UNITED NATIONS: At a UN General Assembly meeting packed with global gloom, Japan’s outgoing leader highlighted what he cast as a moment of inspiration: the Tokyo Olympics, controversially held in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
“While humanity has been faced with immeasurable hardships, the Tokyo 2020 Games proved to be a symbol of global unity among people around the world,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said as he began his speech Thursday.
After the Games were delayed from their original 2020 date because of the pandemic, Japan deliberated for months about whether to hold them at all. Suga and the International Olympic Committee ultimately decided the Games would go on with extremely strict virus safety protocols.
The requirements included multiple tests for all Olympic visitors before arrival and tests and soft quarantine upon arrival. Most events and venues were spectatorless, and travel was heavily regulated.
Still, many Japanese objected to holding the event at a time when the country’s virus outbreak was worsening. There were protests as the Games approached, but opposition softened after they began and residents got engaged in following — on TV — a competition that ended with a record 58 medals for Japan, including 27 gold.
Infections inside the so-called “Olympic bubble” ultimately were kept to a few hundred. But outside it, surging coronavirus cases produced several declarations of states of emergency around the country as the Games unfolded.
“While there were various views about holding the Games this summer, we, as the host country of the Games, fulfilled our responsibilities and achieved what we set out to do,” Suga said. He commended the athletes for giving “hopes and dreams to everyone across the globe.”
Suga is stepping down when his term ends at the conclusion of this month. He saw support for his government plunge because of his handling of the virus.
He has served only a year after taking over from predecessor Shinzo Abe.
Japan’s leader says Olympics were ‘symbol of global unity’
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Japan’s leader says Olympics were ‘symbol of global unity’
- “Tokyo 2020 Games proved to be a symbol of global unity among people around the world,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said
- Suga and the International Olympic Committee ultimately decided the Games would go on with extremely strict virus safety protocols
Bethell spins England to 3-0 sweep over Sri Lanka in T20 World Cup warmup
- The series served as a dress rehearsal for the 20-nation showpiece that Sri Lanka is co-hosting with India
- The left-armer snared three wickets in a dramatic over to flip the game on its head as the hosts were skittled for 116 with three balls to spare
PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka: Jacob Bethell underlined his importance to England’s T20 World Cup hopes as he spun them to a hard-fought 12-run win over Sri Lanka to complete a 3-0 clean sweep at Pallekele on Tuesday.
The series served as a dress rehearsal for the 20-nation showpiece that Sri Lanka is co-hosting with India.
The contest hung in the balance heading into the 18th over with Sri Lanka needing 21 runs off 18 balls with four wickets in hand but the part-time spin of Bethel turned the game.
The left-armer snared three wickets in a dramatic over to flip the game on its head as the hosts were skittled for 116 with three balls to spare. Bethel finished with career-best figures of four for 11.
“It was one of the most fun games I have been part of,” said England captain Harry Brook.
“We showed we can adapt to challenging conditions. Today we bowled 16 overs of spin and to do that against a Sri Lankan side in their own conditions is really satisfying.”
England had mustered only 128 for nine but showcased their depth and nous, defending a total that looked well below par on a surface offering turn and bounce.
After just four overs from the quicks, the spinners took center stage and wove a web around the Sri Lankan batters, much as they had throughout the tour.
The spinners had been pivotal in England’s ODI series triumph in Colombo last week and again proved the ace up their sleeve.
England head to India to launch their World Cup campaign with momentum at their backs, while Sri Lanka have plenty of soul-searching to do with their frailties against spin brutally exposed.
Bethel found able allies in Will Jacks, who bagged three wickets, while fellow tweakers Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson chipped in with one apiece to keep the hosts on a tight leash.
Sam Curran, England’s hero in the opening game with a hat-trick, showed his all-round pedigree in the dead rubber, carving out a career-best 58 from 48 balls to rescue the side that had slipped to 60 for six.
Returning quick Dushmantha Chameera, back after a groin injury, was a rare bright spark for Sri Lanka, claiming his maiden five-wicket haul in T20Is. His five for 24 are the best figures in England-Sri Lanka contests and the third-best ever at Pallekele.
“Very disappointing. We need to address a few areas, especially the options we take against spin bowling,” said Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka.
“I thought we had addressed that issue in the last game but the old problems resurfaced again.”
Both sides begin their World Cup campaign next Sunday with Sri Lanka hosting Ireland in Colombo while England face Nepal in Mumbai.
