Regal looking to do historical double

NEVER before has any local team dominated the Guyana Floodlights Softball Cricket Association’s (GFSCA) patented softball tournament dubbed ‘Guyana Cup’, whose fourth annual edition is set to bowl off next Friday with 45 matches being played in three days at various venues.

But with their intense training sessions under the watchful eyes of Clive Grimmond, the Regal Masters and Regal Open teams are looking to create history, by carting off both the Open and Masters Over-45 categories of this lucrative softball event.
Speaking with Chronicle Sport at the Guyana National Industrial Corporation, Woolford Avenue-based training facility, team manager Mahendra ‘Shurey’ Arjune said it is their intention to dominate the ‘Guyana Softball Cup IV’ this year.
“When I look at our Open team in training for this tournament, I see within the eyes of the players a hunger and a burning desire to be successful.
“As you know as well, we have a good and well oiled all-round unit, one that won some competitions recently, which speaks volumes for itself, as we aim to go out there and dominate the Open category in the fourth edition of the Guyana Cup,” said Arjune.
Asked what the response from the team was like to Grimmond, Arjune said, “Everyone is putting in their lot and even showing their support in a maximum way to his work ethics and routines and based on their present form and fitness, coupled with a batting lineup of all-rounders from 1 to 11, I don’t think batting will go past number 7 in any run chase as we hunt the Open title.”
He believes that the Open team, competing out of New York and who are the defending champions, will be the lone team to give Regal XI a threat for supremacy, giving reasons why he thinks this is so.
“They have been playing with the big ball all year round in comparison to all the teams here in Guyana, so for them it will be advantageous; as they know how to bowl it and they do have some quick bowlers who deliver with precision and accuracy.
“I am not looking in the direction of the local teams that much, as we have always defeated them so we know their pros and cons in comparison to the foreign teams whose bowlers are not lethargic as well, but we have the artillery to combat, compete and go all the way,” said Arjune.
He singled out players of the calibre of Safraz Esau, Richard Latiff, Chien Gittens, Patrick Rooplall and the recently-added Martin Dutchin, as a few of the players who will be leading Regal XI, the reigning Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company nationwide champions, to the Guyana Cup IV title next weekend.

MASTERS
Arjune believes the Masters Over-45 team, which he is unfortunate not to be a part of due to age restrictions, had a good run in the tournament last year, after coming out victorious in the first year of the tournament three years ago.
When he took a look at the composition of this team while in training, seeing the faces of players such as team veteran and sponsor Mahendra ‘Anil’ Hardyal, the hard-hitting Lancelot Adams, Amanauth Budhoo, Raymond Harper, Tony Amerally, Eon Abel, Troy Kippins and Clyde Butts, he never had any doubt that they will go all the way.
“This team is hungry for success, just as their Open counterparts,” said Arjune.
He added, “When they are training, there is a level of intensity and commitment shown by them despite their age which they never use as a barrier against them, as they compete tit for tat alongside their Open teammates with a hunger to succeed.
“I give them a very fair chance of coming out on top in this category as well, with once again only the foreign teams being of hindrance to us, as they have been using this type of ball regularly, while we do so once in a while.”
The champion team in the Men’s Open are guaranteed a whopping $800 000 first prize and a huge trophy while the losing finalists will have to settle for $200 000 and a trophy. In the Masters’ division, the winning team will pocket $600 000 with the runners-up assured of $150 000. The Man-of-the-Match in both finals will receive a trophy.
As has been the case in the past, the Most Valuable Player of each category will become the proud owner of a softball bracelet, comprising gold and diamond studs, compliments of Steve’s Jewellery and on the day of the final, apart from the trip to Aruba, there will be lots of hampers and giveaways for spectators.
Two dozen teams will compete in this year’s event, with 12 from Guyana, seven from New York, three from Florida and two from Canada. During the three-day championship, there will be a total of 36 preliminary games, followed by four semi-finals and two finals.
Trophy Stall and New York Better Hope are the defending champions of the Open and Masters categories respectively while the previous champions were NYSCL New York (Open) and Savage Masters in 2012 and Cotton Field Wild Oats (Open) and Regal Seniors (Masters) in 2011.

(By Calvin Roberts)