SPORTS Undefeated SECTION E
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2025
BAHAMAS’ GOODWILL SWIMMERS Bahamas ladies sweep Suriname THREE-PEAT
3-0 in the Billie Jean King Cup By BRENT STUBBS Chief Sports Editor bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
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eam Bahamas stayed undefeated with a 3-0 sweep over Suriname on day two of the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup in Santa Tecla, El Salvador. In their singles matches, number two seeded player Simone Pratt swept her opponent, Faith Bab, in another whitewashing 6-0, 6-0 win, while Sydney Clarke, playing as the top seed, won her match 6-2, 6-1 over Anouk Ma-Ajong. And in the doubles, Clarke and Jalisa Clarke, making her Billie Jean King Cup debut, teamed up to pull off a 6-3, 6-0 decision over Ma-Ajong and Kalya Currie to complete the deal. Pratt called it an exceptional performance by Team Bahamas. “I played great, kept my mistakes to a minimum and really went out there and took charge,” said Pratt, the oldest playing member of the team. “Sydney, who played the number one singles, did well as well and Jalisa and Sydney played doubles and I think they did a very good job. It was pretty quick. They played well. Clarke, holding her own as the top seeded player for Team Bahamas, said she’s proud of the way she performed in her second singles win. “I had some moments where it was a little up and down just like yesterday but, for the most part, I
TEAM BAHAMAS, from left to right, of captain Kim O’Kelley, Saphirre Ferguson, Sydney Clarke, Jalisa Clarke and Simone Pratt are pictured above on day two of the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup in Santa Tecla, El Salvador. was able to lock in when it really counted,” she said. “My serves were great. I’m proud of myself because that’s what I’ve been working on recently, so I’m really proud of how I’ve been serving.” In the doubles, Clarke said she was thrilled to team up with Clarke in securing their win. “As a first team member, she was very teachable,” said Syndey Clarke of
Jalisa Clarke. “She was very open to tips and criticism. We just really gelled well together. I enjoyed playing with her and I hope we can play together again.” Jalisa Clarke, the rookie on the team, said it was a blessing for her to have gotten the opportunity to compete in the doubles match with Sydney Clarke. “The chemistry was there, the energy was
there. Everything was just right today,” said Clarke, a resident of Grand Bahama. “Hopefully we can take on Jamaica and do the same thing. I’m looking forward to it.” With their 2-0 record after beating Trinidad & Tobago in their opening match on Tuesday, Team Bahamas will close out pool play against Jamaica. Kim O’Kelley, who captains the team that also
2nd Junior Pan Am Games: Olympian Zion Miller falls short DOES NOT ADVANCE TO OLYMPIAN Zion Miller fell short of advanc- 400 FINAL ing to the final of the men’s
By BRENT STUBBS Chief Sports Editor bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
400 metres yesterday at the second Junior Pan American Games in Asuncion, Paraguay. Miller, competing in the preliminaries of the men’s 400m, was sixth in his heat in 47.60 seconds. The fourth and final qualifier in his heat was De Lima Jadson of Brazil in 46.69. The final is set for today. Miller, who ran on the mixed 4 x 400m relay at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France, was the third of the four members on the track team to compete so far. On day one of the competition on Monday, Taysha Stubbs, competing in the final of the women’s javelin, was sixth with a toss of 149-feet, one-inch or 45.45 metres. The gold medal went to Valentina Barrios of Colombia in a meet record of 197-5 (60.16m). Manuela Rotundo of Uruguay got the silver with 188-5 (57.44m) and Claudia Guerrero of Cuba won the bronze.
Mackey, competing in the first of her two events in the women’s discus, didn’t record a mark. Alejandra Mesa of Cuba won the gold with 178-6 (54.42m), Ottaynis Febres of Venezuela got the silver with 178-5 (54.40m) and Maria Eduarda De Matos of Brasil got the bronze with 174-7 (53.21m). Team coach Daron Lightbourne said he was pleased with the performances from Team Bahamas so far. “These are some of our future World champions and Olympians and they fought a good fight,” he said. “It’s been a long season for these athletes but they came in with a mindset of performing their best for Team Bahamas.” The competition is not yet over for Team Bahamas and so Lightbourne is hoping that the competitors will remain focused. “The main goals are for Annae in the shot put and Antone in the triple jump
includes Saphirre Ferguson, said she couldn’t ask for a better performance than what she got from the players yesterday. “Sydney and Simone played incredible,” said O’Kelley, a former member of the Fed Cup team, a name that was previously given for the most prestigious team competition in the world for women’s
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By BRENT STUBBS Chief Sports Editor bstubbs@tribunemedia.net TEAM Bahamas produced another splashing performance, winning the Goodwill Games Swimming Championships for the third consecutive year in Bridgetown, Barbados, over the weekend. “This was definitely one of the more difficult Goodwill Games that we have ever won because the competition was obviously fierce,” said head coach Dwayne Davis Jr. “After the first day, we were only up by five and-ahalf points. We persevered and we moved into first place by about 50-plus points and we ended up winning by 94 in the end.” The 40-member team, managed by Bernadette Jolly, returned home on Monday after collecting a total of 1,324 points to top the field that was followed by Jamaica with 1,230 for second with Trinidad & Tobago getting third with 1,028. Team Bahamas also topped the medal count with 110, including 31 gold, 40 silver and 39 bronze. Jamaica was second with 48 gold, 26 silver and 27 bronze for 101 medals. Davis Jr, who was assisted by Ashton Knowles and Drew Lightbourne, said they were trailing at the end of day one and they knew that they had a mission to complete and they soared by over the final two days to secure the deal. Team Bahamas ended up with three high point winners in Skyrah Chambers in
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VETERAN TENNIS COACH MARVIN ROLLE TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT OF BLTA By JONATHAN BURROWS VETERAN Bahamian tennis coach Marvin Rolle has officially announced his intention to run for president of the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA). Rolle made the announcement on Saturday during a peaceful protest at the BLTA headquarters, where a group of coaches and former players gathered to voice their
concerns about the current administration. Dressed in black to symbolise unity and disappointment, demonstrators criticised the federation’s leadership, citing a lack of transparency, poor communication and inadequate support for coaches and players across The Bahamas. Rolle, who has been actively involved in
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THE SPORTS CALENDAR
OLYMPIAN Zion Miller fell short of advancing to the final of the men’s 400 metres yesterday at the second Junior Pan American Games in Asuncion, Paraguay. to go out there and compete,” he said. “Once they put their best throw and jump forward they have already accomplished a job well done and represented team Bahamas.” Mackey will be back in the shot put on Thursday, while the other team member, Antone Smith, will be competing in the men’s triple jump
on Friday. So far, Team Bahamas has secured four medals, including a gold from Eliza Denning in the women’s sailing. Judoka Xavion Johnson got the first medal - a bronze - in the men’s -66 kilogram category and Olympian Lamar Taylor picked up a silver in the men’s 50m freestyle and bronze in the 100m freestyle.
BASKETBALL BBSF TOURNAMENT THE Bahamas Baptist Sports Federation is scheduled to hold a meeting 6pm Thursday, August 28 at its office upstairs in the Bahamas Baptist College, Jean Street, for all churches interested in participating in the 2025 Basketball Tournament. The tournament is scheduled for the
Aug.
weekend of September 26-27 at the CI Gibson Gymnasium for the 12-and under and open divisions. Each team will consist of 12 players. Trophies sponsored by AID will be distributed to the champions and runnersup in each category as well as medals for the third-place teams. Interested persons can
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