In Your Neighbourhood

Former champions Eagles kept their unbeaten record intact in the fourth round of the new-look Henkel-sponsored Pattex Cup skittles competition last Sunday when they defeated Rowe's Strikers 8-5 in a home match at Bejon's Sports Bar, Hughenden Plaza.

With this victory, Eagles (37 points) have moved closer to leaders Mister C (39 points) in the standings, with Rowe's Strikers third on 35.

Under the new scoring format, more points are awarded for the doubles and mixed doubles matches than the singles, hence Mister C are on top although they lost their first match to Olympic Strikers. Mister C have been scoring heavily in the four doubles (including a mixed doubles) assigned to every team in each round.

Results of other matches played last Sunday are as follows:

Mister C defeated Olympic Strikers 8-5 at Dragon Skittles Club, Giltress Street in Rollington Town, where the home team Dragon clipped defending champions Mystix 7-6.

Waltham Strikers beat fellow Waltham rivals Starliner 8-5 at Starliner (near Four Roads), while Willies whipped Mercury 10-3 at Eagles to assume an early lead in the second round of matches but still some way behind overall leaders Mister C.

The competition moves into its fifth round tomorrow with three set of matches at three venues.

These are Zone A - Eastern All-Stars vs Waltham at Eastern, 105 1/2 Windward Road, starting at 3 p.m.. Zone B - Eagles vs Mercury at Willies Strikers Skittles Club, Three Miles, and Willies Strikers vs Rowe's Strikers also at Willies. Zone C - Olympic Strikers vs Mystix at Mister C starting at 1 p.m. and Mister C vs Dragon at 4 p.m.

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3-on-3 basketball presentation tonight

The MegaMart-sponsored awards presentation function for the Business House three-on-three basketball competition takes place this evening at the NHT Sports Club, Oxford Road (adjacent to Emancipation Park), starting at 7:00.

Awards will be presented to G4S and National Land Agency, respective champions in Divisions One and Two.

G4S defeated last year's Division II champions JTA Co-operative Credit Union 3-2 in the best-of-five Divsion I finals, while National Land Agency came from two games down to clip Western Sports 3-2 in the Division II best-of-five finals.

The 2010 champions Grace Canning and The Gleaner finished third in Division One and two, respectively. Awards will also be presented to the most valuable players in both leagues, the playoffs and the finals.

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Johnson, Weller are bodybuilding champs

Rupert Johnson and Passionique Weller won the Mr Jamaica and Miss Jamaica titles, respectively at the Jamaica Bodybuilding and Fitness Association senior national championships last Saturday night at the Girl Guides Headquarters, Waterloo Road, last Saturday.

The fair-sized crowd saw former champion Johnson returning from a three-year absence to beat his opponents for the overall title for the third time.

Johnson, who had earlier finished second to Montego Bay's Michael Clarke in the heavyweight division, was adjudged the best in the overall category, which included middleweight champion Dwayne Collins, lightweight champions Mario Gonzalez and Clarke. Johnson hails from the Body Dynamic Gym.

Passionique Weller, who won the Junior Championships back in July, was the lone female competitor. She looked in immaculate condition, and this apparently scared away the competition. Crowd support for the championship was below par this year, suggesting a decline in the sport.

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Hall wins Mystix pool tournament

Former top-ranked player Ewart Hall from Hot Shots, Constant Spring Road, defeated Fernando Anderson from Mandeville 3-2 to win the Mystix eight-ball pool tournament at Mystix, Hagley Park Road, last Saturday night.

For his efforts, Hall received $24,000, while Anderson secured $8,000 for second in a field of 26 players from both rural and urban areas. Jason Robinson and Jamar Anderson shared third place, each receiving $2,500.

Meanwhile, Francine Cardoza won her second weekly tournament, defeating Nicole Hurd 3-0 to capture the $9,000 prize and trophy. She has now won two of the last three weekly tournaments.

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Inter-Bank football presentation Thursday

The JNBS/Western Sports Norman Goodison Inter-Bank football awards presentation function is scheduled for Thursday, December 8 at the Scotiabank Sports Club, Liguanea, starting at 6:30 p.m.

Scotia Group won the recently concluded competition for a fourth consecutive year, defeating NCB 4-0 in the final at the NWC playfield, Mona.

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Oracabessa Foundation Primary leagues

The last semi-final slots were decided earlier this week in the Oracabessa Foundation's Primary Schools league at the Eden Park Sports Complex in Jacks River, St Mary. Albion Mountain Primary secured both a place in football and netball beating Ramble Primary in football and Mason Hall Primary on the netball court.

In football, Albion Mountain went away 4-2 winners over Ramble. Andrew Williams's goal in the sixth minute and a hat-trick from captain Demari Pounal who found the back of the net in the 17th, 36th and 46th minutes, sealed the victory. Ramble was aided by a defender's goal in the first minute of play and Jordan Brown scored their second in the 34th minute.

Albion Mountain's girls proved too much for Mason Hall Primary in netball. Mason Hall were totally demolished going down 19-2 in the end. Jahneil Allen netted 13 goals and Takese Grey six for Albion Mountain.

The semi-finals in both netball and football were scheduled for yesterday at the same venue.

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Icah Wilmot in 17th spot

Jamaica's top professional surfer Icah Wilmot finished the 2011 Western Atlantic Pro Surf Series (WAPSS) in 17th place making him the second highest finishing Caribbean surfer in the series behind Barbadian junior phenomenon Josh Bourke, who finished 10th from the 254 entrants in the series.

"Icah could have done much better in the series had he attended all series events. Having only attended five of the nine, his potential points total was dramatically reduced so a 17th-place rank and is impressive" said Jamaica Surfing Association president Billy Wilmot. "The pro surfing game is an expensive one. Athletes have to travel around the globe chasing events and series points, so it is essential to have sponsorship support to make this possible, and you need event results to attract sponsors making it a catch-22 situation, so we can be proud of Icah's accomplishments this year and look to 2012 with encouragement".

The first event of the 2011-12 series was contested at the Soup Bowl surf beach in Bathsheba, Barbados, from November 25-27 where Jamaica's under-21 standout Ackeam Phillips had an impressive 13th-place showing. Icah Wilmot also attended the event and placed 17th securing a good start to the 2011-12 WAPSS season for both Jamaican pros. The next event of the 2011-12 WAPSS will be the Kona Pro in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, in mid March.

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ATL Autohaus Tennis

The ATL Autohaus Volkswagen Junior and Mentor Doubles Tennis Classic will serve up powerful, exciting tennis today at the Liguanea Club. The brainchild of Llockett McGregor, the tournament, which starts at 9 a.m., is a unique event in that it partners adult amateur players with their young counterparts on the junior tennis circuit.

Spectators are in for a real feast as the tournament is poised to showcase some competitive action on the courts. With the full support of Tennis Jamaica, the Junior Mentor programme encourages the spirit of giving. Adults are expected to bond with their junior partners, follow their progress on and off the courts while offering encouragement, advice and continued moral support. ATL Autohaus/Volkswagen, in a release, said it is particularly pleased to be associated with this event and will have some of their exciting range of Volkswagen vehicles on display for spectators to see up close, to add to the enjoyment of the two-day Classic. The tournament ends tomorrow.

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UTech Knights Classic

The third staging of the annual UTech Knights Volleyball Classic is scheduled for today at the UWI Beach Volleyball facility.

The event features male and female teams from some of the best volleyball clubs, high schools, as well as tertiary institutions such as UWI, UTech and Portmore, will begin at 9 a.m. Entry fee for teams of four is $3,000.

The day's games are expected to be action packed and highly entertaining with the UWI female team hoping to continue their dominance in the female segment, and Club Nitro will be looking to defend their male champion title.

Entrance to the event, which is sponsored by Hilyte (Hydrate, Restore and Energize), is free.

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Rivoli start well

Defending champions Rivoli made a winning start to their campaign in the South Central Confed Super League defeating fellow St Catherine team Dela Vega City, 1-0 at the weekend.

The game had barely started when Marvin Mills, nicknamed 'Peter Crouch', intercepted a bad mix-up between the Dela Vega custodian and a defender to slot home in the first minute. Mills was making his debut after playing for Bodles last season. Despite the loss, Dela Vega were actually making a better start than they did last year, when they crumbled to the same team, 5-0.

Meadows, last year's beaten finalists and who are expected to seriously vie for the title, were held to a 1-1 draw after they travelled to Manchester to face Downs.

Bodles and Spartan United were the other two teams on the 12-team roster to net wins. Dave Berthram's second-half effort gave Bodles a 1-0 win over last year's semi-finalists, Monymusk of Clarendon. However, Spartan, making their debut in the league, gave Clarendon fans something to cheer when they defeated experienced campaigners at this level, Naggo Head, 2-1.

Playing on their home ground at Turner's Oval on Sunday, Spartan got things going in the 25th minute through Eric Barton. Naggo Head equalised, courtesy of Shevon James, in the 35 minute to end the half at 1-1. Matthew Shand then secured three good points scoring in the final minute of play.

A day earlier when the competition kicked off, Manchester's New Green and Super Action of St Elizabeth travelled to St Catherine venues to secure 1-1 draws against Newlands and Royal Lakes, respectively.

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Volleyball Association gives back to G.C. Foster

President of the Jamaica Volleyball Association (JAVA), Major Warrenton Dixon and principal of the G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport, Edward Shakes, were present on Thursday to mark the official handover of sporting equipment to the college.

JAVA's president, in handing over equipment at the association's centre at the National Stadium, expressed his gratitude for the extensive support given to the volleyball programme in Jamaica by the institution over the years.

The college has played a significant role by making its facilities and training programmes available for national volleyball activities for several decades.

"In recent times, the Jamaica Volleyball Association has realised the need to reciprocate the support," says the Major Dixon.

"G.C. Foster has contributed immeasurably, not only to the success of individual players but to the lifting of the profile of the sport in an immensely competitive environment. They make their facilities available to us at minimal cost and we really appreciate that," he said.