Under-17s draw cup opener

Bermuda's quest for a place in soccer's Under-17 World Cup finals began with a 1-1 draw with St. Vincent and the Grenadines in their opening qualifying group match in Cuba on Wednesday night.

After a goalless first half, Jordan Commissiong fired Bermuda ahead in the 52nd minute at the Estadio Mor?n in Ciego de ?vila. But 11 minutes from the final whistle St. Vincent grabbed an equaliser through Leonson Simon.

In another group match, hosts Cuba defeated Guyana 3-0 with goals from Yasmini Herrera, Adrian Milian and Luis Ramirez.

Group D play in the Caribbean Zone first round qualifying continues today as Bermuda take on Guyana and Cuba play St. Vincent.

On Sunday, Bermuda play their final group match against Cuba, who remain favourites to advance.

Only the winners of the group go through to a two-game second round series (home-and-away) in September. The two second round winners will progress to a final round of qualification where teams will be aiming for a place in the Under-17 finals in Peru next year.

Bouchard in hunt for title

Sean Bouchard's sizzling summer in the Optimist Dinghy class is continuing during the USODA New England Championships being held off Newport, Rhode Island this week.

After eight races over the opening two days, Bouchard - who performed superbly at the recent Worlds in Ecuador and before that at the North American Championships -was lying in second place, the only Bermuda sailor among the top 50 in an advanced fleet of 245.

Wednesday's racing saw competitors forced to battle in choppy seas and winds in the 16-19 knot range - conditions that kept those in the younger Green fleet on shore.

Besides Bouchard, five of Bermuda's sailors in the advanced fleet were placed in the top half.

Standings after Wednesday were: Sean Bouchard 2nd, James Anfossi 52nd, Martin Finegan 60th, Lance Fraser 63rd, Johnny Norfleet 88th, Jonathan Dill 93rd, Blake Burgess 100th, Bertie Horsfield 125th and Owen Siese 136th.

Championship racing was due to continue yesterday with two more races planned.

After the first day of Green fleet sailing on Tuesday, Bermuda's sailors were also well placed among the 62 boats competing.

Renee Greenslade held down second place and Kyle Burgess third with Macenzie Cooper 9th, Caroline Burr 20th, Stephen Cox 22nd, Jonathan Cox 23rd, Harry Rylands 34th and Somers Smith 38th.

McMullen makes her mark

Bermudian triathlete Kim McMullen finished third in the 35-39 age group at the recent ITU World Long Distance Triathlon Championships in Sweden - despite losing her bike on the way there.

Having travelled to Scandinavia a week in advance to prepare for the event, McMullen's equipment - including bike frame, shoes, pedals, wetsuit and nutritional supplies - were misplaced in transit and couldn't be recovered.

In the days leading up to the start, McMullen was forced to scrounge around other competitors for spare kit, with the Canadian team's support crew eventually coming to the rescue.

And despite competing without aerobars, on a borrowed bike and in a wetsuit that was several sizes too big, the veteran triathlete finished in a time of 7:32:02 and placed 14th overall out of the 135 women taking part.

“This was undoubtedly my greatest lifetime athletic accomplishment,” she said.

“I really have been inspired to return and try for gold in Denmark next year. Unfortunately, the case with my bike and all of my triathlon equipment has not yet been found by either American or British Airways and hopes are fading at this point. It looks like I may have to replace everything which is very sad.”