Sports

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Four-time NBA champions San Antonio Spurs crashed to their first defeat of the season as the Los Angeles Clippers dazzled with high-flying dunks and tight defense on the way to a crushing 106-84 win on Wednesday.

SYDNEY, (Reuters) – Australian attempts at mind games ahead of the test series against South Africa were at worst irrelevant and at best a motivation to the tourists, captain Graeme Smith said yesterday.

TORONTO, Canada,  CMC – West Indies Cricket Umpires’ Association president, Cecil Fletcher has hailed the quality of Caribbean umpires, noting that significant strides have been made in developing the craft.

(Reuters) – The defending NBA champion Miami Heat blew away their second successive opponent in a 103-73 rout over Brooklyn on Wednesday.

(Reuters) – Bowlers Steven Finn and Stuart Broad were left out of England’s final warm-up match yesterday as the pace duo race against time to be fit for the first test against India starting on Nov 15.

SYDNEY, (Reuters) – Australia’s pace bowlers would be pushing the boundaries of acceptable aggression with a barrage of short bowling at South Africa’s batsmen in this week’s first test against the Proteas, captain Michael Clarke said yesterday.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Formula One drivers have been told to mind their language after world champion Sebastian Vettel and race winner Kimi Raikkonen turned the air blue on the podium at last Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

-tournament to become a national event By Iva Wharton It just gets simply bigger and better.

By Emmerson Campbell Despite a two-year absence from the ring Guyana’s and Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) bantamweight champion Shondell “Mystery Lady” Alfred is brimming with confidence ahead of her world title bout with Mexican Zulina Munoz.

Former coach of the year Robert Chisholm feels that all his hard work in coaching has paid off as one of his leading athletes Rupert Perry went from impressive to phenomenal in breaking the 10-second barrier on local soil last Friday.

—preparing for tournament in Tobago in December By Yonalla Dalrymple The University of Guyana rugby team yesterday responded to the call in aid of the blood bank’s `Good Samaritan Programme’ for blood donations resulting in 13 members of the team donating blood to the bank.

One week after the gruelling Guyana Open two-day Golf tournament the local players will be back in action on Saturday in the third Annual Players Championships sponsored by Citizens Bank Guyana Inc.,

Former Guyana under-19 all rounder, Joemal LaFleur, bagged 3-18 from 6.3 overs to help Bermine reach the semi-finals of the inaugural Neal and Massy Intermediate limited overs cricket competition in Berbice.

The decision for the Barbados based Caribbean United Football Club, to participate in the Banks DIH Sponsored end of year tournament was done in the best interest of the Club says Manager Dexter Bowman.

-Pegasus Open men’s singles Veteran tennis player Rudy Grant defeated Albert Madramootoo Monday evening in a men’s singles encounter as the Guyana Tennis Association (GTA)Pegasus Open continued at the Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel courts.

Australia will target Hashim Amla with verbal aggression and engage him in a “psychological war”, according to a dossier of team game-plans published in News Ltd newspapers in Australia.

SAVAR, Bangladesh, CMC – West Indies’ preparations for the opening Test against Bangladesh suffered a snag yesterday when their three-day tour match was reduced to two days because of an impaired outfield at the BKSP ground here.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic closed in on a last four berth at the ATP World Tour Finals after squeezing past Britain’s Andy Murray in the latest chapter of their evolving rivalry yesterday.

 (Reuters) – The Chicago Bulls dominated the start of the fourth quarter to beat the Orlando Magic 99-93 on Tuesday in a matchup of two teams trying to adjust to playing without last season’s All Stars.

TORONTO, Canada,  CMC – Two former Guyana first class players have been named in a 13-man Canada squad to face United States in the annual Auty Cup starting next week in Florida.