Sun, Aug 17, 2008 page19

• Olympic Briefs

  • AGENCIES
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  ■SHOOTING
  

  Teen Hancock wins gold
  

  US teenager Vincent Hancock grabbed the Olympic men’s Skeet gold medal yesterday after a dramatic final that went into a tie-breaker for all three medals. Hancock, a 19-year-old from Eatonton, Georgia, left Tore Brovold of Norway in second place by winning the shoot-out after both competitors ended with a combined qualification and final tally of 145. Anthony Terras of France won the bronze in a similar shoot-out with Antonis Nikolaidis of Cyprus when both finished with 144 points. Earlier Oleksandr Petriv of Ukraine won the gold medal in the men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol after being tied for third in qualifying. Petriv finished with a score of 780.2. Three-time Olympic champion Ralf Schumann of Germany won the silver with 779.5 and Christian Reitz of Germany took the bronze.
  

  
  

  ■SAILING
  

  Ainslie pans organizers
  

  A frustrated Ben Ainslie criticized Games organizers for choosing Qingdao to host the Olympic regatta after the Briton’s quest for a third successive gold was delayed by another day of light wind yesterday. Ainslie was on course for victory until the Finn class medal race was abandoned just past halfway after the breeze disappeared in Fushan Bay. “It’s annoying for sailing as a sport, it does not look good when you can’t race because there is no wind,” Ainslie said. “It’s not the sport’s fault, it’s not the sailors’ fault, it’s the fact that we have been put in this venue where we do not get any wind.” The Yngling medal race was also canceled, with both now set to be raced today when winds are forecast to pick up.
  

  
  

  ■BEACH VOLLEYBALL
  

  US pair through to quarters
  

  Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers of the US overcame a 6-0 deficit in the final set to beat Switzerland 21-16, 21-23, 15-13 yesterday and advance to the Olympic beach volleyball quarter-finals. In other matches, the German team of David Klemperer and Eric Koreng knocked crowd favorites Wu Penggen and Xu Linyin out of the tournament with a 21-15, 21-18 victory. Renato Gomes and Jorge Terceiro of Georgia beat Austrians Clemens Doppler and Peter Gartmayer 19-21, 21-16, 15-13, and Reinder Nummerdor and Richard Schuil of the Netherlands beat Andrew Schacht and Joshua Slack 21-16, 21-14.
  

  
  

  ■VOLLEYBALL
  

  US team remain undefeated
  

  The US men’s volleyball coach returned to his team and the Americans responded by defeating China in three sets yesterday. Coach Hugh McCutcheon missed three games following an attack on his in-laws, who were visiting a Beijing tourist site. The US remained undefeated with the 25-22, 25-12, 25-18 victory. The team already has clinched a quarter-final spot. In other early matches, Serbia defeated Germany 3-1 (25-21, 27-25, 24-26, 25-23), Russia remained undefeated with a three-set victory over Egypt (25-19, 25-14, 25-18) and Italy defeated Bulgaria 3-0 (25-20, 25-21 25-16). With their loss, China fell to 2-2.
  

  
  

  ■GYMNASTICS
  

  Chinese dominate trampoline
  

  China’s Dong Dong bounced his way to second place in the Olympic trampoline qualifiers yesterday. Only his compatriot Lu Chunlong could out-boing Dong, with Japanese world champion Yasuhiro Ueyama failing to qualify among the top eight, ruling him out of the men’s gold medal jump-off on Tuesday. There were also upsets in the women’s event, where Chinese bronze medalist at the 2004 Athens Games Huang Shanshan slipped over toward the end of her routine and failed to make tomorrow’s final.
  

  ■BASKETBALL
  

  Yao leads China to win
  

  Yao Ming scored 25 points to lead China to a dramatic 59-55 win over Germany yesterday, keeping their hopes alive in the men’s competition. The Houston Rockets center scored the game’s first four points on field goals and drove his teammates the entire way with regular baskets and sharp passing. Yi Jianlian of the New Jersey Nets added nine points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut scored 22 points to lead Australia to a 95-80 win over European champions Russia and, in another Group A game, Mindaugas Lukauskis scored 20 points to lead Lithuania to an 86-73 victory over Croatia.
  

  
  

  ■DIVING
  

  Guo on top after semis
  

  Guo Jingjing somersaulted and twisted off the 3m springboard, knifing through the water with barely a ripple while moving China closer to its fifth diving gold medal of the Beijing Olympics. Guo topped the semi-final standings last night with 398.55 points, giving the woman who’s a superstar in her home country a chance to win her second consecutive Olympic springboard title. Julia Pakhalina of Russia, the bronze medalist four years ago in Athens, moved on to today’s final in second with 383.50. “I have to do my best dives and be satisfied with myself, not thinking so much about knocking down Guo Jingjing,” said Pakhalina, who trains in the US.
  

  
  

  ■FENCING
  

  Russians down the US
  

  Russia’s fencers exploited their height advantage to beat the US 28-11 and win gold in the women’s team foil yesterday. The Americans managed to draw the top-ranked Russian team into close combat in the early rounds, tying the match 4-4 after three bouts. But with Russia up 7-5 after round four, Victoria Nikichina, Evgenia Lamonova and Svetlana Boyko used their longer reach to pull away, preventing Americans Emily Cross, Erinn Smart and Hanna Thompson from scoring in four consecutive rounds. When Cross finally got a hit in the last round, Russian fans mockingly chanted “USA, USA.” “I can’t quite believe what just happened,” Lamonova said. “I am happy for me and my team mates, but also for my country, especially since we haven’t had so many gold medals.”
  

  
  

  ■FIELD HOCKEY
  

  Aussies through to semis
  

  Former champions Australia were set for a tough Chinese challenge after world No. 1 the Netherlands cruised into the semi-finals yesterday. The Dutch girls became the first team to advance to the last four when they beat the Aussies 2-1 for their fourth successive win in pool A. China drew level with Australia on nine points with a stunning 6-1 demolition of Asian rivals South Korea in which Tang Chunling and Fu Baorong both slammed hat-tricks. Meanwhile, world No. 2 Argentina roared back into form with a 4-0 win over defending champions Germany that threw open the semi-final race in pool B. The US, meanwhile, scored their first win in the tournament with a 4-1 victory over New Zealand.
  

  
  

  ■WEIGHTLIFTING
  

  Jang breaks world record
  

  South Korea’s Jang Mi-ran claimed the unofficial title of strongest woman in the world yesterday with the weightlifting gold medal in the super-heavyweight class. Jang set a series of world records, lifting 186kg in the clean and jerk — the equivalent of two grown men. She snatched 140kg and took gold with a record total of 326kg.
  
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