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Sports Olympic Briefs

■SHOOTING

Emmons blows it again

Matthew Emmons of the US cracked under pressure for the second Olympics in a row to gift China’s Qiu Jian the gold in the men’s 50m Rifle Three Positions final yesterday. Emmons, who enjoyed a comfortable lead going into his last shot, managed only a miserable 4.4 to drop to fourth place in another heartbreaking finish. Four years ago in Athens, Emmons needed an 8.0 from his final shot to win gold and shot 8.1 — only to find he had fired at an opponent’s target and was dropped to eighth place. The 27-year-old’s nerves once again deserted him at the crucial moment, his final score of 4.4 coming after he averaged 10.1 in the previous nine shots of the final. Qiu’s final shot of 10.0 won him the gold with a combined tally of 1,272.5, just 0.1 points ahead of second placed Jury Sukhorukov of Ukraine (1,272.4). Rajmond Debevec of Slovenia claimed the bronze with 1,271.7 points.

■BASKETBALL

Aussies take top spot

Lauren Jackson scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half as Australia rallied past Russia 75-55 yesterday to clinch top spot in their pool in women’s basketball. With the victory, Australia (5-0) avoid having to play the US. until a possible showdown in the championship game. “We all knew how big this game was,” Jackson said. “Just to be able to get the top seed and not have to face the Americans ‘til the gold-medal game is huge.” In other games, South Korea (2-3) held off Latvia (1-4) behind Park Jung-eun’s 17 points. She hit five three-pointers as South Korea advanced to play the US in the quarter-finals. Anete Jekabsone scored 22 points to lead Latvia. Spain (3-2) routed winless Mali 79-47 behind Amaya Valdemoro’s 21 points. Djenebou Sissoko led Mali (0-5) with 17 points. Brazil (1-4) finally got a win, beating Belarus (2-3) 68-53. Kelly Santos led the way with 14 points.

■FIELD HOCKEY

S Korea rally to beat Belgium

South Korea came back from a goal down to beat Belgium 3-1 in a Pool A game that turned on two contested decisions yesterday to stay in contention for a semi-final spot in the men’s tournament. In the other pool, Britain rallied to draw 1-1 with Canada, but the result was unlikely to be enough to keep their medal prospects alive. Asian Games champions South Korea took their tally to seven points with a match left against Spain, unbeaten in three games. “In the second half Belgium played poorly and we played better,” South Korea coach Jun Myung-cho said. “We have improved with every match.” Gutsy Belgium, who held world No. 2 Germany to a 1-1 draw, went ahead in the 20th minute through a remarkable goal by Jerome Dekeyser. They had another goal disallowed, however, before South Korea equalized through Sik Hyo-you after Seong Eun-hong set it up for him. Belgium contested the score, but it was given the nod by the video umpire. South Korea then scored two more quick goals to take control.

■VOLLEYBALL

Brazil finish undefeated

Brazil, ranked No. 1 in the world, downed second-ranked Italy in three sets yesterday to finish undefeated in the preliminary round and in first place in their pool for the women’s quarter-finals in Beijing. Sheilla Castro had 14 points for Brazil, who won 25-15, 25-22, 27-17 and went 5-0 in round-robin pool play. Italy were undefeated going into the match. In the other pool, Cuba remained undefeated after a three-set victory over Venezuela (25-20, 25-20, 25-19), while the US defeated Poland 18-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-19, 15-13.

■DIVING

Guo retains 3m crown

China’s Guo Jingjing became the most prolific women’s diving medallist in Olympic history yesterday when she retained her 3m springboard crown. Guo completed her second successive Olympic golden double when she added the individual springboard gold to the synchronized springboard title she shared with Wu Minxia the previous Sunday. Guo, who now plans to retire with four Olympic diving golds plus two silvers from the 2000 Games, amassed 415.35 points from her five final dives to take China’s sweep of Beijing diving titles to five, with three events to come.

■FENCING

France wins gold over US

France defended their Athens Olympics men’s team saber title to win gold at the Beijing Games with a comfortable 45-37 victory over surprise package the US yesterday. On their way to the final, the Americans eliminated world champions Hungary and European champions Russia on the back of inspiring come-from-behind performances by Keeth Smart. Smart won two bouts and tied a third in the final but did not receive much help from his team mates against a French team featuring Nicolas Lopez, the silver medalist in the individual event in Beijing. In the bronze medal match, Athens individual champion Aldo Montano came back from 44-42 down in the last bout against world champion Stanislav Pozdnyakov to give Italy a 45-44 victory over Russia.

■EQUESTRIAN

Werth beats archrival

Germany’s Isabell Werth beat archrival Anky Van Grunsven in the second qualifying round of the Olympic equestrian individual dressage on Saturday, but said she expected a tough duel in tomorrow’s final. The two have been dubbed the titans of the sport since they first clashed for medal glory at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, with Werth winning the gold in 1996 in Atlanta and Van Grunsven triumphing in the last two Games in Athens and Sydney. Werth, who also pushed her Dutch rival into second place in the first qualifying round on Wednesday, rode last with a clear lead over Van Grunsven’s 74.96 percent but lost it when her horse Satchmo panicked and shied for no apparent reason.

■BEACH VOLLEYBALL

China, US to meet in semis

Chinese pair Tian Jia and Wang Jie booked a spot in the women’s beach volleyball semi-finals yesterday, alongside the US defending champions Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor. The Chinese girls dominated their match against Austrian sisters Doris and Stephanie Schwaiger, with strong serves and attacks easing them to a 21-12, 21-12 win. They will now meet the winner of last night’s game between Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs of the US and China’s Zhang Xi and Xue Chen.

■WEIGHTLIFTING

Kazakhstan wins gold

Ilya Ilin won Kazakhstan’s first weightlifting gold medal in Beijing, edging his opponents in a close contest for the men’s 94kg title on yesterday. Ilin finished with a total of 406kg, sealing the win with the last of his six lifts. European champion Szymon Kolecki of Poland took second place and Russia’s Khadzhimurat Akkaev won the bronze. Kolecki and Ilin were in a chicken race ahead of their last lifts, raising the weights kilogram by kilogram until Ilin went for it at 226kg. Kolecki added 2kg to the bar in a final attempt to gain the gold, but couldn’t pull it off.