Marcelo Huertas scored a game-high 17 points to lead Brazil to a 94-54 victory over Lebanon on Tuesday in the South Americans’ opening game of the final qualifying event for the Beijing Olympics.
Slovenia, Germany and Puerto Rico also won on Tuesday, the second day of a 12-nation tournament that will decide the final three berths for China.
“We just made the first step. Now, we have Greece ahead of us, one of the top four or five teams in the world,” Brazilian coach Moncho Monsalve said
Brazil is without its three NBA players: Leandro Barbosa, Anderson Varejao and Nene.
“I am interested in the players that are here and wear the team colors,” Monsalve said. “If [the three] want to join after the Olympics, fine. Otherwise, I don’t mind.”
Earlier, Ricky Sanchez scored 17 points and Puerto Rico survived a Cameroon surge to win 81-72 and earn a place in tomorrow’s quarter-finals.
Cameroon trailed by 21 points early in the second half and pulled within 70-67 with 1:40 remaining.
Slovenia was the first team to clinch a quarter-final berth, rallying from an early deficit to beat Canada 86-70 for its second victory.
Jaka Lakovic led the Slovenes with 19 points.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 17 points and Chris Kaman added 10 points and 10 rebounds to pace Germany to a 104-68 victory over Cape Verde.
Kaman, who plays for the Los Angeles Clippers, only recently acquired German citizenship.
“I’m excited to be here. These guys have been playing together for 10 years now. They’ve been very welcoming. It reminds me of college,” Kaman said.
The losses eliminated Cameroon, Cape Verde and Lebanon from contention.
Besides Tuesday’s winners, the results also earned quarter-final berths for Croatia, Greece and New Zealand. Canada and South Korea were to battle for the remaining spot in the quarter-finals yesterday.
BUMRAH WATCH: Captain Jasprit Bumrah left the SCG for scans for back spasms and although he returned to the ground, there was no word on if he would play Rishabh Pant’s blistering counterattack yesterday capped a chaotic second day of the fifth and final Test between Australia and India, with 15 wickets falling and the star bowler of the series leaving the Sydney Cricket Ground with an ambulance escort. Yet the Border-Gavaskar trophy still remains very much in the balance as India reached 141-6, holding a 145-run lead over Australia with three days remaining. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so long way still to go,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said. “There’s gonna be plenty of cricket, so we’ll see what happens.” Australia were bowled out for
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek yesterday beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to take Poland into the final of the mixed-teams United Cup with victory over Kazakhstan. Last year’s runners-up face the US today for the title in Sydney after they beat the Czech Republic in the other semi-final. “This win makes me really proud,” Swiatek said after seeing off Rybakina 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to give Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. It was a statement of intent from the world number two with the first major of the year to start on Jan. 12. “It is perfect preparation for the
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Jiang Xinyu of China yesterday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, while Naomi Osaka retired from the women’s singles final with an abdominal injury. Second seeds Wu and Jiang defeated Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US 6-3, 6-4 on ASB Tennis Centre’s Stadium Court in 1 hour, 5 minutes. The WTA 250 victory was 25-year-old Wu’s second WTA Tour title, after winning the 2023 Hua Hin Championships in Thailand with Taiwanese partner Chan Hao-ching. Later that year, Wu and Taiwan’s Hsu Yu-hsiou won the mixed doubles gold at the World
RSS