SAITAMA, Japan: Patrik Auda scored 16 points, Blake Schilb added 14 and the Czech Republic wasted most of a 22-point lead before holding on to defeat Iran 84-78 in the first game of the Olympic men’s basketball tournament on Sunday.
Jan Vesely added 11 for the Czech Republic.
Behnam Yakhchali had a game-high 23 points for Iran (0-1), which trailed by 22 late in the third and by 21 in the fourth before putting together its comeback bid. Mohammad Jamshidi scored 16 and Hamed Haddadi had 15 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out late for Iran.
Jamshidi’s 3-pointer with 1:10 left got Iran within 80-76, but Schilb scored on each of the next two Czech possessions to help close out the win.
Iran opened the fourth quarter on a 15-2 run, getting within 69-61 on a three-point play from Yakhchali with 5:39 remaining. The Czechs missed nine of their first 10 shots from the field in the fourth, seeing their lead get trimmed to single digits for the first time since early in the second quarter.
Both teams return to play Wednesday, with Iran facing the US and the Czech Republic playing France in Group A matchups.
Czech Republic tops Iran 84-78 in Olympic basketball opener
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Czech Republic tops Iran 84-78 in Olympic basketball opener
Ko Jin-young grabs lead at LPGA FM Championship as Ryu stumbles
- Ko’s compatriot Ryu Hae-ran had a nightmare round, shooting a six-over 78 and fell to four shots off the lead
WASHINGTON: South Korea’s Ko Jin-young shot a 5-under 67 to grab a two shot lead at the LPGA Tour’s FM Championship after the third round at TPC Boston on Saturday.
Ko’s compatriot Ryu Hae-ran, whose stunning 10-under 62 on Friday had earned her a six-stroke lead, had a nightmare round, shooting a six-over 78 and fell to four shots off the lead.
Ko made four birdies before the turn and although she suffered a setback with a bogey at the par-4 15th, she bounced back with birdies on the last two holes.
The 29-year-old Ko, a two-time major champion, has 15 career wins on the LPGA Tour and was the LPGA’s Player of the Year in 2019 and 2021.
She is looking for her first win of 2024, however, with her most recent victory coming at the Cognizant Founders Cup in May last year.
On the 12 occasions when Ko has led going into the final round of an LPGA event she has emerged as the winner nine times.
“I’m trying to be a very competitive person; that’s why if I get in the lead, I think it’s good motivation for me,” said Ko.
“This golf course is not easy, so I think I need to focus myself and just repeat to myself, ‘You can do it, you got this.’ I’m looking forward for tomorrow,” she added.
In-form American Lauren Coughlin shot a 3-under 69, making her the only player to shoot in the 60’s in all three rounds, and sits just two shots behind Ko heading into the final round.
Coughlin, who made four birdies and a bogey, wasn’t happy with her performance but after picking up her first two wins on the tour this year, with her second coming this month at the Scottish Open, she has a chance of making it three.
“But I’m not going to worry about that too much tomorrow. I’m definitely feeling a little tired, and so just trying to preserve as much energy as I have, which is all I can do. Focus on what I can control, which is me,” she said.
A trio of players are three shots off the lead — Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, American Allizen Corpuz and Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul.
Paralympic organizers postpone triathlon in Seine over water quality
- The triathlon was originally scheduled to happen over two days — September 1 and 2
PARIS: Paralympic organizers on Sunday postponed the triathlon by a day over worries about the River Seine’s water quality.
“The latest analysis shows a deterioration in the water quality of the Seine following heavy rainfall over the past two days,” the organizers said.
“It was decided to schedule the 11 medal sessions of the Para triathlon on September 2,” they added, following a meeting between World Triathlon, the Paris 2024 organizers, and the relevant French authorities.
The triathlon was originally scheduled to happen over two days — September 1 and 2.
The issue also caused disruption to the Olympics triathlon and open-water swimming events, with several practice sessions being canceled due to high levels of pollution caused by heavy rainfall.
Of 11 days of events and training scheduled in the river during the Olympics, only five got the green light.
Despite a 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) upgrade to improve the Paris sewerage and water treatment system, the Seine has been dogged by pollution concerns, notably for its levels of enterococci and E.coli bacteria.
USA take first their Paralympic track golds but China out in front
- Jaydin Blackwell charged to the men’s T38 100m final in a world record time of 10.64sec.
- The Chinese team had moved up to 20 golds by the end of Saturday’s action
PARIS: The US won their first two track and field titles of the Paris Paralympics on Saturday but China piled on the medals to stretch their lead in the table.
On the same track at the Stade de France where his compatriot Noah Lyles won the Olympic gold nearly four weeks ago, Jaydin Blackwell charged to the men’s T38 100m final in a world record time of 10.64sec.
Blackwell, who has cerebral palsy, donned a pair of sunglasses to celebrate his victory.
“I had to bring something over here to put a little pizzazz into things,” the 20-year-old said.
“It was the perfect race, but I was just focused on what I had to do and get to the line as fast as possible.”
There was more USA success as wheelchair racer Daniel Romanchuk upstaged reigning champion Marcel Hug of Switzerland in an exciting men’s 5000m T54 final.
Romanchuk, a 26-year-old who was born with spina bifida, burst past five-time gold medallist Hug in the home straight, leaving the Swiss in silver medal position while Faisal Alrajehi took a rare Paralympic medal for Kuwait in third.
British veteran David Weir, a multiple Paralympic medallist, faded and finished eighth.
Romanchuk has impressive range having taken gold at 400m at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and has also won the Chicago, New York and Boston marathon wheelchair races.
China’s added an early gold medal on Saturday thanks to javelin thrower Yuping Zhao, who set a world record of 47.06 meters in the F12 category for athletes with a moderate visual impairment.
The Chinese team had moved up to 20 golds by the end of Saturday’s action, showing that the nation that has topped the medals table at every Paralympics since Athens in 2004 is well on the way to repeating that feat.
In the pool, Brazilian swimmer Gabriel dos Santos Araujo, known as Gabrielzinho, won his second title of the Paris Games by taking the 50m backstroke gold in the S2 category.
Gabrielzinho has stumps where his arms should be and his legs are atrophied, although he can walk.
Britain remained in second place in the medal standings with 11 golds as Alice Tai won her first individual Paralympic title, taking the S8 100m backstroke gold and Stephen Clegg and William Ellard both set world records to triumph in their events.
The USA finished the day with five golds and fifth in the table.
In other sports, the USA men’s wheelchair basketball team thrashed the Netherlands 60-34 with Brian Bell top-scoring on 18 points. The Americans have two wins out of two as they bid to retain their title.
The country expected to give them a run for their money, Great Britain, were convincing 88-58 winners over Canada.
In men’s sitting volleyball, gold medal hopefuls Bosnia booked their place in the semifinals, while Egypt kept their hopes of reaching the last four alive by beating hosts France.
Reigning champions Iran return to action on Sunday.
In track cycling, home favorite Dorian Foulon sent the Paris velodrome into raptures by defending his C5 4000m individual pursuit title in emphatic fashion by beating Ukraine’s Yehor Dementyev.
He said the contrast with the gold he won three years ago in Tokyo, where Covid restrictions meant there were no spectators, was huge.
“The big difference is the crowd, it’s crazy. People had t-shirts with my name on. What is this madness?” a tearful Foulon joked after the medal ceremony.
There was a setback for the organizers as the final training session for Sunday’s triathlon events was canceled due to concerns about the water quality of the River Seine.
The training session had been due to take place on Saturday morning but was scrapped “as a precaution” after heavy rain in the French capital which can stir up pollution.
The issue of the water quality of the Seine also dogged the Olympics, although the triathlons and marathon swimming events did eventually go ahead.
Scottie Scheffler closes in on $25 million FedEx Cup prize with late burst of birdies
- Scottie Scheffler is one round away from capping off this astonishing season with a FedEx Cup title and its $25 million prize
- Sahith Theegala might have been two shots closer except for calling a two-shot penalty on himself on the third hole for lightly touching the sand with his club out of a bunker
ATLANTA: The most PGA Tour victories in 15 years. A Masters green jacket and an Olympic gold medal. And now Scottie Scheffler is one round away from capping off this astonishing season with a FedEx Cup title and its $25 million prize.
Scheffler had four birdies over his last five holes Saturday for a 5-under 66 to extend his lead to five shots over Collin Morikawa in the Tour Championship at East Lake.
He also knows the work is not done.
Two years ago, Scheffler finished the third round of a rain-delayed Tour Championship on Sunday morning by building a six-shot lead. He fell apart that afternoon with a 73, and watched Rory McIlroy race past him to capture the PGA Tour’s big prize.
The task for Scheffler is simple.
“Keep doing what I’ve been doing, staying in the moment, staying patient out there,” Scheffler said. I’ve bogeyed the first hole two of the last three days, and both times when I bogeyed the first hole I didn’t make any bogeys after that. So that’s kind of good momentum for me.”
It was even better moment at the end, with Morikawa (67) staying on his heels. Morikawa birdied three of his last four holes, but still ended up falling one more shot behind than the four-shot deficit he faced at the start of the third round.
“Not exactly the moving day that I needed, but I knew this entire week I was going to need something special to come out on top and I’m going to need something very special,” Morikawa said. “But I believe in myself, and hopefully that comes out tomorrow.”
Scheffler, who started at 10-under par and with a two-shot lead — six shots ahead of Morikawa, the No. 7 seed — was at 26-under par.
No one else was closer than nine shots.
Sahith Theegala might have been two shots closer except for calling a two-shot penalty on himself on the third hole for lightly touching the sand with his club out of a bunker. Video was not entirely clear, but Theegala informed officials and his par turned into a double bogey.
“Pretty sure I breached the rules, so I’m paying the price for it, and I feel good about it,” Theegala said. “I’m not 100 percent sure. But I’d say I’m 98, 99 percent sure that some sand was moved.”
He responded with seven birdies on the back nine and shot 66, leaving him nine shots behind.
Morikawa got within two shots of the lead when he holed a birdie putt from just inside 10 feet on the par-5 sixth hole. But that was as close as he got.
On the next hole, Scheffler holed a 15-foot birdie putt while Morikawa came up short of the green, lagged a putt to just outside 3 feet and missed it, a two-shot swing that restored Scheffler’s lead to four.
They also played in the final group at the Masters, where Scheffler pulled away to win by four. Morikawa knows by now what to expect.
“Five shots is a lot, but two-shot swings happen. I think I’ve seen a couple over the past few days,” Morikawa said. “Look, I’ve just got to play my game. I’ve got to go low. I know that. I’ve got 18 holes left to the season. I keep talking about that, but I’m going to put everything I have into these next 24 hours.”
His raw score was 17-under 196, one shot better than Scheffler.
Scheffler didn’t hit as many fairways and greens as he did the opening two rounds, but he was ranked No. 2 in the key putting statistic on Saturday. And he has kept his distance over every challenger so far this week.
“I feel like I’ve done a lot of stuff well and played solid, so I’m looking forward to the challenge of trying to finish off the tournament tomorrow,” he said.
British Open and PGA champion Xander Schauffele never got on track. Starting the day five shots behind, he had two bogeys in the opening four holes and failed to birdie the three par 5s in his round of 71. He was 10 shots behind.
He has never hit more than seven fairways each of the three rounds, and it has cost him at a time when he needed to go low to stay in the game.
“I was just not playing well enough to shoot consecutive 7-under pars,” Schauffele said. “You’ve got to be hitting at least 12 fairways to give yourself some serious looks and then obviously do a lot of good after that, but it starts with your ball on the short stuff.”
For everyone else, it’s a race for cash.
The FedEx Cup winner gets $25 million, with second place worth $12.5 million and third place paying $7.5 million.
Sinner avoids US Open trapdoor as Swiatek moves into last 16
- Australian Open champion Sinner raced past 87th-ranked Christopher O’Connell 6-1, 6-4, 6-2
NEW YORK: Jannik Sinner avoided plunging through the US Open trapdoor which claimed Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz when he stormed into the last 16 on Saturday as fellow world number one Iga Swiatek stayed on course for a second New York triumph.
Australian Open champion Sinner raced past 87th-ranked Christopher O’Connell 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.
The 23-year-old Italian’s win came a day after four-time champion Djokovic was sent spinning to his earliest loss in New York in 18 years by Alexei Popyrin.
One day earlier, 2022 winner Alcaraz was defeated in the second round by Dutch journeyman Botic van de Zandschulp.
“Today was great match. I knew I had to play very solid. My serve worked well so I am happy with my performance,” said Sinner after firing 15 aces in his 46 winners past outclassed O’Connell of Australia.
Sinner did not face a single break point in his one-hour 53-minute victory which took him into the last 16 for a fourth successive year.
“There have been some upsets in the tournament so let’s see what’s coming. I’m happy to still be here and play as many matches as possible,” added Sinner whose comfortable afternoon on Arthur Ashe Stadium saw tennis legend Serena Williams among the spectators.
Sinner will take on 14th seed Tommy Paul for a quarter-final place after the American defeated Canadian qualifier Gabriel Diallo in four sets.
There were 14 breaks of serve in that tie with Diallo, ranked a lowly 143 in the world, undone by 77 unforced errors.
Four-time French Open champion Swiatek was equally dominant as Sinner as the top-seeded Pole eased into the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The 23-year-old didn’t face a single break point and will face another Russian, Liudmila Samsonova for a quarter-final place.
“I like the night sessions but it’s noisy so I need to focus on my job and stay inside my bubble,” said Swiatek who shot a long hard stare at her opponent when a ball was speared toward her early in the second set.
“Anastasia is really powerful, she serves fast so I needed to use my intuition of where the ball was going.”
With Djokovic and Alcaraz heading home to Europe, Daniil Medvedev finds himself as the only former champion left in the men’s tournament.
The eccentric Russian, seeded five, faces Flavio Cobolli, the world number 31 from Italy.
Medvedev famously shattered Djokovic’s bid for a rare calendar Grand Slam when he captured the 2021 title in New York.
This year he was runner-up to Sinner at the Australian Open and made the semis-finals of Wimbledon but is without a tour title since winning the Rome Masters in May last year.
If Medvedev makes the fourth round for the sixth straight year he’ll face unseeded Nuno Borges of Portugal who saved three match points in a five-set triumph over Czech teenager Jakub Mensik.
Britain’s Jack Draper reached the last 16 for a second successive year by defeating Alcaraz’s conqueror Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Meanwhile, 2023 semifinalist Karolina Muchova, who knocked out two-time champion Naomi Osaka in the second round, cruised into the last 16 by beating Anastasia Potapova 6-4, 6-2.
She next faces French Open and Wimbledon runner-up Jasmine Paolini, the fifth-seeded Italian, who beat Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-4.
Paolini has now made the fourth round of all four Slams this year having previously never got beyond the second round in 16 attempts.
“I’m a fan of her (Muchova). I really love how she plays. She can play every shot, slice, volleys, serve and volleys. She’s a very complete player,” said Paolini.
US sixth seed Jessica Pegula made the second week for a third successive season by defeating Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-3, 6-3.
Pegula next faces Diana Shnaider, the 18th-seeded Russian who made the fourth round of a Slam for the first time by seeing off 37-year-old Sara Errani in straight sets.
Czech Republic’s Tomas Machac, ranked 39, also reached the fourth round of a major for the first time by defeating Belgian veteran David Goffin 6-3, 6-1, 6-2.
He will take on Draper for a spot in the quarter-finals.
