Sixth edition of Bahamas Games gets underway

Sheldon LongleySend an emailJuly 11, 2023 71 5 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

After a 22-year break, the Bahamas Games are back and the events are in full force as action continues through the week and into the closing on Saturday.

A concise opening ceremony took place on Saturday past in which former National Director of Sports Martin Lundy was honored and Prime Minister Philip Davis declared the sixth Bahamas Games officially open. Lundy played an integral role in the staging of the first five editions of the Bahamas Games from 1989 to 2001.

Swimming was the first discipline of the games to wrap up, finishing Sunday at the Betty Kelly-Kenning National Swim Complex.

Team Grand Bahama emerged victorious, finishing with 1,697 points. New Providence was a distant second, ending the three-day meet with 1,484 points. Columbus Isles rounded out the top three teams, finishing with 906.50 points.

Dndn McKenzie was the most outstanding female swimmer of the meet, finishing with 67 points for New Providence. Marvin Johnson took home that time in the male gender, finishing with 73 points for Grand Bahama.

As far as medals are concerned, Grand Bahama reigned supreme with 131 total medals – 62 gold medals, 38 silver and 31 bronze medals. New Providence finished with 30 gold, 48 silver medals and 34 bronze medals for 112 total medals. Columbus Isles tallied 15 gold, nine silver and 26 bronze medals for 50 total medals.

Overall, 130 events were contested in six age groups in swimming at the sixth Bahamas Games. Swimmers competed in the 11-12 girls and boys divisions, the 13-14 girls and boys divisions, and the 15-and-over girls and boys divisions. In total, there were almost 300 swimmers representing 10 islands, or grouping of islands, in swimming, at the sixth edition of the Bahamas Games.

The baseball segment of the Bahamas Games, featuring some of the best talent 23 years and younger in the country, will conclude today.

The winner of last night’s featured game between New Providence and Eleuthera will suit up in the gold medal game today, but the result of that game was unavailable up to press time. New Providence survived a nail-biter with the Andros Chiccharnies to get to that point, winning 7-6 on Independence morning.

In that game, New Providence scored five runs in the top of the first inning, and was ahead 6-0 after two, but Andros came storing back. They scored five runs in the bottom of the third inning off just one hit and a slew of errors by the New Providence Buccaneers team to get back in the game.

Two innings later, after New Providence went ahead 7-5, Andros nearly pulled even off another error. With runners on first and second and two out in the bottom of the third, on a routine grounder back to the mound, the pitcher threw the ball away in attempting to record the out at first base. The runner from second base scored and another baserunner tried to score all the way from first base, but was tagged out sliding into home. That ended the game 7-6 in favor of New Providence and they were able to book their ticket into the game against Eleuthera last night.

“That’s the way it goes in baseball sometimes,” said New Providence Head Coach and Team Manager Clarence “CJ” McKenzie ahead of their game against Eleuthera last night. “Coming into the game, Andros hadn’t lost yet and we knew that they were going to be a strong opponent. We started off strong, but we couldn’t get much going after that and just committed too many errors. They (Andros) are a very resilient group. They played gutsy and really gave us a run for our money. Sometimes, baseball games go like that. We feel confident. We just have to regroup and come back stronger. We expect a dog fight the rest of the way, but we feel we have a gold medal-winning team, so we just have to come out here and execute.”

Grand Bahama will take on Columbus Isles this morning with the winner of that game going on to face the loser of last night’s game between New Providence and Eleuthera. Finally, the winner of that game will face the winner of tonight’s game between New Providence and Eleuthera in the gold medal game.

Also wrapping up on Independence Day were the sporting disciplines of sailing and cycling, but there were no results up to press time.

In volleyball, the semifinals will be contested today.

The Columbus Isles Arawaks (Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador) have been impressive in both the men’s and women’s categories and will advance to the semifinals in both. Going into last night’s games, their women had a 4-1 win/loss record and the men had a commanding 8-1 record. They led both divisions. In the women’s, New Providence followed at 3-1, the Eleuthera Adventurers were at 3-2 and the Grand Bahama Lucayans evened off at 2-2. The Abaco Survivors had a 2-3 record. Three of those four teams will advance to the semifinals along with Columbus Isles.

In the men’s category, Columbus Isles was followed by New Providence at 7-1, the MICAL Flamingoes (Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins and Long Cay) at 7-2 and the Abaco Survivors at 4-3. The Grand Bahama Lucayans (4-4) and the Exuma & Ragged Island Navigators and the Long Island Sheep Runners, both at 4-5, are close behind. The other team in the field is the Bimini and Berry Islands Marlins, winless at 0-7.

The tennis segment of the Bahamas Games concludes on Wednesday.

On Friday in tennis, Andros turned back Eleuthera, 4-2, New Providence shut out MICAL, 6-0, and Grand Bahama defeated Abaco, 5-1.

In the Andros and Eleuthera matchup, Kevin Major Jr., of Eleuthera, defeated Michael Major Jr., of Andros, 6-2 and 7-5, in men’s singles; 

Savano Hanna, representing Andros, knocked off Ayai Bethel, of Eleuthera, 3-6, 6-0 and 6-0, in boys singles; Sydney Clarke, of Andros, defeated Elana Mackey, of Eleuthera, in straight sets, 6-2 and 6-4, in women’s singles; Sarai Clarke, of Andros, defeated Felicity McPhee, of Eleuthera, in straight sets, 6-1 and 6-2, in girls singles; Philip and Michael Major Jr., of Andros, outlasted Zander Cromwell and Kevin Major Jr., of Eleuthera, in men’s doubles, 7-5 and 6-2; Elana Mackey and Kaylee Kanuka, of Eleuthera, defeated Sydney and Sarai Clarke, of Andros, by walkover, in women’s doubles; and the mixed doubles match was not played.

In the New Providence and MICAL matchup, Justin Lunn, of New Providence, defeated Dentry Mortimer Jr., of MICAL, in straight sets in 6-4 and 6-4; Miguel Smith, of New Providence, outlasted Patrick Mackey Jr., of MICAL, in boys singles, men’s singles, 6-4, 3-6 and 12-10; Sierra Rodgers, of New Providence, won by walkover in women’s singles; Aryuana Davis, of New Providence, shut out Syrae Feaster, of MICAL, in girls singles, 6-0 and 6-0; Donte Armbrister and Marvin Rolle Jr., of New Providence, did the same to Avery Humes and Dentry Mortimer Jr., of MICAL, in men’s doubles, 6-0 and 6-0; Aryuana Davis & Sierra Rodgers, of New Providence, won by walkover in women’s doubles; and the mixed doubles match was not played.

In the Grand Bahama and Abaco matchup, Denali Nottage, of Grand Bahama, shut out Tito Russell, of Abaco, in men’s singles, 6-0 and 6-0; Aiden 

Ritchie, of Grand Bahama, outlasted Latajh Orlando, of Abaco, in boys singles, 4-6, 6-2 and 10-5; Cameel McDonald, of Abaco, won by walkover over Simone Pratt, of Grand Bahama, in women’s singles; Jalisa Clarke, of Grand Bahama, defeated Kelecia Parkes, of Abaco in girls singles, 6-0 and 6-1; Rasheed and Rodney Carey, of Grand Bahama, shut out Tito Russell and Clenardo Davis, of Abaco, in men’s doubles, 6-0 and 6-0; and Jalisa Clarke and Larikah Russell, of Grand Bahama, did the same to Cameel McDonald and Chavonne Reid, of Abaco, in women’s doubles, 6-0 and 6-0. The mixed doubles match was not played.

On Saturday in tennis, Eleuthera squeezed past New Providence, 4-3; Andros shut out MICAL, 6-0; and Long Island beat Abaco, 5-2. On Sunday in tennis, Grand Bahama defeated Long Island, 5-1; Eleuthera defeated MICAL, 5-1; and Andros blasted New Providence, 6-0.

Soccer and EduKarting also got underway and will wrap up on Wednesday. The sporting disciplines of softball, basketball and golf will start today, athletics and boxing will get underway on Thursday, and optimist sailing will be the final discipline to get started, set to commence on Friday.

The Golden Jubilee Bahamas Games got underway last Friday and will wrap up this coming Saturday with action in athletics, basketball, boxing, optimist sailing and softball. Following the final event in athletics on Saturday, the open men’s 4×400 meters (m) relay, a brief closing ceremony will be held at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium.