Sports

Expo 2020 Dubai Road Tennis Tournament Winner Visiting Barbados

As Barbados continues efforts to position its global brand and attract new interest in the areas of investment, exports, culture, tourism, and sport, it is currently playing host to the women’s champion of the Expo 2020 Dubai Road Tennis Tournament. It was held by Invest Barbados from December 10 to 17, 2021.

Belgium-based Emma Hoang and her male counterpart, Christophe Nickels, from Luxembourg, reigned supreme in the road tennis competition, held at the Sports, Fitness and Wellbeing Hub.

There were 36 participants in the tournament, which followed a week of coaching clinics facilitated by top road tennis players from Barbados, among them Mark “Venom” Griffith and Julian “Michael Jackson” White; Chief Executive Officer of the Professional Road Tennis Association (PRTA), Dale Clarke; Aaron Barker, Tito Ellis, and Winslow Birkett.

As their grand prize, Ms. Hoang and Mr. Nickels each received a seven-day trip to Barbados, including accommodation and airline tickets, compliments of British Airways, along with an island tour.

The female road tennis champion arrived on the island on Saturday, February 18, and while here, will visit several places of interest and engage in road tennis activities.

Chief Executive Officer of Invest Barbados, Kaye-Ann Greenidge, said she was especially pleased to welcome Ms. Hoang to Barbados and for the opportunity to again promote the indigenous game of road tennis to non-Barbadians.

Reflecting on the competition, Greenidge said: “As the lead agency for the Barbados Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, we were at the forefront of showcasing Barbados to the world, and what better way to do this than through road tennis, which is uniquely Barbadian? The tournament we held was nothing short of a success, and there was quite a bit of interest from players like Hoang, and Nickels, who we look forward to welcoming to Barbados at a later date.”

The CEO added: “Barbados was among 190 countries that participated in the World Expo themed: Connecting Minds, Creating the Future. Our participation provided an excellent opportunity to promote the island as a premier destination for tourism and investment to the residents of the UAE and to the 25 million visitors who attended the event.”

The road tennis tournament was facilitated through a partnership with the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, the National Sports Council, the PRTA, the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., British Airways, The Crane Resort, and Invest Barbados.(PR/GIS)

From left to right – Expo Dubai 2020 Male Road Tennis Champion, Christophe Nickels; Deputy Commissioner General-Expo Dubai 2020, Ann Mellows; and Expo Dubai 2020 Female Road Tennis Champion, Emma Hoang, celebrating back in December 2021. (Invest Barbados)

Sports

BARBADOS WINS CWI RISING STARS UNDER-19 CHAMPIONSHIP

by David Harris

Defending champions Barbados defeated Guyana by 44 runs to retain their title in Cricket West Indies (CWI) Rising Stars Under-19 Championship at the Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua on Wednesday.

Needing to avoid defeat in their fifth and final match of the tournament to clinch the title, the Barbadian lads scored 209 for eight wickets, before bowling out Guyana for 160 in 45.3 overs.

Barbados were wobbling at 71 for four wickets, after winning the toss and opting to bat. Captain Justin Parris made an attractive 38 runs from 40 balls, the left-handed batsman struck five fours, but his dismissal in the sixteenth over left Barbados in a precarious position. Seth Smith (47) and Rajeev Parsooram (21) repaired the early damage with a crucial fifth-wicket partnership of 61 runs, before Parsooram was dismissed by left-arm pacer Brandon Henry.

After Parsooram’s wicket fell; Smith added 40 vital runs for the sixth wicket with Yuvraj Persaud who made 19, Smith’s rearguard inning ended innings ended when he was dismissed by Henry in the 43rd over, the wicketkeeper/ batsman faced 75 balls and counted four boundaries. Asher Brandford 18 and Zarell Harding 15 not out ensured that Barbados posted a total over 200 runs.

Medium pacer Reyaz Laif took three wickets for 34 runs, he was supported by fast bowler Usain Fredericks two wickets for 53 runs,, and Henry who picked up two wickets for 24 runs.

Chasing 210 for victory, Guyana slumped to 55 for five wickets in the 17^th over as the Bajan bowlers took early wickets; but a defiant knock of 50 runs from Henry briefly give the Guyanese hope. Henry faced 88 balls and lead a lower resistance that saw Guyana to 156 for eight wickets before he was bowled by Parsooram. After Henry was dismissed Guyana’s innings ended quickly.

Brandford captured three wickets for 19 runs with his medium pace; he was supported by fellow medium pacers Joshua Thomas and Parsooram with two wickets for 35 runs and 19 runs respectively, while Parris picked up two wickets with his leg-spin.

Sports

JAYDEN WINS GOLD AT CARIFTA GAMES

by David Harris

Jayden Green captured Barbados’ lone gold medal at the 52nd CARIFTA Games which ended at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, in Mucrapo, Trinidad on Monday night. The 17-year-old student of the Christ Church Foundation School won the Under-20 Boys’ 200 metres at the three -day track and field meeting in 20,93 seconds ahead of Jamaicans Tyreece Foreman (20.95) and Junior Galimore (21.01); Green is the first Barbadian to win the event since Mario Burke in 2015.

The rest of team collected five silver and eight bronze medals with several athletes recording personal best. Barbados won 14 medals at the games, their best performance since the 2016 Games in Grenada where they won 20 medals.

Sports

GET READY FOR THE NATIONAL SENIOR GAMES

Calendar lists all the events from May to September 2025

NATIONAL SENIOR GAMES field events will begin on Saturday, May 31, at Queen’s College, Husbands, St. James, while the road races, involving running, cycling, walking, and skating, will take place on Sunday, June 1, on the Mighty Grynner Highway. Monday, June 9, will see the culmination of the track events at the Usain Bolt Sports Complex.