars unite for CHOGM 2026

    A groundbreaking new initiative is set to blend sport, diplomacy and sustainable development when the 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) kicks off in Antigua and Barbuda. Organizers have unveiled plans for the ‘One Commonwealth, One Team’ Exhibition Cricket Match Series, a one-of-a-kind event that will bring sitting heads of government together with rising young cricket stars from across the bloc to advance shared goals of inclusive growth and climate action.

    Supported by a coalition of leading global and regional institutions, the series was developed in partnership with the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) – the organization founded by King Charles III in 2020 – alongside the Commonwealth Secretariat, Commonwealth Sport, the West Indies Cricket Association and the Khalili Foundation. The event will be hosted at Antigua and Barbuda’s iconic Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, coming straight after the country’s annual Independence Day celebrations, and will bring the official 2026 CHOGM theme – ‘Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth’ – to life through one of the Commonwealth’s most beloved shared cultural pastimes.

    Rooted in the legacy of Antiguan cricket legend, national hero and 2026 CHOGM Envoy Sir Vivian Richards, the match series leverages cricket’s cross-community popularity to celebrate the core values that bind the Commonwealth: partnership, mutual friendship, inclusive leadership, and collective purpose. The series will feature two distinct fixtures, designed to highlight both diplomatic collaboration and the next generation of cricketing talent. First, a lighthearted T5 exhibition match will pit Caribbean heads of government against their counterparts from other corners of the Commonwealth. This will be followed by a competitive T10 clash between the Commonwealth Future Stars Under-23 teams, putting emerging young talent in the international spotlight.

    E.P. Chet Greene, Chair of the 2026 CHOGM Task Force, emphasized that the event is a natural fit for the host nation. “Antigua and Barbuda is proud to welcome the Commonwealth family to our shores for CHOGM 2026,” Greene said. “Cricket is part of our heritage and our identity, and this event captures the spirit of friendship, partnership and shared purpose at the heart of the Commonwealth.”

    Commonwealth Secretary-General Hon Shirley Botchwey echoed that sentiment, noting that cricket has long served as a unifying force across the diverse 56-nation bloc. “From local communities to the international stage, cricket has long connected people across the Commonwealth,” Botchwey said. “There could be no better opportunity for celebrating this heritage than the ‘One Commonwealth, One Team’ Exhibition Cricket Match Series in Antigua and Barbuda, or a more fitting inspiration than Sir Vivian Richards. His courage, flair, and leadership have inspired generations and will continue to inspire more. As leaders gather for CHOGM, ‘One Commonwealth, One Team’ will capture the essential truth that the Commonwealth is strongest when we combine our different talents and work towards a shared purpose.”

    Sir Vivian Richards himself highlighted the unique power of global sport to drive real systemic change. “Sport reaches more than four billion fans worldwide, giving it a rare ability to shift behaviour and mobilise people at scale, and cricket holds a unique place within the Commonwealth,” Richards said. “The ‘One Commonwealth, One Team’ series demonstrates how that reach translates into practical action – by bringing stakeholders together to turn sustainability ambitions into concrete action and inspire more resilient, inclusive and prosperous communities.”

    Jennifer Jordan-Saifi, Chief Executive Officer of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, added that the initiative aligns perfectly with SMI’s core mission to build more sustainable global economies. “Sport has a remarkable ability to bring people together, inspire ambition and turn shared values into collective action. Cricket is woven into the fabric of the Commonwealth, making it a powerful platform to demonstrate what partnership can achieve,” Jordan-Saifi said.

    Dr Donald Rukare, President of Commonwealth Sport, noted that the cricket series is just one part of a broader push to embed sport into CHOGM’s development agenda. Parallel to the exhibition matches, the inaugural Commonwealth Sport Summit will convene senior leaders from government, sport, and private industry to explore how sport can be leveraged to tackle shared global challenges, build cross-sector partnerships, and drive tangible action. “Sport has a unique power to connect people and communities across borders and generations,” Rukare said. “As we look towards CHOGM 2026, we want the contribution of sport to extend far beyond competition.”

    Beyond the on-field action, the ‘One Commonwealth, One Team’ series is designed to deliver a lasting positive legacy for the region and the wider Commonwealth. The initiative seeks to showcase how cross-sector collaboration between governments, sporting governing bodies, private businesses, and local communities can advance sustainable development, strengthen social cohesion, expand economic opportunity, and accelerate positive environmental action. It forms a core pillar of the expanded role that sport will play at CHOGM 2026, tying together diplomatic dialogue, youth investment, and climate action around a shared cultural touchstone.

  • Matthews continues to dominate ICC all-rounder rankings

    Matthews continues to dominate ICC all-rounder rankings

    West Indies women’s cricket captain Hayley Matthews has once again secured her position as the world’s leading women’s T20 all-rounder in the latest rankings update from the International Cricket Council (ICC), capping off a remarkable run of individual form that has cemented her status as one of the sport’s top modern talents. Currently competing and leading the Barbados Tridents — the three-time defending champions of the Women’s Caribbean Premier League — Matthews has held onto the coveted number one position in the ICC’s T20 all-rounder standings, outperforming elite competitors from across the globe. New Zealand’s star all-rounder Amelia Kerr sits just behind her in second place, while Sri Lanka’s dynamic standout Chamari Athapaththu rounds out the top three positions on the list. Mathews’ consistent dominance extends beyond the shortest format of women’s international cricket as well. In the ODI all-rounder rankings, she holds a strong second place, trailing only Australia’s veteran star Ashleigh Gardner, but jumping ahead of fellow Australian rising talent Annabel Sutherland to claim the second spot. Her individual rankings across other disciplines further highlight her well-rounded skill set: she ranks fourth globally in ODI bowling, 14th in T20 bowling, fourth in the ICC’s list of top T20 batters, and seventh in the 50-over batter rankings. Notably, Matthews’ exceptional individual form has not translated to a top-tier ranking for her national side, however. The West Indies women’s team currently sits in seventh place in the ICC ODI team rankings, a list led by top-three sides England, India and South Africa. In T20 team rankings, West Indies also hold the seventh position, with Australia leading the table, followed by India in second and New Zealand in third. Despite the team’s current mid-table standing, Matthews’ consistent top-tier individual performances remain a bright spot for West Indies cricket as the side continues to build toward future international competitions.

  • Falcons Crush Amazon Warriors by 65 Runs, Secure CPL Top-Two Finish

    Falcons Crush Amazon Warriors by 65 Runs, Secure CPL Top-Two Finish

    In a standout Tuesday night clash at Providence Stadium in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League, the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons delivered a masterclass in controlled aggression to hand the previously undefeated Guyana Amazon Warriors their first loss of the campaign, wrapping up a comprehensive 65-run victory that booked their spot in the tournament’s Qualifier 1.

    Sent into bat first after winning the toss, the Falcons built their innings patiently through the opening 15 overs before launching a devastating late-innings attack. Contributions from Hasan Nawaz, who hammered 36 runs off 27 deliveries, laid a solid foundation for the middle order, and it was all-rounder Shadab Khan who stole the show with a blistering, unbeaten 30 runs from only nine balls. The Falcons piled on a massive 72 runs in the final five overs of their allocation, closing out their 20 overs at 182 for five wickets and setting the unbeaten Warriors a steep target of 183 to win.

    The Guyana Amazon Warriors’ chase fell apart almost from the first over, as Antiguan pace bowler Alzarri Joseph tore through the team’s top order, leaving the Warriors reeling early on. Joseph finished his four-over spell with an impressive four wickets for just 41 runs, putting the Falcons firmly in control of the match. Shadab Khan continued his impactful performance with the ball, claiming two additional wickets for only 19 runs, effectively killing off any chance of a Guyana comeback.

    By the 14.2 over, the Warriors were bowled out for just 117 runs, confirming a 65-run defeat for the side and ending their six-match unbeaten winning streak. For his game-changing contributions with both bat and ball, Shadab Khan was named the Player of the Match.

    Beyond ending the Warriors’ undefeated run, the result also locked in a top-two finish for the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons on the tournament standings, earning them a direct place in Qualifier 1 as they continue their push for the Caribbean Premier League title.

  • Archers battle heat at 2026 Outdoor National Championships

    Archers battle heat at 2026 Outdoor National Championships

    The Archery Association of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), Inc. brought the nation’s top archery talent together this past Saturday for its annual outdoor national championships, hosted at the purpose-built National Archery Range in Belair. What made this year’s competition stand out from all prior iterations was a landmark first for SVG archery: for the first time in the association’s history, elite competitors got the chance to test their skills at the official Olympic distance of 70 meters, alongside new and emerging athletes competing in the dedicated beginner and development divisions. This expansion of competition categories reflects the sport’s steady growth across the island nation, creating pathways for new competitors to progress to elite international standards.

    Even before the elimination rounds got underway, archers faced an unexpected challenge in the form of sweltering hot weather that pushed every athlete’s physical and mental stamina to the limit. Despite the grueling conditions, competitors pushed through their 72-arrow qualifying rounds, and their standout performances delivered a historic milestone for the association: multiple new national records were set across the competition’s divisions, underscoring the rising caliber of SVG archery.

    After the conclusion of qualifying, athletes advanced to a knockout elimination round, where competitors were narrowed down to determine the gold, silver, and bronze medalists in each category. The elimination matches delivered no shortage of drama, with one division requiring a tense shoot-off to break a tie and decide the podium placements.

    When the final arrows landed, the full list of medal winners spanned every division: In the Men’s 70m Recurve event, Rayon Clarke claimed gold and Ian Gibson took silver. The Women’s 70m Recurve division awarded gold to Karen Palmer and silver to Richol Richards. For Men’s 50m Recurve Development, Vanburn Harry won gold, Adrian Parris took silver, and Tristan Ballah earned bronze. The 30m Recurve Beginner Combined division saw Alexys Liverpool take gold, Dreden Lewis claim silver, and Garvanique Walters finish with bronze. Finally, in the Men’s 30m Barebow Beginner category, Kobi Branch won gold and Kris Simmons took silver.

    The event received official government support, with Minister of Sports Kaschaka Cupid and Senator Chelsea Alexander making an on-site visit to meet with athletes, organizers, and spectators, reaffirming the government’s backing for growing archery in SVG.

    Looking ahead, the event served as a critical qualifying opportunity for upcoming international competitions. A two-person team from SVG will travel to Barbados later this month to compete in the Barbados Senior Games, followed by a much larger 11-member delegation heading to Guyana this October. In Guyana, the team will compete in both the 2026 Caribbean Development Championships and the first-ever inaugural Caribbean Championships, marking a new chapter of international competition for SVG archery.