IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD

• Mellace takes Wheeler Chess Open

National Master Andrew Mellace signalled his return to top-flight chess, when he won the ninth staging of the Robert Wheeler Chess Open at the National Housing Trust car park in New Kingston last weekend.

Mellace won the main event after securing a tame draw against National Master Damion Davy in the final round to end atop the standings on five points from six games.

Second place was shared by three players - Davy, National Master Russel Porter and Jamaica-born Canadian National Master Denton Cockburn - each of whom ended on 4.5 points.

The Intermediate Section for players with a Jamaica Chess Federation (JCF) rating below 1600 was won by St Mary native Davion Ferguson, who scored 5.5 points from six games. Second place went to Kevin Jervis, who secured five points, while third was shared between Camperdown's Roger Williams and Jonathan Pitterson of Wolmer's Boys, who ended on four points each.

The amateur section for players with a JCF rating below 1300 was won by Tristan Issacs with a perfect five wins from five games, second place was shared by Tahj Grannel and Ashley-Renee Gregory, who both ended on 4 points.

A number of category prizes were awarded as follows: Best Expert - Peter Thomas, Best in Class A - Shreyas Smith, Best Class B - Krishna Gray, Best Class C - Horace Sinclair, Best Class D - Rachel Miller and Best Class E - Akelia Donaldson.

Age group prizes were also awarded: Best Under-8 and Under-10 - Chimobi Iheonunekwu, Best Under-12 - Rachel Miller, and Best Under-14 - Jonathan Pitterson.

• Tank-Weld, NWC in BH 5-a-side opener

The 2011 Business House Five-A-Side football competition kicks off today at the National Water Commission (NWC) playing field, Mona, with the dress parade and opening match, starting at 2 p.m.

In the opening Division One match at 4 p.m., defending champions Tank-Weld Metals will play last year's Division Two champions NWC.

Significantly, Tank-Weld Metals captured the one-day challenge rally last Saturday at the NWC playing feld field, beating Jamaica Broilers on penalty kicks after both had played to a 1-1 draw in regulation time.

This year's Division One and Two competitions will be sponsored by Supreme Ventures Sports Betting through their JustBet brand.

Honey Bun will be the sponsor of the knockout competition, while KLAS FM will provide live broadcast, interviews and updates during the season. Western Sports will be the official ball provider, through their Puma brand.

Tank-Weld Metals will have former national goalkeeper Richard McCallum, Andre Clennon, Carlos Wright, Theo Brown, Vincent Earl and Kenardo Smith in their team. Promoted NWC will look to Boys' Town Premier League goalkeeper Kirk Porter, Robert Beckford, Kirk Edwards, Garfield Robinson and Terrence Burton to upset the more fancied Tank-Weld Metals, who will be seeking their third straight Division One title.

The 2011 season will see 60 participating teams. Supreme Ventures Sports Betting and Honey Bun will be offering giveaways to players and spectators.

• Wray & Nephew 5-a-side pools begins

The first-ever Wray & Nephew-sponsored eight-ball team tournament gets under way today across the island with 26 participating teams vying for a whopping first prize of $250,000.

The competition will be launched today at Mystix Sports Club, 78³/⁴ Hagley Park Road, starting at 5 p.m., followed by four matches in the Corporate Area zone. Matches will also be played in Montego Bay, Mandeville and Linstead.

The Corporate Area matches at Mystix are Hot Shots vs Mystix Imports, Hot Shots Fury vs Bombay Sports Lounge, Chelsea Seals vs Mystix Knights, and Gee vs Invaders.

Matches on in the rural areas are Montego Bay Proper B vs Marshalls from Savanna-la-Mar at 6 p.m at 44 Fort Street in MoBay, followed by Montego Bay Proper A vs Palm Court from Negril at the same venue, while Kendan Pool and Games will oppose Club 300 B from Lucea at 32 Jarrett Street, MoBay.

Upper Level from Mandeville will host George's from May Pen. The final set of rural matches will see The Spot hosting Strawberry at Old Harbour Road, and Triple Diamond vs Spot One at 73 King Street, Linstead. One match is scheduled for tomorrow in Savanna-la-mar. Gold Room will oppose Club 300 A. The rural matches are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

The winners will receive $250,000; the runners-up will collect $100,000; and third-place team $50,000. Play will continue every Saturday until the final on July 24.

• Wray & Nephew skittles matches

Mister C crushed Portmore's Hangover 10-1 in the fourth round of the Wray & Nephew skittles competition at Mister C, Spanish Town, last Sunday.

Once again, Mister C's promising young player, Yanick Senior, won his game to be unbeaten in four matches this season.

In other matches played at Mister C Skittles Club last Sunday, Starliner clipped Rowe's Strikers 6-5.

In the day's feature match between two former champions, Eagles beat Eastern All-Stars 7-4 at Waltham Strikers Skittles Club, while Waltham pipped Dragon 6-5.

At Mystix Skittles Club, 78³/⁴ Hagley Park Road, the all-female team, Lady Strikers, resumed winning ways with a 6-4 victory over Olympic Strikers, while Willies Strikers crushed The Dip 6-0.

The competition continues tomorrow with home team Eagles vs Starliner at Hughenden Plaza, Mister C vs Willies at the same venue; Lady Strikers vs Mercury at Padmore Drive and Olympic vs Hangover at the same venue; Eastern All-Stars vs home team Dragon at Giltress Street (Rollington Town) and Mystix vs Waltham Strikers, also at Dragon.

• Red Stripe beat Digicel in BH cricket

Newcomers Red Stripe defeated Digicel by 24 runs in the Best Dressed Chicken Business House 30-over KO cricket competition at Red Stripe Oval last Sunday.

Batting first, Red Stripe made 202 all out in 29.4 overs - Richard Allen 54, Dave Harris 36, Gary Powell 30; Hanif Palmer 3-28, Sadique Henry 3-38.

Digicel 179 in 27.5 overs - Jowayne Robinson 42, Garfield Moore 30; Arlington Whittick 3-33, Kemar Frazer 2-20.

At José Marti: National Housing Trust 167 off 29.2 overs (Lionel Morant 37, Antwaine Stephenson 36; Wilton Allison 2 for 24, Ferdinand Thompson 2-36), defeated JUTC 146 from 28.3 overs (Kemar Brown 38; Ryan Campbell 3 for 20, Brown 3-22) by 22 runs.

At Jamaica College: Jamalco defeated Continental Baking Company by 83 runs in a 35-over KO match. Jamalco 211 for seven off 35 overs - Maurice Kepple 73 not out, Winston Obsourne 41; Devon Royal 5 for 48, Kenny Isaacs 1-31. Continental Baking 128 - Oneil Weir 66; Derrick Spence 4-16, Peat Salmon 3-11.

The 50-over league gets under way tomorrow with five matches: defending champions Jamaica Broilers vs Red Stripe at Spring Village, JUTC vs LIME at Jose Marti, Continental Baking vs NWC at JC, NHT vs Digicel at Mico, and Jamalco vs Sagicor at Jamalco. Matches start at 10 a.m.

• Golf tourney postponed

Caymanas Golf Club has decided to postpone the Appleton Masters Golf Tournament scheduled for this weekend due to the inclement weather currently affecting the island, tournament director David Mais said in a release yesterday.

• Claro/Clarendon D1 semi-finals tomorrow

Weather permitting, both semi-finals of the Claro/Clarendon FA Division One competition will be hosted tomorrow at the Wembley football field.

In the first semi-final slated to kick off at 1 p.m., surprise qualifiers Four Paths take on form team Summerfield. The second game at 3 p.m. pits the highly favoured Jamalco team against Black Stars.

In last weekend's final set of qualifiers, Summerfield became the only team to win all three of their quarter-final matches.

Second-half goals from Garfield McCleod (49th) and Christopher Bryan (71st) carried Summerfield past Mineral Heights, 2-0.

Their earlier wins had come against Black Stars, 2-1, and 1-0 over Ebony Stars. Black Stars joined them as the second-place semi-finalists from Zone B, leaping to four points after Ryanard Bolo's 78th-minute strike game gave them a 1-0 win over Ebony Stars.

From Zone A, Jamalco and Four Paths earned semi-final spots with five points each. Bucknor, who had finished their preliminary round with a perfect win streak ahead of Summerfield and had opened their quarter-final campaign with a 2-1 win over Springfield, ended on four points.

• Cobbla Church League

West Road and Christiana Strikers both scored wins in last weekend's round of the New Testament Church of God Cobbla Church League.

West Road scored the highest margin of victory so far, hammering Richmond United 4-1 with goals from Oshane Daley (first), a double strike from Zenoy Daley (60th, 70th) and Mostafa Delisser (72nd). The lone strike for the losers came from the boot of Dwayne Sinclair with the score at 2-1.

Christiana Strikers, who were beaten 2-0 by defending champions George North in the season opener, recovered to defeat Roose Madrid 2-1. Interestingly, it was Roose Madrid who scored the game's first goal - a 24th-minute effort by Cedric Lewis. However, Christiana Strikers roared back with second-half strikes from Dwayne Sinclair (73rd) and Ajahemar Amos (82nd).

Defending champions George North lead the early standings with six points from two wins.

Matches on tomorrow: Clandon Strikers vs Gully Strikaz at 2 p.m.; and Napoli vs Spring Ground at 4 p.m.

• Clarendon/Claro Under-17 round-up

High-scoring Woodhall and Rio will clash today at Turners Oval in the feature third-round game of the Claro-sponsored Clarendon Under-17 competition. Both teams are on six points in Zone One. However, Woodhall, who completed their second straight 5-0 sweep with victory over New Roads, lead on goal difference.

In other results from last week, Rio outscored Rock River 4-1, so did York Town against Treadlight, Sporting Athletic edged Cockpit 1-0, Monymusk stopped New Bowens 2-1, while Hazard outplayed the Clarendon select Under-15 team 3-1.

At present, Zone Two is led by Monymusk (4 points) over Jamalco (3). York Town and Sporting Athletic are both locked on four points in Zone Three, while Original Hazard (4) and Clarendon Under-15 (3) are on top in Zone Four.

Games on today: Four Paths vs Humble Lion; Rock River vs New Roads at CC; Woodhall vs Rio at Turners Oval.

Tomorrow: Monymusk vs Jamalco and New Bowens vs Coffalls.

• Under-15 league kicks off in Manchester

In a renewed effort to drive development and specifically improve the fortunes of the parish teams that compete annually in the South Central Confed Junior competition, the Manchester FA started an Under-15 league at the Kirkvine Sports club last weekend.

The day's programme which began at midday started with a dress parade featuring all 10 participating teams - Mile Gully FC (based in the community), Mile Gully Youths (based at Manchester High), Kendal, Hillstars, Studds, Georges Valley, DC Strikers, Settlement, New Green and Mandeville United.

Hillstars, featuring a number of Spaldings High players, were adjudged the Best Suited Team and were awarded a ball by sponsors, C&D Construction and Engineering limited.

In action on the field, Kendal, who have in their line-up mainly Christiana High players, defeated Studds 3-2 in an exciting contest, while Mile Gully Youths with a base consisting of Manchester High players, drubbed Mandeville United 7-1.

Four players on the day scored two goals each, starting with Norado Richards (Kendal) and the trio of Mikael Daley, Duneil Wint and Ricardo Andrews from Mile Gully Youths.

• Portmore Under-15 gets new sponsor

Member of Parliament for South East St Catherine, Colin Fagan, is the new sponsor for the Under-15 Football league after he pumped funds garnered from the private sector into the league, as the former sponsor, Senator Arthur Williams, will no longer sponsor the tournament.

The Under-15 competition kicked off recently at the Passagefort football field. Fagan met with the eight teams at a dress parade and encouraged them to be disciplined and display good sportsmanship during the competition. He also reminded them that they were the future of the game and will be sought after by international clubs and universities once they exercise the necessary skills and discipline required by the game.

The MP, who is also the sponsor for the Portmore Division Two knockout competition, said he wants to "use sports - and in particular football - to bring the youths of the communities together" and foster a spirit of friendly rivalry within the communities.

Fagan added: "This is actually the nursery for the premier league and other competitions in the parish."

The teams to participate in the two-month long competition are Wanderers, Cumberland, Garveymeade, Westchester, Daytona, Clifton, Portsmouth, Portmore United. Five of the teams are from the MP's own constituency. In the day's games, defending champs, Portmore United defeated Cumberland 3-1 and Wanderers clipped Garveymeade 1-0.

• Milo junior cricket bowls off

The 2011 staging of the Milo-sponsored Portmore Metropolitan U-15 Cricket League gets under way tomorrow morning with four matches in different communities of the Sunshine City.

President of the Portmore Metropolitan Cricket League, Charles Simpson, stated that this year's league promises to be an exciting one. He took the opportunity to appeal to families and friends of the players to come out and support the budding young cricketers.

He added: "Because the Surrey Under-15 team did so well last year, a number of our Under-15 players are on trial for the Jamaica team over the weekend so some cricket squads will be weakened."

Eight teams are down to compete in the competition. Tomorrow's sceduled games are defending champions Ken's Wildflower against newcomers Portmore Pines at Bridgeport Sports ground, Colours International vs Reid's Pen at Waterford High School, Hamilton Gardens host Cumberland at Hamilton Gardens ground, while Portsmouth welcome Washington CC at the Portsmouth ground. All games begin at 11 a.m. The teams are playing for the Christine Cummings Cup.

• Classic win second title in three years

Caribbean Classic survived a late scare before they landed their second title in three years in the Jamaica Domino Federation/Charley's JB Overproof Rum/Supreme Ventures Portmore/St Catherine Domino league after an exciting 300-292 victory over a spirited Eagle View in the final at Caymanas Park in Portmore last Sunday.

Classic, who were winning their eighth title overall, had a massive 52-point lead at half-time, only to watch as the Braeton-based club cut into the lead and narrowed it to as low as five points (290-285) before Classic pulled away to win by eight points. Classic, for their efforts, pocketed $130,000, while runners-up Eagle View took home $80,000. The presentation of cheques and trophies will be done by the sponsors on Sunday, June 12, at Ken's Wildflower Sports Bar and Lounge, starting at 3 p.m.

Classic's winning captain, Javelin James, said they came into the final confident of victory since they tumbled their opponents in the preliminaries. "This should have being an easy victory for us, but we got complacent and Eagle View kept winning games, and we just held on at the end," he said. James also thanked main sponsors JB Rum for coming on board, and Supreme Ventures, an associate sponsor, for their contribution. Meanwhile, last year's champions, Fort International, took third with a 300-264 win over Right Stuff.

• Wanderers, Portmore clash in U-15 league

Wanderers play defending champs Portmore United in a key game in the Colin Fagan-sponsored Portmore U-15 football league at the Cumberland High School field tomorrow, match time 1 p.m. In the second game of the double-header at the venue, hosts Cumberland tackle Garveymeade at 3 p.m. Another double-header is slated for Passagefort field, as Clifton take on Portsmouth at 1 p.m., and West-chester oppose Daytona at 3 p.m.

Last Sunday, Portsmouth made a winning start when they defeated Daytona 2-1. Alex Medley scored twice for Portsmouth, while Rasheed Garcia netted Daytona's consolation strike.

• PFM cop cricket title

Power of Faith Ministries (PFM) International recently won their fourth title in six years in the Power of Faith Ministries Twenty20 Church Cricket League with a 57-run victory over newcomer Power and Light Ministries at Lime Tree Oval.

PFM International hit 179-4 with man-of-the match Peter Harrison smashing 68 off 45 balls (two sixes, eight fours); and Glen Wellington 39. Mario Walters and Markom Guy took a wicket apiece. P&L were bowled out for 122 in 18.3 overs. Mikail Jones made 22 and Guy hit 21. Bowling for PFM, Terrence Francis took 3-26 and Jermaine Grant 3-2.