Russian women’s volleyball coach Giovanni Caprara slammed his highly fancied side yesterday for their negative attitude after they were outclassed by Italy in their Olympic opener.
Russia took silver in Athens four years ago and have won gold four times before, but the Italian spikers snatched victory 25-20, 17-25, 25-16, 25-23.
“The start time is not only early for us, but for Italy too. There is a different mentality with Russian teams regarding early matches as they tend to have an issue with fatigue,” Caprara said.
“I have to persuade them and work hard to overcome this mentality and be prepared for tough matches, but it seems that I fought here alone. It’s an issue of attitude,” he said. “There was also a lack of concentration from the players. Italy took advantage of this in the third and fourth sets.”
Italy’s best Olympic finish was fifth in Athens and coach Massimo Barbolini was ecstatic at the win, given Italy were missing key players Antonella Del Core and Taismary Aguero.
“I’m very proud of my players. We play a good match with a good rhythm,” Barbolini said.
The 12 women’s teams here are divided into two groups in the preliminary round with Italy grouped with Algeria, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Russia and Serbia in Pool B.
Defending champions China are alongside Cuba, Japan, Poland, the USA and Venezuela in Pool A.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat. A seesaw battle in Cleveland saw the Heat threaten to end the Cavs’ 11-game unbeaten streak after opening up a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs clawed back the deficit in the closing minutes to seal their 12th straight victory and a place in the post-season. The Cavaliers improved to 52-10, maintaining their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with 20 games of the regular season remaining. Mitchell was one of six Cleveland
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Manchester United on Thursday settled for a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie. United led on Joshua Zirkzee’s goal in the 58th minute, but the hosts equalized 12 minutes later after Bruno Fernandes’ hand ball and Mikel Oyarzabal sent Andre Onana the wrong way from the penalty spot. The Europa League could be a way for United to finish the season with a trophy after crashing out of the FA Cup on Sunday. A spot in the quarter-finals is to be on the line at Old Trafford in the second leg on Thursday next
RSS