COMING ATTRACTIONS: No. 1 Momota in Bangkok and Mountain Bike star Courtney in Val di Sole this week

Mountain Bike World Cross Country champ Kate Courtney (USA)

Previews of key events in Olympic sports coming this week:

BADMINTON: Japan’s Momota and Matsumoto/Nagahara headline Thailand Open

The $350,000 Thailand Open is underway in Bangkok (THA), with three of the five no. 1-ranked teams entered; entries ranked in the top five of the BWF World Rankings:

Men’s Singles:
1. Kento Momota (JPN) ~ Won Japan Open last week
3. Tien Chen Chou (TPE)
4. Long Chen (CHN) ~ 2016 Olympic Champion

Men’s Doubles:
1. Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) ~ Won Japan Open last week
2. Takeshi Kamura/Keogi Sonoda (JPN) ~ Defending Champions
3. Junhui Li/Yuchen Liu (CHN)
5. Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe (JPN)

Women’s Singles:
4. Yufei Chen (CHN)

Women’s Doubles:
1. Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (JPN)
2. Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (NPN)
3. Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN)
5. Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu (INA) ~ Defending Champions

Mixed Doubles:
2. Yilyu Wang/Dongping Huang (CHN)
3. Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino (JPN)
4. Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai (THA)
5. Peng Soon Chan/Liu Ying Goh (MAS)

Finals will be on Sunday. Look for results here.

CYCLING: Fourth Cross Country win for U.S.’s Kate Courtney in Val di Sole?

The second half of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup starts in Val di Sole (ITA), with Cross Country, Cross Country Short and Downhill races. The current standings:

Men/Cross Country:
1. 1,160 Nino Schurter (SUI) ~ Six-time World Cup Champion
2. 915 Henrique Avancini (BRA)
3. 899 Mathieu van der Poel (NED) ~ 2018 World Cup seasonal runner-up
4. 883 Mathias Fluckiger (SUI)
5. 698 Jordan Sarrou (FRA)

Women/Cross Country:
1. 1,265 Kate Courtney (USA) ~ 2018 World Champion
2. 1,090 Jolanda Neff (SUI) ~ 2014-15-18 World Cup Champion
3. 815 Anne Terpstra (NED)
4. 726 Elisabeth Brandau (GER)
5. 615 Sina Frei (SUI)

Men/Downhill:
1. 965 Loic Bruni (FRA) ~ 2015 World Cup seasonal silver
2. 855 Amaury Pierron (FRA) ~ Defending World Cup Champion
3. 855 Troy Brosnan (AUS) ~ 2017 World Cup runner-up; third in 2014-15-16-18
4. 614 Loris Vergier (FRA)
5. 602 Danny Hart (GBR) ~ World Cup runner-up in 2016-18

Women/Downhill:
1. 1,040 Tracey Hannah (AUS) ~ 2016-17-18 World Cup seasonal bronzes
2. 840 Marine Cabirou (FRA)
3. 730 Rachel Atherton (GBR) ~ Six-time World Cup Champion
4. 695 Nina Hoffmann (GER)
5. 514 Veronika Widmann (ITA)

In the Cross-Country Olympic division, Schurter is finding his way to the front again, winning the last two races in Vallnord (AND) and Les Gets (FRA). He’s medaled in three of the four races so far, as has Fluckiger.

Courtney has dominated the women’s division, winning three races, while Neff has won three silvers, accounting for half of all medals distributed on tour so far.

There will be a Cross Country Short Track race on Friday, Downhill finals on Saturday and the Cross Country on Sunday. Look for results here.

SWIMMING: Unknown entries in the Marathon World Series 6 at Lac Megantic

The sixth of nine 10 km races in the FINA Marathon World Series is at Lac Megantic in Quebec, Canada, a town of about 152 miles (245 km) east of Montreal. It’s the ninth straight year that tre site has hosted this event.

There is prize money of U.S. $4,000-3,000-2,300-1,700-1,300-1,100-900-700 for the top eight placers in the men’s and women’s races.

Despite the entry deadline of 2 July, no entries have been posted. Defending champions from 2018 are Germany’s Christian Reichert and China;s Xin Xin, who won the 2019 World 10 km title in Gwangju (KOR).

Look for results here.