BASKETBALL
Australia put US to shame
The US men’s team on Monday suffered its second straight shocking defeat, losing 91-83 to Australia in a pre-Olympic friendly tournament in Las Vegas. The US team, whose roster includes a host of NBA all-stars, also lost 90-87 to unheralded Nigeria on Saturday. Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant was held to 17 points, and Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers finished with a team high of 22. Patty Mills, of Canberra, scored 22 points, and Adelaide’s Joe Ingles scored 17 for the Aussies, who shot 53 percent from the floor as a team in the tuneup event for the Tokyo Olympics. Australia outscored the US 6-0 in the final 30 seconds. Australia are aiming to win an Olympic medal for the first time. “Getting out in transition and making easy lay-ups and dunks, for us to take away that was pretty impressive for our second game, but we’re not satisfied. We’ve got a long way to go,” Mills told NBC.
TENNIS
Osaka Barbie to hit shelves
Four-time Grand Slam singles champion Naomi Osaka now has her own line of Barbie dolls. The 23-year-old world No. 2 tennis player, who has used her position to call attention to issues of police violence and racial inequality, became a part of Mattel Inc’s push to make its iconic toy line more diverse with dolls based on different role models and professions. “It’s such an honor to be a part of the Barbie Role Model series, and to remind young girls that they can make a difference in the world. I want young girls everywhere to feel empowered to dream big,” Osaka said in a statement.
SWIMMING
Uzbekistan caught cheating
An attempt at cheating to qualify Uzbekistan swimmers for the Tokyo Olympics has been blocked by sport’s highest court. World swim body FINA denounced Uzbekistan’s “nefarious behavior.” FINA on Monday said the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected an appeal by the Uzbek swimming federation against its refusal to authorize manipulated results from two race meets. They included home racers achieving Olympic qualifying times. The alleged cheating was alerted by a swimmer from India who took part in the second meet in Uzbekistan in April. Likith Prema made the allegations, including that he was offered bribes by Uzbek officials, in a film he posted online including race footage and results sheets.
OLYMPICS
IOC’s Bach hits wrong note
International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) president Thomas Bach yesterday appeared in public for the first time since arriving in Tokyo last week with the Olympics opening in just 10 days. His first stop was the headquarters of the organizing committee to deliver a pep talk. “You have managed to make Tokyo the best-ever prepared city for the Olympic Games,” Bach said in his opening remarks to Tokyo Organizing Committee president Seiko Hashimoto and chief executive Toshiro Muto. “Our common target is safe and secure games for everybody; for the athletes, for all the delegations, and most importantly also for the Chinese people — Japanese people,” Bach said, quickly catching his error. Bach’s comments in the briefing were interpreted from English to Japanese, but the slip was not included in the interpretations. However, much of the Japanese media quickly reported it and there was a backlash on social media.
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
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