■EQUESTRIAN
Aussies out in front
Australia’s Lucinda Fredericks guided her team to the lead in the equestrian three-day eventing yesterday, spurred by on her biggest fan, yet biggest competitor — her husband Clayton. Lucinda topped the list of riders in the dressage, putting the Australians in first place with 102.80 penalty points. “Team Fredericks,” as Lucinda and Clayton are often called, are credited with boosting the Australians to the top of the eventing dressage table, with the magic ingredient being their eagerness to support, and out-do, each other. “I will be out there to help her to get a better score. I have always said that she is going to be my biggest competitor,” Clayton said. While Clayton had given his wife a few pointers before her dressage round on Saturday, they were clearly not necessary as she into first place with 30.40 penalties, and stayed there. Clayton, who had started off in provisional second place with 37 penalties, watched his ranking slide to sixth yesterday, pushed lower by Belgium’s Karin Donckers and Germany’s Ingrid Klimke, who are now in second and third place. The cross-country phase takes place today.
■Shooting China grabs gold
Guo Wenjun of China won the gold medal in the women’s 10m air pistol yesterday in a final that produced an Olympic showdown between Russia and Georgia against the backdrop of military conflict. Georgia’s Nino Salukvadze, who almost left the Games earlier yesterday with her 35-member team over the conflict with Russia, took bronze behind Russia’s Natalia Paderina. After her final shot she wiped tears from her eyes and moments later embraced her Russian rival. “It’s a small victory for my people,” Salukvadze said. “If the world were to draw any lessons from what I did there would never be any wars ... We shouldn’t really stoop so low to wage wars against each other.” Meanwhile, David Kostelecky of the Czech Republic won the gold medal in trap shooting yesterday. He finished with a final score of 146. Giovanni Pellielo of Italy won the silver and Alexey Alipov of Russia won bronze.
■fencing Italian beats Frenchman
Matteo Tagliariol of Italy won the gold medal in men’s epee yesterday, beating Fabrice Jeannet of France 15-9. Tagliariol took control with an early six-point run to lead 8-3, and never looked back. Jeannet won the silver, and Jose Luis Abajo of Spain took the bronze. Tagliariol won Italy’s first gold medal of the Games to give his country’s fencing fans something to cheer about. Andrea Baldini, Italy’s men’s foil star, lost his spot on the Olympic team because of a positive test for a banned substance.
■GYMNASTICS China upstages US team
A crash landing off the asymmetric bars by He Kexin failed to stop China from upstaging an injury-hit US team in women’s qualifying yesterday. She executed four stunning release-and-catch combinations in a high-flying routine but slipped off while attempting to glide from the higher to the lower bar. After remounting the apparatus and completing her dismount she burst into tears. She still scored a respectable 15.725. Americans Nastia Liukin and Chellsie Memmel also came to grief on the asymmetric bars. Memmel fell off mid-routine and Liukin mistimed her dismount and landed awkwardly before rolling backwards. But like He, she was rewarded for her daring content and stayed on course for the apparatus final with 15.950. The Chinese set a benchmark with a combined total of 248.275 points. The US earned 246.800 and Russia were third with 244.400.
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
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
Taiwanese e-sports team Ban Mei Gaming (BMG) claimed second place at this year’s Arena of Valor International Championship (AIC 2024) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, after losing to the Thai team Bacon Time (BAC) in the finals on Sunday In the final match, BMG faced BAC, who finished top in the winners’ bracket, but lost 0-4. However, BMG still walked away with US$100,000 in prize money for finishing runners-up. The AIC 2024 began with 16 teams competing in the Swiss Stage, where teams played up to five rounds. Those securing three wins advanced to the Knockout Stage, while teams
Japan’s national high-school soccer tournament is thriving after more than 100 years, attracting huge crowds, millions watching on TV and breeding future stars, despite professional clubs trying to attract young talent. The annual tournament kicked off on Saturday and is still regarded as the pinnacle of amateur soccer with young players dreaming of playing in the final in front of tens of thousands at the National Stadium in Tokyo. Matches are a massive occasion for the whole school as student cheering squads wave flags, bang drums and roar on their teams in a spectacle of noise and color. “All the
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