Home Blog Page 89

SHOOTING Preview: U.S. Shotgun Nationals start in Colorado Springs

By
Rich Perelman
-

The 25th USA Shooting National Shotgun Championships start Sunday and continue through 10 October at the International Shooting Park at Ft. Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with competition in Trap and Skeet for both men and women, and for Mixed Teams in Trap.

Both the Trap and Skeet events will be conducted in four stages of 75 + 50 + 75 + 50 targets for a total of 250. The Mixed Team Trap event will be shot in two stages of 75 targets each.

These are the events in which the U.S. had real success at the 2018 ISSF World Championships, where Vincent Hancock won the men’s Skeet title and Caitlin Connor, Kim Rhode and Ashley English swept the women’s Skeet medals.

The 2017 medalists at the U.S. Shotgun Nationals:

∙ Men’s Skeet:
1. 306 Vince Hancock
2. 302 Hayden Stewart
3. 300 Alex Ahlin

∙ Men’s Trap:
1. 285 Derek Haldeman
2. 282 Caleb Lindsey
3. 281 Glenn Eller

∙ Women’s Skeet:
1. 300 Dania Vizzi
2. 296 Caitlin Connor
3. 293 Sam Simonton

∙ Women’s Trap:
1. 285 Ashley Carroll
2. 281 Kayle Browning-Thomas
3. 278 Corey Cogdell

∙ Mixed Team Trap (2-person):
1. 472 Corey Cogdell/Jacke Wallace
2. 462 Kaylee Browning Thomas/Thomas Browning
3. 423 Heidi Bechtold/Jeremy Adkins

Prize money of $750-500-250 will be paid to the medalists in all five divisions. Look for results here.

GYMNASTICS Preview: U.S. defending titles in Pan Am Rhythmic Champs in Lima

By
Rich Perelman
-
U.S. Rhythmic star Laura Zeng

The last of the three Pan American Gymnastics Championships – this one in Rhythmic – that will serve as qualifiers for next year’s Pan American Games is getting set in Lima (PER). A full schedule is planned:

∙ 29 September: All-Around and Team competitions
∙ 30 September: Apparatus finals for individuals and groups

The U.S. completely dominated the event last year; here are the defending champions and the top finishers from the Americas at this year’s World Championships:

∙ All-Around:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. Evita Griskenis (USA)
2018 Worlds: 8. Laura Zeng (USA: pictured); 17. Griskenis (USA)

∙ Hoop:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. Griskenis (USA)
2018 Worlds: No finalists

∙ Ball:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. Griskenis (USA)
2018 Worlds: No finalists

∙ Clubs:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. Griskenis (USA)
2018 Worlds: No finalists

∙ Ribbon:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. Griskenis (USA)
2018 Worlds: No finalists

∙ Team:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. United States
2018 Worlds: 9. Mexico; 14. United States; 18. Brazil

∙ Group All-Around:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. Brazil
2018 Worlds: No finalists

∙ Group/5 Hoops:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. United States
2018 Worlds: No finalists

∙ Group/3 Balls + 2 Ropes:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. Brazil
2018 Worlds: No finalists

Look for results here.

GYMNASTICS Preview: Last leg of the World Challenge Cup series is in Paris

By
Rich Perelman
-

The six-stop FIG World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics lands at the Accorhotels Arena in Paris (FRA) for competition on Friday and Saturday.

As this 21st edition of the “Internationaux de France” is the last event in the World Challenge Cup series, the series winners will determined at this event. The leaders going into this weekend:

Men:
∙ Floor:
1. 80 Artem Dolgopyat (ISR)
2. 55 Takumi Sato (JPN)
3. 38 Ahmet Onder (TUR)

∙ Pommel Horse:
1. 63 Saso Bertoncelj (SLO)
2. 39 Zoltan Kallai (HUN)
3. 37 Thierry Pellerin (CAN)

∙ Rings:
1. 80 Ibrahim Colak (TUR)
2. 66 Vasile Muntean (ROU)
3. 56 Yuri van Gelder (NED)

∙ Vault:
1. 62 Andrey Medvedev (ISR)
2. 55 Thanh Tung Le (VIE)
3. 45 Takumi Sato (JPN)

∙ Parallel Bars:
1. 80 Andrei Muntean (ROU)
2. 42 Marios Georgiou (CYP)
3. 40 Phuong Thanh Dinh (VIE)

∙ High Bar:
1. 64 Umit Samiloglu (TUR)
2. 55 David Vecsernyes (HUN)
3. 41 Robert Tvorogal (LTU)

Women:
∙ Vault:
1. 53 Ofir Netzer (ISR)
2. 48 Tijana Tkalcec (CRO)
3. 45 Tjasa Kysselef (SLO)

∙ Uneven Bars:
1. 80 Barbora Mokosova (CZE)
2. 62 Demet Mutlu (TUR)
3. 36 Dorina Boeczoego (HUN)

∙ Beam:
1. 46 Gokso Uctas Sanli (TUR)
2. 43 Lauree Denommee (CAN)
and Barbora Mokosova (CZE)

∙ Floor:
1. 60 Dorina Boeczoego (HUN)
2. 58 Barbora Mokosova (CZE)
3. 34 Rifda Irfanaluthfi (INA)

Scoring for events for the Challenge Cup in each event is 30-25-20-18-16-14-12-10-8-7-6-5 down to 12th place, so a lot of changes could be ahead in all but the men’s Parallel Bars, which has been clinched by Romania’s Montean already.

There is also prize money of CHF 800-600-400-300-250-200-150-100 for the top eight placers, but no extra prize money for the Challenge Cup winners (say what?). But the winners do get a special trophy. Look for results here.

CURLING Preview: Grand Slam Series starts with Elite 10

By
Rich Perelman
-

Like it or not, the curling season is in full swing!

The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling, a series of seven tournaments – all held in Canada – which pit the best teams in the world against each other. Qualification comes through the World Curling Tour and the Grand Slam events offer a cumulative total of more than $2 million in prize money.

The kick-off event is the Princess Auto Elite 10, starting Wednesday at the St. Clair Campus Arena in Chatham, Ontario (CAN). The entries include (known by the name of the Skip):

Men:
∙ Niklas Edin (SWE) ~ 2013-15-18 World Champions; 2018 Olympic silver medalists
∙ Brad Gushue (CAN) ~ 2006 Olympic Champions; 2017 World Champions
∙ Glen Howard (CAN) ~ 2007-12 World Champions
∙ Brad Jacobs (CAN) ~ 2014 Olympic Champions
∙ Kevin Koe (CAN) ~ 2010-16 World Champions

Women:
∙ Anna Hasselborg (SWE) ~ 2018 Olympic Champions; 2017 Worlds silver medalists
∙ Rachel Homan (CAN) ~ 2017 World Champions; 2014 Worlds silver and 2013 Worlds bronze
∙ Jennifer Jones (CAN) ~ 2014 Olympic Champions; 2015 Worlds silver medalists
∙ Nina Roth (USA) ~ 2018 U.S. Olympic Trials winners; eighth in PyeongChang
∙ Jamie Sinclair (USA) ~ 2018 U.S. National Champions
∙ Silvana Trinzoni (SUI) ~ Includes Alina Paetz, skip of the 2015 World Champions

The tournament continues through Sunday; look for scores here.

CANOE-KAYAK Preview: Fox eyes family record in Slalom World Championships

By
Rich Perelman
-
Australia's Slalom star Jessica Fox

This has been a great season for Australia’s Jessica Fox, who made history by winning both the C-1 and K-1 races in the first three World Cups of this season and could make more at the Slalom World Championships this week in Rio de Janeiro (BRA).

In her international career, stretching back to 2010, Fox has won 10 World Championships medals, including seven golds: three in C-1, two in K-1 and two in C-2. She’s only one behind France’s Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, who won eight golds (and 10 total medals) from 1983-95. This is where it gets wild.

Fox-Jerusalmi is Jessica’s Fox mother, having married Richard Fox, a British canoeing star who won 10 World Championships golds from 1979-93. The couple settled in Australia, where Richard was the national coach for Canoe Slalom beginning in 1998 – when Jessica was four – and also served as a vice president of the International Canoe Federation.

So Jessica, now 24, is now in position to set the all-time record for World Championships gold medals in Canoe Slalom with two more and could tie her father for the family gold-medals record with three! And she could do it.

The top contenders from this year’s World Cup circuit and defending champions:

∙ Men’s C-1/2018 World Cup:
1. 296 Alexander Slafkovsky (SVK)
2. 282 Luka Bozic (SLO)
3. 268 Sideris Tasiadis (GER)

∙ Men’s C-1/2017 World Champs:
1. Benjamin Savsek (SLO)
2. Alexander Slafkovsky (SVK)
3. Michal Martikan (SVK)

∙ Men’s K-1/2018 World Cup:
1. 304 Jiri Prskavec (CZE)
2. 242 Mathieu Biazizzo (FRA)
3. 222 Vit Prindis (CZE)

∙ Men’s K-1/2017 World Champs:
1. Ondrej Tunka (CZE)
2. Vit Prindis (CZE)
3. Peter Kauzer (SLO)

∙ Women’s C-1/2018 World Cup:
1. 360 Jessica Fox (AUS)
2. 243 Mallory Franklin (GBR)
3. 242 Viktoria Wolffhardt (AUT)

∙ Women’s C-1/2017 World Champs:
1. Mallory Franklin (GBR)
2. Tereza Fiserova (CZE)
3. Ana Satila (BRA)

∙ Women’s K-1/2018 World Cup:
1. 303 Jessica Fox (AUS)
2. 302 Ricarda Funk (GER)
3. 285 Corinna Kuhnle (AUT)

∙ Women’s K-1/2017 World Champs:
1. Jessica Fox (AUS)
2. Jana Dukatova (CZE)
3. Ricarda Funk (GER)

∙ Mixed C-2/2018 World Cup:
1. 335 Teresa Fiserova/Jakub Jane (CZE)
2. 293 Yves Prigent/Margaux Henry (FRA)
3. 268 Veronika Vojtova/Jan Masek (CZE)

∙ Mixed C-2/2017 World Championships:
1. Margaux Henry/Yves Prigent (FRA)
2. Niccolo Ferrari/Stefanie Horn (ITA)
3. Veronika Vojtova/Jan Masek (CZE)

The competition finals schedule:

∙ 28 September: Mixed C-2
∙ 29 September: Men’s C-1 Final ~ Women’s K-1 Final
∙ 30 September: Women’s C-1 Final ~ Men’s K-1 Final ~ Extreme K-1 Finals

Team competitions with three per boat were held on the 25th:

∙ Men’s C-1:
1. Slovakia, 99.67; 2. Slovenia, 99.95; 3. Great Britain, 100.87.
(U.S. was eighth, 103.53.)

∙ Men’s K-1: 1. Great Britain, 92.45; 2. Poland, 93.88; 3. Czech Rep., 94.84.
(U.S. was 12th, 101.68.)

∙ Women’s C-1: 1. Great Britain, 115.78; 2. Czech Rep., 117.34; 3. France, 121.27.

∙ Women’s K-1: 1. France, 108.37 seconds; 2. Germany, 109.12; 3. Great Britain, 109.36.

Although Canoe Slalom didn’t make it into the Olympic Games until the 1990s, the World Championships date back to 1949, with Rio being the 39th edition. Look for results here.

BADMINTON Preview: Three no. 1-ranked entries in Korea Open

By
Rich Perelman
-

The BWF World Tour swing through Asia continues with the Victor Korea Open in Seoul, a significant tournament with $600,000 in prize money. The top seeds, with their current BWF world rankings, include three of the top-ranked players or teams in the world:

∙ Men’s Singles:
1. Viktor Axelsen (DEN: 1)
2. Kento Momota (JPN: 2)

∙ Men’s Doubles:
1. Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (JPN: 4)
2. Sheng Mu Lee/Po-Hsuan Yang (TPE)

∙ Women’s Singles:
1. Akane Yamaguchi (JPN:2)
2. Ratchanok Intanon (THA: 4)

∙ Women’s Doubles:
1. Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (JPN: 1)
2. Misaki Matsumoto/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN: 4)

∙ Mixed Doubles:
1. Siwei Zhang/Yaqiong Huang (CHN: 1)
2. Mathias Christiansen/Christinna Pedersen (DEN: 5)

None of the defending champions are entered, except for half of the Mixed Doubles winners; Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan is teamed with a new partners. Other former champs in the tournament include two-time Olympic gold medalist Dan Lin (CHN), who won this tournament in 2002-07-11 and women’s winners Yamaguchi (2016) and Korea’s Ji-Hyun Sung (2013-15).

Look for results here.

THE BIG PICTURE: Anger over WADA’s reinstatement of Russia continues unabated

By
Rich Perelman
-

The anger over the reinstatement of Russia by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) continues unabated. The latest is from WADA’s own Athlete Commission, released by its chair, Canadian Beckie Scott. It starts with:

“As clean athletes we are devastated with WADA’s decision to reinstate RUSADA without the completion of the road map. RUSADA is back, yet there has been no public acceptance of wrongdoing, and the samples still sit locked away in the Moscow lab. We had expected that WADA would stand up for clean athletes and clean sport, instead, we have seen nuance and pragmatism overtake justice and accountability. …

“Russia has used its athletes, committed the biggest doping scandal of the century, corrupted the anti-doping and sport movements, and has now been welcomed back on a promise, without even complying with the rules. This is not good enough.”

The statement further notes that “We are the ones who train, compete and dream of winning medals, who demand fairness, and we are the ones that lost out when the rules are broken, and when sanctions are not followed.”

The signees include individual athletes from Argentina, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Switzerland and athlete commissions from the Athletics (IAAF) and Badminton (BWF) federations and national athlete groups from Germany, Great Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands.

WADA president Craig Reedie (GBR) defended the deal in an open letter posted on the WADA Web site and stated that “This week’s decision was based entirely on achieving Russian compliance, as properly delivered.”

Interestingly, while Reedie’s letter had a home-page link on the WADA site, the letter from its own Athlete Commission was not to be found anywhere on the site; it was not even linked to the page on the Athlete Commission.

Instead, it was released by Scott on her personal Twitter page.

LANE ONE: More fireworks are not going to bring more spectators to swimming (or other sports)

By
Rich Perelman
-

USA Swimming’s (fairly) new chief executive, Tim Hinchey, released a “State of the Sport” post on the organization’s Web site on 19 September and for incurable Olympic-sport junkies (like me), it made for fascinating reading.

Hinchey, you may remember, made one of the best impressions at the multiple Congressional hearings earlier this year into the sex-abuse scandals which have rocked U.S. Olympic sport and – for swimming – reaches back 20 years or more. He acknowledged the issues and also pledged more money for the U.S. Center for SafeSport, a catalyst to last week’s agreement by all of the U.S. National Governing Bodies to give a collective $1 million more to the Center.

Hinchey’s primary focus in his Web message was about athlete safety and security. “More than anything, this last year has shown us that better education continues to be necessary both to raise awareness of current programs and services and create more abuse prevention champions within every rank of our membership. Our goal is to provide the best possible experience for our members, in the safest possible environment, and we will continue to be leaders in this movement across all national governing bodies and the Olympic community.”

That’s important. Hinchey also noted “personal face-to-face meetings with survivors of abuse,” and “the development and implementation of the Safe Sport Recognized Club program,” which will bring the SafeSport Code and practices to the local level, which is where safety needs to start.

But that is only part of USA Swimming’s future. Hinchey went into considerable detail on planning that is looking as far forward as 2028 and the desire “to find new ways to grow our membership, improve the welfare of our athletes and expand our fanbase.”

To that end, Hinchey explained that “an internal mantra that we have adopted [is] to raise the level of our national events to be closer to the presentation and pageantry of the U.S. Olympic Trials.

“Anyone who has ever attended a major swimming competition such as the U.S. Olympic Trials will understand the unparalleled in-venue entertainment and excitement of watching incredible athletes push themselves to the limit and lay everything on the line. Creating additional Trials-like events elevates the experience for both the athletes and the spectators. Our strategy is to enhance existing USA Swimming events and offer greater fan experiences, elevated viewing opportunities, increased promotion, increased grassroots initiatives, and more, similar to what people experienced and enjoyed throughout the spring and summer.”

So, USA Swimming sent inquiries around the country to obtain interest in staging legs of its Tyr Pro Swim Series events. The response was good and the new schedule will be announced in October; the first meet will be at the 1,284-seat Jones Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tennessee from 9-12 January.

This is good, but bells, whistles and fireworks – like at the Trials – is not going to make the difference for swimming, or any of the other Olympic sports who want to make their events more important to more people.

What makes the Olympic Trials special is that it’s the selection event for the U.S. Olympic Team. That drama is why the event is a standard-bearer for swimming, track & field and gymnastics – among others – because the outcome is so meaningful to the athletes and to the country.

How important is the Tyr Pro Swim Series? Not very, at least to the athletes. After the Indianapolis stop in May, five-time Olympic gold medalist Nathan Adrian said “what we use these meets for is honing in on how we’re going to approach the race. Playing around and experimenting is also what makes it fun so we’re doing a little bit of that – just doing our best to not let it get stale.”

The issue was put perfectly by long-time bid guru Terrence Burns (USA) at the FINA World Water Polo Conference last April. Speaking about water polo – but equally applicable to any sport that’s looking for growth – he said, “Before talking about promotional tactics, we should go way back. I think that you have to create a strong brand narrative, a real story about water polo. You need to identify why it is important to the consumers and the fans. And then the tactics follow.”

USA Swimming has the same desire, but the “why” is not there yet for anything other than the U.S. Championships, which were sold out at 3,000-plus per day at Irvine in July.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m a fan of Hinchey from what I have seen so far and USA Swimming has proven itself over and over again as one of the best – if not the best – of the U.S. National Governing Bodies. It’s promotional work and video programming is outstanding.

But a season-long narrative which ends in a championship event is what propels not only the big team sports in the U.S. and elsewhere, but what keeps people talking about it! And what swimming needs is for more people to talk about it.

Like on a weekly, 30-minute show about Olympic sports on ESPN, Fox and NBC similar to the terrific “Winter Games Daily” show NBC did with Jimmy Roberts, or the ESPN FC show that supports its soccer programming.

And stop missing opportunities to own the spotlight, like selecting 21-28 June 2020 for the swimming Olympic Trials, at the same time as the track & field Trials from 19-28 June, in Eugene. Oy.

Rich Perelman
Editor

EQUESTRIAN: Lessons from the World Equestrian Games

By
Rich Perelman
-

The World Equestrian Games concluded on Sunday in Mill Spring, North Carolina, completing a hectic two weeks of activity that started with housing problems for grooms and Hurricane Florence and ending with some spectacular riding in the Jumping competitions.

The FEI noted that about 200,000 spectators took in the event, far less than hoped for, but quite good considering the brutal weather conditions. Local reporting noted that the event will likely lose more than $1.5 million and there has been some criticism of the site.

However, it’s also true that the Tryon International Equestrian Center took on the event on short notice in 2016 after Bromont (CAN) pulled out due to financial considerations. And there is no host for the 2022 World Equestrian Games, after both Lexington, Kentucky (USA) and Samorin (SVK) both declined to bid for the event last year.

The heavy costs of the World Equestrian Games has drawn comparisons to the issues faced by the International Olympic Committee on findings hosts for the Olympic Games.

Another article on the close of the WEG is on Tryon Int’l Equestrian Center is from Reuters, profiling Mark Bellissimo, who brought the facility to life. He’s thinking about the future of equestrian as a sport … and an industry.

“The goal is to get people interested in horses. Look at Olympics, surfing, beach volleyball, skate boarding.

“Nothing has killed more companies, more countries, more communities than the preservation of the status quo.

“I think every equestrian sport is in decline. It’s expensive and we need to figure ways to lower costs, make it much more spectator friendly. The problem is with equestrian sport people are so fascinated by their own sport.”

VOLLEYBALL: U.S. advances to final round in men’s World Champs

By
Rich Perelman
-

The United States men’s national volleyball team continues its run through the FIVB World Championships in Italy and Bulgaria, winning its second-round group and advancing to the medal round this week.

After finishing 5-0 to win Pool C in the first round, the U.S. advanced to Pool G to face host Bulgaria, Iran and Canada. The outcome sends the U.S. in the final round with a chance for the medals:

∙ 21 September: U.S. 3, Canada 1
∙ 22 September: U.S. 3, Bulgaria 0
∙ 23 September: U.S. 3, Iran 0

That sends coach John Speraw’s U.S. squad into the final pool, where two groups of three will be formed from the four group winners and the second “best” second-place teams. The group winners and the other qualifiers:

∙ Group E: 1. Italy (7-1) 2. Russia (6-2)
∙ Group F: 1. Brazil (7-1)
∙ Group G: 1. United States (8-0)
∙ Group H: 1. Poland (6-2) 2. Serbia (6-2)

The U.S. is the last undefeated team in the tournament and has won 24 of 30 sets. Italy has a 23-6 sets win/loss ratio; Brazil’s is 22-8 and defending champion Poland’s is 21-9. Canada (5-3) and Belgium (4-4) just missed making the final round.

The final round will take place in two pools of three, with the winners meeting for the gold medal and the second-place teams meeting for bronze. The pool matches will take place on 26-27-28 September, the semis on 29 September and the medal matches on the 30th. All of these games will be in Turin (ITA).

Look for scores here.

TAEKWONDO: Korea wins 3, McPherson wins -67 kg class in Taoyuan

By
Rich Perelman
-

The third of five World Taekwondo Grand Prix tournaments in 2018 marked the first ever in Chinese Taipei, in Taoyuan. But the headline was the same: three wins for the Koreans.

Thrice World Champion Dae-Hoon Lee set a new standard for the Grand Prix, winning the men’s -68 kg class for his second Grand Prix win this season and his 10th career Grand Prix win, the most ever. The Koreans also got wins from three-time World Champion Tae-Hun Kim at -58 kg and Da-Bin Lee in the women’s +67 kg class.

American Paige McPherson also made history by winning the women’s -67 kg class, the first win by a U.S. fighter in a Grand Prix since Jackie Galloway won in Samsun (TUR) in the +67 kg class in 2015. It’s the third-ever U.S. Grand Prix win, as Galloway also won one of the 2014 tournaments.

It wasn’t easy, as McPherson, the London 2012 bronze medalist in this class, fell behind Russia’s Polina Khan, 6-2, after one period. In fact, McPherson was down 7-5 in the third round, with 35 seconds left. But she scored a body kick with 10 seconds left for a 7-7 and overtime, known as “Golden Point” in Taekwondo. But neither scored and McPherson won by having fewer penalties during the match!

The fourth installment comes from 19-21 October in Manchester (GBR). Summaries:

World Taekwondo Grand Prix
Taoyuan (CHN) ~ 19-21 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

-58 kg: 1. Tae-Hun Kim (KOR); 2. Jesus Tortosa Cabrera (ESP); 3. Jun Jang (KOR) and Mikhail Artamonov (RUS).

-68 kg: 1. Dae-Hoon Lee (KOR); 2. Mirhashem Hosseini (IRI); 3. Edval Pontes (BRA) and Yu-Jen Huang (TPE).

-80 kg: 1. Maksim Khramtcov (RUS); 2. Cheick Sallah Cisse (CIV); 3. Damon Sansum (GBR) and Seif Eissa (EGY).

+80 kg: 1. Vladislav Larin (RUS); 2. Anthony Mylann Obame (GHA); 3. Mahama Cho (GBR) and Hongyi Sun (CHN).

Women

-49 kg: 1. Panipak Wongpattanakit (THA); 2. So-Hui Kim (KOR); 3. Kristina Tomic (CRO) and Rukiye Yildrim (TUR).

-57 kg: 1. Irem Yaman (TUR); 2. Raheleh Asemani (BEL); 3, Inese Tarvida (LAT) and Zongshi Luo (CHN).

-67 kg: 1. Paige McPherson (USA); 2. Polina Khan (RUS); 3. Jan-Di Kim (KOR) and Hyeri Oh (KOR).

+67 kg: 1. Da-Bin Lee (KOR); 2. Bianca Walkden (GBR); 3. Nafia Kus (TUR) and Shuyin Zheng (CHN).

SURFING: Second world titles for Muniz & Fitzgibbons

By
Rich Perelman
-

Surfing is a sport for the young, right? The teenagers with boards and time to ride.

Some teens grow up to be professional surfers and they dominated the International Surfing Association’s World Surfing Games in Tahara (JPN), as two former teen winners took the gold medals.

In the men’s final, it was Argentina’s 2011 champion, Santiago Muniz – now 25 – who won the title, scoring 7.67 and 6.00 on his two best runs to compile 14.63 points and finish almost a full point ahead of Japan’s Kanoa Igarashi. It’s worth noting that Igarashi had the highest score on any single wave of 7.90.

The women’s title was a 10-year celebration for Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons, who won at age 17 back in 2008, but smoked the field with scores of 9.17 and 9.47 for a total of 18.64, way ahead of Paige Hareb (NZL: 14.66) and South Africa’s Bianca Buitendag (12.30).

“It is the biggest buzz to bring the Gold back to Australia!” said Fitzgibbons. “It’s so meaningful to me to surf against my mates that I’ve known for as long as ten years. We all work so hard, so to share a heat with them under the green and gold flag is amazing.

“The Japanese crowd has been excellent. They are the biggest surf fans. It has been such a pleasure to come here and compete for them. Team Australia has built great momentum heading towards Tokyo 2020. I know that whoever represents Australia are going to do us proud.”

Japan won the team title for the first time and the top four place-winners in each division earned quot places for the 2020 Games. Summaries:

World Surfing Games
Tahara (JPN) ~ 19-22 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men/Final: 1. Santiago Muniz (ARG), 14.63; 2. Kanoa Igarashi (JPN), 13.67; 3. Lucca Mesinas (PER), 12.94; 4. Shun Murakami (JPN), 9.96. Also in the top 10. 5. Kevin Schulz (USA).

Women/Final: 1. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 18.64; 2. Paige Hareb (NZL), 14.66; 3. Bianca Buitendag (RSA), 12.30; 4. Summer Macedo (USA), 11.40. Also in the top 10: 9. Zoe McDougal (USA) and Caitlin Simmers (USA).

Team (Men and Women combined): 1. Japan, 3,368 points; 2. Australia, 3,093; 3. United States, 3,000; 4. South Africa, 2,703; 5. Peru, 2,605; 6. France, 2,598; 7. Spain, 2,528; 8. Argentina, 2,240; 9. New Zealand, 2,275; 10. Canada, 2,248.

JUDO: Japan in charge, as usual, at IJF World Champs

By
Rich Perelman
-

The sport of judo was introduced to the Olympic program at the 1964 Tokyo Games. And the Japanese have continued to dominate this sport, including at this year’s World Championships in Baku (AZE).

With three days – and six weight classes – left, the Japanese have collected 10 medals (4-5-1) compared to two for Korea, France, Iran, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. And there are more to come.

There were also some very familiar faces for Japan on the tatami in Baku. In the men’s events (so far), Naohisa Takato (-60 kg) and Hifumi Abe (-66 kg) repeated as World Champions from 2017 and -73 winner Soichi Hashimoto from 2017 ended up second this time. Among the women, last year’s winners Funa Tonaki (-48 kg) and Ai Shishime (-52 kg) won silvers this time, but Tsukasa Yoshida (-57 kg) went from silver in 2017 to the top of the podium this year.

The women’s -63 kg class was again a highlight, as France’s Clarisse Agbegnenou continuing her battle with Slovenia’s Tina Trstenjak and Japan’s Miku Tashiro.

Agbegnenou, age 25, won this time, her third World Championship title (2014-17-18) and sixth Worlds medal, to go along with her Rio silver medal. This time, she overcame Japan’s Tashiro (24) won her third Worlds medal (0-1-2) from 2014-18. Trstenjak (28) won bronze this time, her fourth Worlds medal (1-1-2) from 2014-18, but then she did win the Rio gold.

All three are going to be around for a while, so their combined 12 Worlds medals is going to grow.

The World Championships continue in Baku this week with three more days of competition:

∙ 24 September: Men’s -90 kg; women’s -70 kg
∙ 25 September: Men’s -100 kg; women’s -78 kg
∙ 26 September: Men’s +100 kg; women’s +78 kg

Look for results here. Summaries so far:

IJF World Championships
Baku (AZE) ~ 20-27 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

-60 kg: 1. Naohisa Takato (JPN); 2. Robert Mshvidobadze (RUS); 3. Amiran Papinashvili (GEO) and Ryuju Nagayama (JPN); 5. Karamat Huseynov (AZE) and Harim Lee (KOP); 7. Yong Gwon Kim (PRK) and Eric Takabatake (BRA).

-66 kg: 1. Hifumi Abe (JPN); 2. Yerlan Serikzhanov (KAZ); 3. Georgii Zantaria (UKR) and Baul An (KOR); 5. Tal Flicker (ISR) and Daniel Cargnin (BRA); 7. Mikhail Puliaev (RUS) and Kherlen Ganbold (MGL).

-73 kg: 1. Changrim An (KOR); 2. Soichi Hashimoto (JPN); 3. Mohammad Mohammadi (IRI) and Hidayat Heydarov (AZE); 5. Odbayar Ganbaatar (MGL) and Tsogbaatar Tsend-Ochir (MGL); 7. Zhansay Smagulov (KAZ) and Lasha Shavdatuashvili (GEO).

-81 kg: 1. Saeid Mollaei (IRI); 2. Sotaro Fujiwara (JPN); 3. Vedat Albayrak (TUR) and Alexander Wieczerzak (GER); 5. Dominic Ressel (GER) and Damian Szwarnowiecki (POL); 7. Mattias Case (GER) and Khasan Khalmurzaev (RUS).

Women

-48 kg: 1. Daria Bilodid (UKR); 2. Funa Tonaki (JPN); 3. Paula Pareto (ARG) and Otgonsetseg Galbadrakh (KAZ); 5. Catarina Costa (POR) and Urantsetseg Munkhbat (MGL); 7. Julia Figueroa (ESP) and Marusa Stangar (SLO).

-52 kg: 1. Uta Abe (JPN); 2. Ai Shishime (JPN); 3. Amandine Buchard (FRA) and Erika Miranda (BRA); 5. Jessica Pereira (BRA) and Charline van Snick (BEL); 7. Natalia Kuziutina (RUS) and Gefen Primo (ISR).

-57 kg: 1. Tsukasa Yoshida (JPN); 2. Nekoda Smythe-Davis (GBR); 3. Christa Deguchi (CAN) and Syriya Dorjsuren (MGL); 5. You-jeong Kwon (KOR) and Theresa Stoll (GER); 7. Nora Gjakova (KOS) and Helene Receveaux (FRA).

-63 kg: 1. Clarisse Agbegnenou (FRA); 2. Miku Tashiro (JPN); 3. Juul Franssen (NED) and Tina Trstenjak (SLO); 5. Martyna Trajdos (GER) and Maylin del Toro Carvajal (CUB), 7. Kathrin Unterwurzacher (AUT) and Katharina Haecker (AUS).

GYMNASTICS: Four medals for Verniaiev in World Challenge Cup Szombathely

By
Rich Perelman
-

Over the years, Ukraine’s two-time World Championships silver medalist Oleg Verniaiev has been one of the most enthusiastic participants in the FIG World Cup and World Challenge Cup series and he has been rewarded with enough medals to merit an expansion of his already-extensive trophy case.

At the fifth of six World Challenge Cup events in Szombathely (HUN), he competed for the first time in the series in 2018 and took home four medals in the six men’s events, winning the Pommel Horse event and collecting a silver in Floor Exercise and bronzes in the Parallel Bars and Vault.

His four podiums put him just one up on Japan’s Kenta Chiba, who won the High Bar, was second on the Parallel Bars and third on Rings.

Among the women, Hungary’s Zsofia Kovacs was the most popular winner, earning gold on Beam. Spain’s Cintia Rodriguez was a double medal-winner, with a silver on Beam and on Floor and Slovakia’s Barbora Mokosova took home a silver on the Uneven Bars and bronze on Floor.

Prize money of € 800-600-400-300-250-200-150-100 was awarded to the top eight finishers in each apparatus final. The World Challenge Cup series will conclude in Paris (FRA) next week. Summaries:

FIG World Challenge Cup
Szombathely (HUN) ~ 21-23 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

Floor: 1. Artem Dolgopat (ISR), 14.700; 2. Oleg Verniaiev (UKR), 14.050; 3. Joal Plata (ESP), 13.900.

Pommel Horse: 1. Verniaiev (UKR), 14.650; 2. Saso Bertoncelj (SLO), 14.500; 3. Shogo Nonomura (JPN), 13.900.

Rings: 1. Nonomura (JPN), 14.400; 2. Ali Zahran (EGY),14.400; 3. Kenta Chiba (JPN), 14.150.

Vault: 1. Keisuke Asato (JPN), 14.900; 2. Tung Le Thanh (VIE), 14.750; 3. Verniaiev (UKR), 14.625.

Parallel Bars: 1. Petro Pakhniuk (UKR), 14.950; 2. Chiba (JPN), 14.900; 3. Verniaiev (UKR), 14.850.

High Bar: 1. Chiba (JPN), 14.150; 2. David Vecsernyes (HUN), 14.100; 3. Georgiu Mariosz (CYP), 14.100.

Women

Vault: Ofir Netzer (ISR), 13.600; 2. Laurie Denommee (CAN), 13.425; 3. Dominika Ponizilova (CZE), 13.375.

Uneven Bars: 1. Jonna Adlerteg (SWE), 13.900; 2. Barbora Mokosova (SVK), 13.100; 3. Paula Raya (ESP), 13.000.

Balance Beam: 1. Zsofia Kovacs (HUN), 12.750; 2. Cintia Rodríguez (ESP), 12.500; 3. Elisa Hammerle (AUT), 12.450.

Floor: 1. Dorina Boczogo (HUN), 13.100; 2. Rodriguez (ESP), 12.800; 3. Barbara Mokosova (SVK), 12.550.

EQUESTRIAN: U.S. takes Team Jumping at World Equestrian Games

By
Rich Perelman
-

Although it had a soggy start, the 2018 World Equestrian Games roared to the finish with a terrific Jumping competition at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina.

For the home crowd, the highlight was Friday’s completion of the Team Jumping, with the Swiss, United States and Germany the top three entering the final round and Sweden and the Netherlands within reach of the medals.

Riding sixth in the order, the Dutch were excellent, with only eight faults and a two-round total of 32.35. Next up was Sweden, which sat at 20.59 going in … and stayed right there as Henrik van Eckermann, Malin Baryard-Johnsson and Fredrik Jonsson were all clear. They were medalists for sure, and possible champions!

Germany followed at 18.09 coming in, and got clean rides from Simone Blum and Marcus Ehning, but Laura Klaphake earned four penalties and their total of 22.09 left them second with the U.S. and the Swiss to come.

The American quartet entered with 12.59 penalties to start and while Adrienne Sternlicht had five faults, her low score was thrown out. Devin Ryan had four penalties and Lisa Kraut had none and McLain Ward – a team gold winner with the U.S. in Athens ‘04 and Beijing ‘08 – finished with four, so the team total was – like Sweden – at 20.59.

The Swiss had trouble, piling up 17 penalties and finished with a fault total of 28.64, out of the medals in fourth place.

That left the issue of separating the Swedes and the Americans and a jump-off saw von Eckermann, Jonsson and Peder Fredricson all go clear for a score of zero. The U.S. had to match it to win, and be faster than the combined 102.73 seconds it took the Swedes to complete their round.

Ryan and Kraut were clean again, but Sternlicht had four penalties, so Ward had to be clean – and quick – for the U.S. to win. He came through with a clean ride aboard 11-year-old Clinta in 32.58 seconds to give the U.S. a clean sheet, but in 100.67 seconds to win the gold medal by 2.06!

It was the first-ever American gold in the World Equestrian Games team Jumping competition and its first world title since 1986!

Germany’s Blum came back on Sunday to win the individual Jumping gold, with a total of just 3.47 penalties, easily ahead of Swiss Martin Fuchs (6.68) and Steve Guerdat (8.00). Ward finished fourth, with 11.08.

In the non-Olympic competitions, Australia’s Boyd Exell won the Driving event, with American Chester Weber winning silver; the U.S. – with Weber, James Fairclough and Misdee Wrigley-Miller – won the Driving Team title. In the Vaulting events, the individual winners included Lambert LeClezio (FRA) and Kristina Boe (GER), the Pas de Deux was won by Silvia Stopazzini and Lorenzo Lupacchini (ITA) and Kristina Boe and Jannik Heiland (GER) won the Team title.

The overall medal table, which included the Para-Dressage events, saw Germany with the most medals (17) and the most wins (6). The U.S. had 12 total medals (3-5-4) for second place, followed by the Netherlands with 10 (5-3-2). Summaries:

World Equestrian Games
Mill Spring, North Carolina (USA) ~ 11-23 September 2018
(Full results here)

Dressage/Grand Prix Special: 1. Isabell Werth (GER, on Bella Rose), 86.246; 2. Laura Graves (USA, on Verdades), 81.717; 3. Charlotte Dujardin (GBR, on Mount St. John Freestyle), 81.489; 4. Sonke Rothenberger (GER), 81.277; 5. Patrik Kittel (SWE), 79.726; 6. Kasey Perry-Glass (USA), 78.541; 7. Edward Gal (NED), 77.751; 8. Juliette Ramel (SWE), 77.751.

Dressage/Grand Prix Freestyle: cancelled.

Dressage/Team: 1. Germany (von Bredlow-Warndl, Schneider, Rothenberger, Werth), 242.950; 2. United States (Steffen Peters, Adrienne Lyle, Kasey Perry-Glass, Laura Graves), 233.136; 3. Great Britain (Wilson, Faurie, Hester, Dujardin), 229.628; 4. Sweden, 229.456; 5. Netherlands, 223.664; 6. Spain, 220.186; 7. Denmark, 216.584; 8. Australia, 210.016.

Driving: 1. Boyd Exell (AUS), 154.14; 2. Chester Weber (USA), 163.38; 3. Edouard Simonet (BEL), 174.15; 4. Koos de Ronde (NED), 180.0; 5. Jerome Voutaz (SUI), 188.01; 6. Glenn Geerts (BEL), 189.94; 7. Thibault Coudry (FRA), 190.51; 8. Benjamin Aillaud (FRA), 190.75.

Driving/Team: 1. United States (James Fairclough, Misdee Wrigley-Miller, Chester Weber), 353.39; 2. Netherlands (B. Chardon, de Ronde, I. Chardon), 356.79; 3. Belgium (Degrieck, Geerts, Simonet), 364.09; 4. France, 378.25; 5. Germany, 409.50.

Eventing: 1. Rosalind Canter (GBR, on Allstar B), 24.6 points; 2. Padraig McCarthy (IRL, on Mr. Chunky), 27.2; 3. Ingrid Klimke (GER, on SAP Hale Bob OLD), 27.3; 4. Andrew Hoy (AUS), 29.8; 5. Sarah Ennis (IRL), 30.3; 6. Thibaut Vallette (FRA), 30.8; 7. Astier Nicolas (FRA), 31.2; 8. Tim Price (NZL), 31.2. Also: 13. Phillip Dutton (USA), 34.0; … 25. Lynn Symansky (USA), 40.3.

Eventing/Team: 1. Great Britain (Piggy French, Tom McEwen, Rosalind Canter, Gemma Tattersall), 88.8; 2. Ireland (Sam Watson, Cathal Daniels, Padraig McCarthy, Saran Ennis), 93.0; 3. France (Donatien Schauly, Maxime Livio, Thibaut Vallette, Sidney Dufresne), 99.8; 4. Japan, 113.9; 5. Germany, 118.2; 6. Australia, 135.8; 7. New Zealand, 142.2; 8. United States (William Coleman, Boyd Martin, Lynn Symansky, Phillip Dutton), 145.0.

Jumping: 1. Simone Blum (SUI), 3.47; 2. Martin Fuchs (SUI), 6.68; 3. Steve Guerdat (SUI), 8.00; 4. McLain Ward (USA), 11.08; 5. Carlos Lopez Lizarazo (COL), 12.81; 6. Max Kuhner (AUT), 12.97; 7. Lorenzo de Luca (ITA), 14.19; 8. Fredrik Jonsson (SWE), 17.23. Also: 10. Laura Kraut (USA), 18.87; 11. Adrienne Sternlicht (USA), 20.26; … 16. Eddie Blue (USA), 16.64.

Jumping/Team: 1. United States (Devin Ryan, Adrienne Sternlicht, Laura Kraut, McLain Ward), 20.59 faults (100.67 seconds); 2. Sweden (von Eckermann, Baryard-Johnsson, Jonsson, Fredricson), 20.59 (102.73 seconds); 3. Germany (Blum, Klaphake, Tebbei, Ehning), 22.09; 4. Switzerland, 28.64; 5. Netherlands, 32.35; 6. Australia, 33.32; 7. Ireland, 39.12; 8. Great Britain, 40.04.

Reining: 1. Bernard Fonck (BEL, on What a Wave), 227.0; 2. Daniel Huss (USA, on Ms Dreamy), 226.5; 3. Cade McCutcheon (USA, on Custom Made Gun), 225.0; 4. Joao Andrade C.S. Lacerda (BRA), 225.0; 5. Manuel Cortesi (ITA), 224.5; 6. Martin Muhlstatter (AUT), 224.5; 7. Thiago Boechat (BRA), 223.0; 8. Grischa Ludwig (GER), 222.5. Also: 18. Casey Dreary (USA), 219.0; 19. Jordan Larson (USA), 215.0.

Reining/Team: 1. United States (Casey Deary, Cade McCutcheon, Daniel Huss, Jordan Larson), 681.0; 2. Belgium (Verschuren, Poels, Baeck, Fonck), 671.5; 3. Germany (Ludwig, Suchting, Schoeller, Schumacher), 666.5; 4. Austria, 666.0; 5. Brazil, 664.5.

Vaulting/Men: 1. Lambert LeClezio (FRA), 8.744; 2. Jannik Heiland (GER), 8.606; 3. Thomas Brusewitz (GER), 8.533; 4. Jannis Drewell (GER), 8.509; 5. Juan Martin Clavijo (COL), 8.314; 6. Vincent Haennel (FRA), 8.220; 7. Lukas Heppler (SUI), 8.024; 8. Dominik Eder (SUI), 7.969. Also: 14. Colton Palmer (USA), 7.678; 15. Kristian Roberts (USA), 7.263.

Vaulting/Women: 1. Kristina Boe (GER), 8.388; 2. Janika Derks (GER), 8.374; 3. Lisa Wild (AUT), 8.363; 4. Sarah Kay (GER), 8.308; 5. Nadja Buttiker (SUI), 8.253; 6. Sheena Bendixen (DEN), 8.192; 7. Katharina Luschin (AUT), 8.001; 8. Marina Mohar (SUI), 7.961. Also: 11. Elizabeth Osborn (USA), 7.734; … 13. Mary McCormick (USA), 7.361; 14. Tessa Divita (USA), 7.282.

Vaulting/Pas de Deux: 1. Silvia Stopazzini/Lorenzo Lupacchini (ITA), 9.027; 2. Jasmin Linder/Lukas Wacha (AUT), 9.013; 3. Janika Derks/Johannes Kay (GER), 8.872; 4. Theresa-Sophie Bresch/Torben Jacobs (GER), 8.707; 5. Theresa Thiel/Stefan Csandi (AUT), 8.409; 6. Daniel Janes/Haley Smith (USA), 8.244; 7. Zoe Maruccio/Syra Schmid (SUI), 7.935; 8. Svenja Lehmann/Selina Walder (SUI), 7.595. Also: 9. Kathryn Kenville/Florence Rubinger (USA), 7.538.

Vaulting/Team: 1. Kristina Boe/Jannik Heiland (GER), 26.502; 2. Nadja Buttiker/Lkas Heppler (SUI), 25.833; 3. Katharina Luschin/Lisa Wild (AUT), 25.371; 4. Silvia Stopazzini/Anna Cavallaro (ITA), 25.065; 5. Elizabeth Osborn/Colton Palmer (USA), 24.521; 6. Carola Sneekes/Claire de Ridder (NED), 22.734; 7. Lucy Phillips/ Rebecca Norval (GBR), 20.734; 8. Todd Griffiths/Jeanine van der Sluijis (CAN), 20.606.

CYCLING: Team Time Trials open World Road Championships

By
Rich Perelman
-

The 91st UCI World Road Race Championships opened with Team Time Trials for men on a hilly course and a mostly downhill route for women on Sunday.

For the men, the Quick-Step Floors team from Belgium was the winner by 18 seconds over Team Subweb (GER). The winning riders included Niki Terpstra (NED), Maximilian Schachmann (GER), Yves Lampaert (BEL), Bob Jungels (LUX), Laurens de Plus (BEL) and Kasper Asgreen (DEN).

The women TTT was won by Germany’s Canyon SAM Racing, including Trixi Worrack (GER), Lisa Klein (GER), Elena Cecchini (ITA), Hannah Barnes (GBR), Alice Barnes (GBR) and Alena Amialiusik (BLR). They finished with a 22-second edge over the favored Boels-Dolmans team from the Netherlands.

The racing schedule for the rest of the week is oriented to the individual events:

∙ 24 September:
Women’s Junior Time Trial (20 km)
Men’s U-23 Time Trial (27.8 km)

∙ 25 September:
Men’s Junior Time Trial (27.8 km)
Women’s Individual Time Trial (27.8 km; three major climbs)
In 2017:
1. Annemiek van Vleuten (NED)
2. Anna van der Breggen (NED)
3. Katrin Garfoot (AUS)

∙ 26 September:
Men’s Individual Time Trial (52.5 km; one major climb)

∙ 27 September:
Women’s Junior Road Race (71.7 km: one lap ~ two major climbs)
Men’s Junior Road Race (132.4 km: two laps ~ three major climbs)

∙ 28 September:
Men’s U-23 Road Race (179.9 km: three laps ~ five major climbs)

∙ 29 September:
Women’s Road Race (156.2 km: four laps ~ four major climbs)

∙ 30 September:
Men’s Road Race (258.5 km: seven laps ~ nine major climbs)

NBC’s Olympic Channel has coverage of the Worlds. Summaries so far:

UCI World Road Race Championships
Innsbruck (AUT) ~ 23-30 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Team Time Trial (62.8 km): 1. Quick-Step Floors (BEL), 1:07:26; 2. Team Sunweb (GER), 1:07:44; 3. BMC Racing Team (USA), 1:07:45; 4. Team Sky (GBR), 1:08:11; 5. Mitchelton-Scott (AUS), 1:08:23; 6. Movistar Team (ESP), 1:08:58; 7. Trek-Segafredo (USA), 1:09:30; 8. Bora-hansgrohe (GER), 1:09:33.

Women’s Team Time Trial (54.5 km): 1. Canyon SRAM Racing (GER), 1:01;46; 2. Boels-Dolmans Cycling (NED), 1:02:08; 3. Team Sunweb (NED), 1:02:15; 4. Wiggle High5 (GBR), 1:02:44; 5. Mitchelton-Scott (AUS), 1:03:16; 6. Team Virtu Cycling (DEN), 1:03:53; 7. BTC City Ljubljana (SLO), 1:04:55; 8. Valcar PBM (ITA), 1:05:22.

BASKETBALL: U.S. women stay undefeated with two World Cup wins

By
Rich Perelman
-

These were not masterpieces of basketball, but the no. 1-ranked United States women’s national team won their 17th and 18th straight games in FIBA World Cup competition over Senegal (87-67) and China (100-88).

That puts the U.S. atop its group and into the quarterfinals as the group winner; the standings after two of the three group-phase gamedays:

∙ Group A: Canada (2-0), France (2-0), Korea (0-2), Greece (0-2)
∙ Group B: Australia (2-0), Nigeria (1-1), Turkey (1-1), Argentina (0-2)
∙ Group C: Spain (2-0), Japan (1-1), Belgium (1-1), Puerto Rico (0-2)
∙ Group D: United States (2-0), China (1-1), Senegal (1-1), Latvia (0-2)

The last group games will on Tuesday; the U.S. will finish with Latvia.

The top three teams in each group will qualify for the playoffs. The group winners will advance directly into the quarterfinals, with the second- and third-place teams playing among themselves to get into the quarters. The play-in games will be held on the 26th, quarters on the 28th, semis in the 29th and the finals in 30 September.

The games are being played in the Canary Islands of Spain, in the 5,100-seat Tenerife Sports Pavilion Santiago Martin in San Cristobal de La Laguna and the 3,600-seat Palacio Municipal de Deportes in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Against Senegal, the U.S. led by just 18-17 after the first quarter, but busted the game open in the second quarter with a 27-14 outburst and had a 45-31 lead. The American squad shot well at 52.6% overall, but only 5-17 from three-point range. Forward Elena Delle Donne led all scorers with 19, followed by 16 from forward Nneka Ogwumike, 15 from forward A’ja Wilson and 14 from forward Breanna Stewart. Stewart, Delle Donne and center Tina Charles each had six rebounds. Senegal was led by center Oumoul Khairy Sarr, who had 18 points.

Against China, the U.S. never ran away with the game, but steadily led throughout, ahead 25-20 after one quarter, 48-39 at half and 77-68 after three quarters on the way to a 100-88 victory. China shot well, hitting 47.4% of its shots and had four scorers in double figures, led by centers Xu Han and Mengran Sun, who had 20 and 16 points, respectively.

The U.S. shot brilliantly, hitting 57.6% from the field and had four in double figures, as Stewart had 23, Wilson logged 20, Charles had 16 and Tausasi scored 13. Wilson, Stewart and Charles all had six rebounds.

Since the competition began back in 1953, the U.S. women have won nine times, including the first two editions in ‘53 and ‘57, then again in 1979-86-90-98-2002-10-14. Its last loss was in a semifinal to Russia in the 2006 tournament.

Only four nations have ever won this tournament: the U.S. has nine golds, followed by the Soviet Union (6) and Brazil (1: 1994) and Australia (1: 2006). The U.S. has won six of the last eight.

The schedule of matches and scores are here.

BADMINTON: Ginting & Marin make history in China Open

By
Rich Perelman
-

China’s history in badminton is one of achievement and it was no surprise that Chinese entrants won two of the five events at the Victor China Open in Changzhou this past weekend.

But the real shocks came in the other events, as steady, but unheralded Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia won the men’s Singles title and World Champion Carolina Marin (ESP) took the women’s Singles event.

Ginting, 21, came into the tournament ranked no. 13 in the world, but he beat some of the best players ever to top the podium. He was matched against 2008-12 Olympic champ Dan Lin (CHN) in the first round and won in straight sets, then excused no. 1 seed Viktor Axelsen (DEN) in the second round and faced 2016 Olympic champ Long Chen (CHN) in the quarters. No problem, as Ginting won in three sets, then managed a very tough match with Tien Chen Chou (TPE) in the semis in three sets before the final with Japan’s second-seeded Kento Momota. Ginting swept him aside in straight sets for his biggest win on the World Tour this year! He also proved that his bronze medal in the recent Asian Games was not a fluke. He’s one to watch; he’s the first Indonesian Singles winner in this tournament since 1994.

Marin was going for a similar honor; no Spanish player had ever won in the China Open, going all the way to its founding in 1986. In fact, no player outside of Asia had won the women’s Singles title in tournament history, but Marin dominated Yufei Chen (CHN) in straight sets to win the title.

There was more European success in the men’s Doubles, as Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (DEN) slipped past Chengkai Han and Haodong Zhou (CHN) for the first win by a Danish team in six years.

China’s Siwei Zheng and Yaqiong Huang repeated as Mixed Doubles winners and second-seeded Misako Matsumoto and Ayaka Takahashi won the all-Japanese final in the women’s Doubles event, the first win ever for a Japanese pair in the event. Summaries:

BWF World Tour/Victor China Open
Changzhou (CHN) ~ 18-23 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Singles: 1. Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (INA); 2. Kento Momota (JPN); 3. Tien Chen Chou (TPE) and Yuqi Shi (CHN). Semis: Ginting d. Chou, 12-21, 21-17, 21-15; Momota d. Shi, 21-10, 21-17. Final: Ginting d. Momota, 23-21, 21-19.

Men’s Doubles: 1. Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (DEN); 2. Chengkai Han/Haodong Zhou (CHN); 3. Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) and Hung Ling Chen/Chi-Lin Wang (TPE). Semis: Han/Zhou d. Gideon/Sukamuljo, 21-19, 11-21, 21-17; Astrup/Rasmussen d. Chen/Wang, 21-13, 21-19. Final: Astrup/Rasmussen d. Han/Zhou, 21-13, 17-21, 21-14.

Women’s Singles: 1. Carolina Marin (ESP); 2. Yufei Chen (CHN); 3. Nozomi Okuhara (JPN) and Akane Yamaguchi (JPN). Semis: Marin d. Okuhara, 15-21, 21-12, 21-13; Chen d. Yamaguchi, 21-14, 15-21, 21-14. Final: Marin d. Chen, 21-18, 21-13.

Women’s Doubles: 1. Misaki Matsumoto/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN); 2. Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (JPN); 3. Gabriela Stoeva/Stefani Stoeva (BUL) and Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu (POL). Semis: Matsumoto/Nagahara d. Stoeva/Stoeva, 21-16, 21-12; Matsumoto/Takahashi d. Polii/Rahayu, 21-17, 12-21, 21-16. Final: Matsumoto/Takahashi d. Matsumoto/Nagahara, 21-16, 21-12.

Mixed Doubles: 1. Siwei Zheng/Yaqiong Huang (CHN); 2. Nan Zhang/Yinhui Li (CHN); 3. Chun Man Tang/Ying Suet Tse (HKG) and Yilyu Wang/Dongping Huang (CHN). Semis: Zheng/Huang d. Tang/Tse, 21-19, 21-15; Tang/Tse d. Wang/Huang, 21-10, 19-21, 21-14. Final: Zheng/Huang d. Zhang/Li, 21-16, 21-9.

THE BIG PICTURE: iNADO rips parent WADA for Russia reinstatement

By
Rich Perelman
-

The fallout from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decision to reinstate the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) as compliant continued with a fusillade launched by the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations (iNADO), a group of 67 national anti-doping institutes.

This is essentially WADA’s agents on 67 countries ripping its umbrella organization. Friday’s statement noted, in pertinent part:

“The weaknesses of WADA’s governance model, as NADO representatives have emphasised during an ongoing review, have been clearly exposed. ExCO members, who have inevitable pressures and priorities around this decision which extend beyond purely the issue of doping, have clearly made the decision based on those other conflicting priorities. This is not good governance, nor does it reflect a good governance model. WADA must be an effective and resolute global anti-doping regulator and governor – exclusively. …

“While flexibility can have a place leadership critically requires steadfastness. Most especially this is so when so many stakeholders in the sporting community are bound by an anti-doping Code which can be unbending and harsh but (as WADA insists) cannot be ignored or softened to suit. …

“One real tragedy is that this decision undermines the credibility of an organisation which, in many other ways, has created a much better foundation for the application of clean sport programmes and has numerous excellent, hardworking technical staff who warrant support.

“INADO’s task now, along with the rest of the sporting community, is to work hard to ensure that we have a WADA and, most critically, a robust anti-doping system, which will restore and provide confidence that clean sport is protected.”

So the civil war is on and iNADO now joins many athletes, administrators and governing bodies in a drive to reform WADA itself.

LANE ONE: IOC starts answering its bid problems with Allianz sponsorship

By
Rich Perelman
-

It’s no secret that the International Olympic Committee has a “trust” problem.

Communities, especially in Europe, have demonstrated via political actions and referenda, that having the Olympic Games in their country or region is not worth the effort. The primary reason given is always money, but the underlying reason is trust.

That is, that the public in these areas does not trust the financial projections of the bid promoters and later, organizing committees, to bring in the event within the stated financial parameters. Because the host cities (and, in actuality, the host countries) are on the hook for the overruns, the result is that the public is stuck with the bill.

The IOC, via its newest president, Thomas Bach, has hammered away at this as “outdated” thinking. After the Sion area of Switzerland rejected a 2026 bid in a referendum in June, the IOC issued a statement noting that “From the polls, we understand that outdated information on the cost of the Games was the main concern for those voting against the funding. The recent fundamental reforms undertaken by the IOC have unfortunately not been taken into consideration.” (Emphasis added.)

The reforms referred to include Bach’s Agenda 2020 program and a series of cost-cutting proposals called “The New Norm.” But the IOC is so wrong on this that even some of its supporters are shaking their heads. And the issue has not gone away. How about another, current bid whose projected cost went up by 15% – more than $600 million – in 84 days!

That would be the estimated cost of a 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary (CAN), which was C$4.6 billion in a 19 June estimate from the Calgary Bid Exploration Committee’s presentation to the Calgary City Council, vs. C$5.23 billion suggested by the Calgary 2026 Bid Corporation on 11 September. Of this revised total, about C$3 billion would have to come from taxpayers via city, provincial or national government funding. (C$1.00 = about 0.77 U.S. dollars, sp $5.23 billion Canadian is about $4.04 billion U.S.).

So the issue of trust in the bid process is still front and center for the IOC. Which makes last Tuesday’s announcement of the European-based (German) insurance giant Allianz as a new sponsor of the IOC and the International Paralympic Committee so interesting.

What words did Bach use to describe the IOC’s newest sponsor?

“This new partnership demonstrates the global appeal and strength of the Olympic Movement, and we are delighted to be working together in the long term with Allianz to support sport around the world. Allianz has built a global business founded on trust. With this partnership, together we are building a foundation based on mutual trust. Allianz also has a strong sporting heritage and, in line with the Olympic Agenda 2020, we share a digital ambition of connecting with young people around the world to promote the Olympic values and the power of sport.” (Emphasis added.)

And the mutual news release describing the sponsorship also gave some clues as to its scope, beyond simply the cost of the agreement:

“Through this sponsorship agreement, Allianz will work with the IOC to provide innovative and integrated insurance solutions to support the Olympic Movement, including the Organising Committees of the Olympic Games, with the ambition of providing those insurance solutions to the National Olympic Committees around the world and their Olympic teams and athletes. The support will include existing products, such as fleet and property & casualty insurance, but also insurance solutions for future products and services, driven by technological changes. The partnership will run from 2021 through to 2028.” (Emphasis added.)

This is important, because the organizing committees are never the focus of the IOC’s initiatives unless there are problems. You always hear about how the IOC’s work benefits athletes through the International Federations or National Olympic Committees, but the organizing committees are thoroughly ignored until something goes wrong … or there isn’t one because cities aren’t interested in hosting the Games.

So now with Allianz on board, the IOC has a partner which could create insurance programs that could shift the potential burdens of deficits from public funds to private ones. After all, in Allianz’s own release, it notes that “In 2017, over 140,000 employees in more than 70 countries achieved total revenue of 126 billion euros and an operating profit of 11 billion euros for the group.” (€1 = $1.17 U.S.)

This is hardly a new idea. The Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, fresh off of the revolutionary 1984 Games, had the idea to assemble insurance coverage against a deficit for a 2004 Olympic bid and then again in bids for the 2012 and 2016 Games. None of those bids were successful, but the idea was widely exposed and has shown up in many other bids since.

But it is an idea whose time may have come. With Allianz on board, the IOC has taken one more step on the way to making the Games more affordable to stage and even pave the way for the IOC itself to organize the Games in a city and require little or no cost exposure on the part of the host community. That would definitely make cities more interested … even in Europe!

Rich Perelman
Editor

FIGURE SKATING: Tennell upsets Medvedeva, Hanyu wins in Oakville

By
Rich Perelman
-

The International Skating Union’s Challenger Series usually doesn’t get too much attention; it’s the ISU’s second-level series, below its well-known Grand Prix circuit. However, there was a lot going on at this past weekend’s Skate Canada Autumn Classic International in Oakville, Ontario (CAN).

At the top of the men’s event was Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, who returned from the right ankle injury which hampered him earlier in the year. He won the Short Program easily, but was second in the Free Skate to Korea’s Jun-Hwan Cha, but won with 263.65 points to 259.78 for Cha. American Jason Brown was fifth (233.23).

Bradie Tennell of the U.S. pulled an upset in the women’s division, moving from second after the Short Program to win the Free Skate and claim the title over Olympic silver medalist Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS), 206.41-204.89. It was Tennell’s second career Challenger Series medal and her first win … and her first win over Medvedeva.

France’s Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres were easy winners in Pairs, 210.21-176.32 over Canada’s Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro, with Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier of the U.S. in third.

In Ice Dancing, Canada’s Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje won easily with 197.27 points to 171.41, ahead of Olivia Smart and Adrian Diaz (ESP).

The ISU Grand Prix starts next month with Skate America on 19-21 October.

United States Olympic Committee: More money for Paralympic bonuses, SafeSport

By
Rich Perelman
-

There was a lot of activity at the 2018 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Assembly in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Some of the highlights:

∙ The U.S. National Governing Bodies voted to send about $1 million in additional funding to the U.S. Center for SafeSport. Each NGB will contribute 0.25% of its revenues, with a cap of $90,000 per organization, essentially doubling the cumulative contribution to the organization.

∙ The USOC Board approved another $1.2 million in medal bonuses for U.S. Paralympians, retroactive to the 2018 Winter Games. The bonuses for Olympic medals and Paralympic medals was equalized at $37,500 per gold, $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze.

∙ Incoming USOC Board Chair Susanne Lyons indicated that the outside report on the USOC’s actions in response to allegations of sexual abuse in multiple sports has been hampered by a lack of survivors willing to speak with the investigators.

CYCLING Preview: World Road Championships start in Innsbruck

By
Rich Perelman
-

The headline for the 91st UCI World Road Race Championships is whether Slovakia’s Peter Sagan will make history with his fourth straight world title in the men’s road race. But he won’t be racing until the final day of the event on the 30th. The schedule:

∙ 23 September:
Men’s Team Time Trial (62.8 km)
Women’s Team Time Trial (54.5 km)

∙ 24 September:
Women’s Junior Time Trial (20 km)
Men’s U-23 Time Trial (27.8 km)

∙ 25 September:
Men’s Junior Time Trial (27.8 km)
Women’s Individual Time Trial (27.8 km; three major climbs)

∙ 26 September:
Men’s Individual Time Trial (52.5 km; one major climb)

∙ 27 September:
Women’s Junior Road Race (71.7 km: one lap ~ two major climbs)
Men’s Junior Road Race (132.4 km: two laps ~ three major climbs)

∙ 28 September:
Men’s U-23 Road Race (179.9 km: three laps ~ five major climbs)

∙ 29 September:
Women’s Road Race (156.2 km: four laps ~ four major climbs)

∙ 30 September:
Men’s Road Race (258.5 km: seven laps ~ nine major climbs)

The climbing portions of each lap start below 600 m and end above 1,000 m, making this race for the mountain racers than for the sprinters. Is that aimed at ending Sagan’s streak?

Most of the top riders are entered in one of the events, but not all. British Grand Tour winners Chris Froome (Giro d’Italia) and Geraint Thomas (Tour de France) are not in, but the line-ups are fearsome in any case. Returning medalists include:

Men’s Time Trial:
∙ Tom Dumoulin (NED) ~ 2017 World Champion; 2014 Worlds bronze medalist
∙ Tony Martin (GER) ~ 2011-12-13-16 World Champion; 2014 silver medalist; 2009-10 bronzes
∙ Vasil Kiryienka (BLR) ~ 2015 World Champion; 2016 Worlds silver medalist
∙ Jonathan Castroviejo (ESP) ~ 2016 Worlds bronze medalist

Men’s Road Race:
∙ Peter Sagan (SVK) ~ 2015-16-17 World Champion
∙ Michal Kwiatkowski (POL) ~ 2014 World Champion
∙ Rui Costa (POR) ~ 2013 World Champion
∙ Alejandro Valverde (ESP) ~ Worlds silver 2003-05, bronzes 2006-12-13-14

The men’s Road Race field has been shaped by the race course with its emphasis on climbing. Based on the recent Vuelta a Espana, Sagan has shown he’s very fit, but it’s hard to see him winning on this brutal layout. No one has ever won four World Road Race titles; Sagan would be the first.

But he will have a lot of competition from Vuelta winner Simon Yates (GBR), who was great in the mountains all over Spain, the climbers like Valverde, Colombia’s Nairo Quintana, Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali, Spain’s Enric Mas, France’s Thibaut Pinot, or even American Ben King, who won two of the climbing stages at La Vuelta? The top two in the “King of the Mountains” category at La Vuelta are also entered in the Road Race: Thomas de Gendt (BEL) and Dutch rider Bauke Mollema.

The Time Trial has been dominated by Germany’s Martin and last year by Dumoulin. Australia’s Rohan Dennis won both of the Individual Time Trials during the Vuelta a Espana, with Kwiatkowski also riding well in both.

In the women’s races, the returning medalists include:

Women’s Time Trial:
∙ Annemiek van Vleuten (NED) ~ World Champion 2017
∙ Amber Neben (USA) ~ World Champion 2008-16
∙ Anna van der Breggen (NED) ~ Worlds silver medalist 2015-17
∙ Ellen van Dijk (NED) ~ World Champion 2013, silver medalist 2016
∙ Lisa Brennauer (GER) ~ World Champion 2014; bronze medalist 2015

Women’s Road Race:
∙ Chantal Blaak (NED) ~ World Champion 2017
∙ Giorgia Bronzini (ITA) ~ World Champion 2010-11; bronze medalist 2007
∙ Amalie Dideriksen (DEN) ~ World Champion 2016
∙ Lotta Lepisto (FIN) ~ Worlds bronze medalist 2016
∙ Megan Guarnier (USA) ~ Worlds bronze medalist 2015
∙ Trixi Worrack (GER) ~ Worlds silver medalist 2006
∙ Rachel Neylan (AUS) ~ Worlds silver medalist 2012
∙ Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA) ~ Worlds bronze medalist 2012
∙ Rossella Ratto (ITA) ~ Worlds bronze medalist 2013
∙ Lisa Brennauer (GER) ~ Worlds silver medalist 2014

Van Vleuten is the Women’s World Tour points leader and the Dutch have dominated the circuit in 2018, with the top three in the points standings and wins in the last eight individual events on the tour! American Coryn Rivera, South Africa’s Ashleigh Moolman and Aussie Amanda Spratt have also been medal winners or strong contenders in many races and Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma cannot be ignored.

In the Time Trial, the amazing Neben, now 43, hasn’t raced much this year, but did win her second straight U.S. Time Trial crown in Knoxville, Tennessee earlier this year. She’s raced five times this year, winning all four Time Trials she’s entered, plus a ninth in the U.S. Road Race Championships!

NBC’s Olympic Channel has coverage of the Team Time Trials on Sunday. Look for results here.

EQUESTRIAN: Team Jumping on Friday in World Equestrian Games

By
Rich Perelman
-

The quadrennial World Equestrian Games are heading toward the finish with the classic Jumping competitions now underway at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina.

After the first of two rounds in the team Jumping event, Switzerland, the U.S. and Germany were in the top three places, with the final round on Friday.

In the non-Olympic Vaulting competitions, Italy’s Silvia Stopazzini and Lorenzo Lupacchini won the Pas de Deux event and Germany won the team title.

The remaining schedule (as planned) of the medal sessions:

∙ Jumping:
21 September Team Competition
23 September Individual Competition

∙ Driving:
23 September Team and Individual

∙ Vaulting:
23 September Freestyle Finals for Men, Women, Squad

NBC has extensive coverage of the WEG, weather permitting, on NBC, NBCSN and the NBC Olympic Channel; the schedule is here. Look for results here. Summaries so far:

World Equestrian Games
Mill Spring, North Carolina (USA) ~ 11-23 September 2018
(Full results here)

Dressage/Grand Prix Special: 1. Isabell Werth (GER, on Bella Rose), 86.246; 2. Laura Graves (USA, on Verdades), 81.717; 3. Charlotte Dujardin (GBR, on Mount St. John Freestyle), 81.489; 4. Sonke Rothenberger (GER), 81.277; 5. Patrik Kittel (SWE), 79.726; 6. Kasey Perry-Glass (USA), 78.541; 7. Edward Gal (NED), 77.751; 8. Juliette Ramel (SWE), 77.751.

Dressage/Grand Prix Freestyle: cancelled.

Dressage/Team: 1. Germany (von Bredlow-Warndl, Schneider, Rothenberger, Werth), 242.950; 2. United States (Steffen Peters, Adrienne Lyle, Kasey Perry-Glass, Laura Graves), 233.136; 3. Great Britain (Wilson, Faurie, Hester, Dujardin), 229.628; 4. Sweden, 229.456; 5. Netherlands, 223.664; 6. Spain, 220.186; 7. Denmark, 216.584; 8. Australia, 210.016.

Eventing: 1. Rosalind Canter (GBR, on Allstar B), 24.6 points; 2. Padraig McCarthy (IRL, on Mr. Chunky), 27.2; 3. Ingrid Klimke (GER, on SAP Hale Bob OLD), 27.3; 4. Andrew Hoy (AUS), 29.8; 5. Sarah Ennis (IRL), 30.3; 6. Thibaut Vallette (FRA), 30.8; 7. Astier Nicolas (FRA), 31.2; 8. Tim Price (NZL), 31.2. Also: 13. Phillip Dutton (USA), 34.0; … 25. Lynn Symansky (USA), 40.3.

Eventing/Team: 1. Great Britain (Piggy French, Tom McEwen, Rosalind Canter, Gemma Tattersall), 88.8; 2. Ireland (Sam Watson, Cathal Daniels, Padraig McCarthy, Saran Ennis), 93.0; 3. France (Donatien Schauly, Maxime Livio, Thibaut Vallette, Sidney Dufresne), 99.8; 4. Japan, 113.9; 5. Germany, 118.2; 6. Australia, 135.8; 7. New Zealand, 142.2; 8. United States (William Coleman, Boyd Martin, Lynn Symansky, Phillip Dutton), 145.0.

Reining: 1. Bernard Fonck (BEL, on What a Wave), 227.0; 2. Daniel Huss (USA, on Ms Dreamy), 226.5; 3. Cade McCutcheon (USA, on Custom Made Gun), 225.0; 4. Joao Andrade C.S. Lacerda (BRA), 225.0; 5. Manuel Cortesi (ITA), 224.5; 6. Martin Muhlstatter (AUT), 224.5; 7. Thiago Boechat (BRA), 223.0; 8. Grischa Ludwig (GER), 222.5. Also: 18. Casey Dreary (USA), 219.0; 19. Jordan Larson (USA), 215.0.

Reining/Team: 1. United States (Casey Deary, Cade McCutcheon, Daniel Huss, Jordan Larson), 681.0; 2. Belgium (Verschuren, Poels, Baeck, Fonck), 671.5; 3. Germany (Ludwig, Suchting, Schoeller, Schumacher), 666.5; 4. Austria, 666.0; 5. Brazil, 664.5.

Vaulting/Pas de Deux: 1. Silvia Stopazzini/Lorenzo Lupacchini (ITA), 9.027; 2. Jasmin Linder/Lukas Wacha (AUT), 9.013; 3. Janika Derks/Johannes Kay (GER), 8.872; 4. Theresa-Sophie Bresch/Torben Jacobs (GER), 8.707; 5. Theresa Thiel/Stefan Csandi (AUT), 8.409; 6. Daniel Janes/Haley Smith (USA), 8.244; 7. Zoe Maruccio/Syra Schmid (SUI), 7.935; 8. Svenja Lehmann/Selina Walder (SUI), 7.595. Also: 9. Kathryn Kenville/Florence Rubinger (USA), 7.538.

Vaulting/Team: 1. Kristina Boe/Jannik Heiland (GER), 26.502; 2. Nadja Buttiker/Lkas Heppler (SUI), 25.833; 3. Katharina Luschin/Lisa Wild (AUT), 25.371; 4. Silvia Stopazzini/Anna Cavallaro (ITA), 25.065; 5. Elizabeth Osborn/Colton Palmer (USA), 24.521; 6. Carola Sneekes/Claire de Ridder (NED), 22.734; 7. Lucy Phillips/ Rebecca Norval (GBR), 20.734; 8. Todd Griffiths/Jeanine van der Sluijis (CAN), 20.606.

CANOE-KAYAK: Canada stars at Pan American Sprint Champs

By
Rich Perelman
-

Pan American Games qualifying and a full slate of continental championship events filled the Pan American Sprint Championships in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (CAN) last weekend.

Canada was the star of the competition, winning seven events in both the men’s and women’s divisions. Sprinter Stephen Frodsham won the C-1 200 and 500 m events for the Canadian men; Cuba’s Fernando Enriquez took the C-1 1,000 m race and won the C-2 1,000 m with Serguey Torres.

The biggest winners for the women were triple gold medalists Maria Maillard and Karen Roco of Chile. Maillard won the C-1 1,000 m individual race and Roco won at 500 m; they teamed together to win the C-2 200 m and 1,000 events (plus a bronze at 500 m!). Summaries:

Pan American Sprint Championships
Dartmouth (CAN) ~ 13-16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

C-1/200 m: 1. Stephen Frodsham (CAN), 41.405; 2. Michael Garcia (CHI), 42.387; 3. Guillermo Quirino (MEX), 42.545. Also: 5. Ian Ross (USA), 44.011.

C-1/500 m: 1. Stephen Frodsham (CAN), 1:51.310; 2. Jose Cristobal (MEX), 1:52.782; 3. Ross (USA), 1:53.206.

C-1/1,000 m: 1. Fernando Enriquez (CUB), 4:19.322; 2. Erlon Silva (BRA), 4:21.804; 3. Jose Cristobal (MEX), 4:22.240. Also: 6. Ross (USA), 4:37.337.

C-2/200 m: 1. Connor Fitzpatrick/Roland Varga (CAN), 41.377; 2. Rigoberto Camilo/Guillermo Quirino (MEX), 43.803; 3. Brice Anderson/Ian Ross (USA), 52.474.

C-2/500 m: 1. Drew Hodges/Craig Spence (CAN), 1:44.544; 2. Camilo/Quirino (MEX), 1:46.218; 3. Sergio Diaz/Alfonso Pacheco (COL), 1:46.994.

C-2/1,000 m: 1. Fernando Enriquez/Serguey Torres (CUB), 3:36.710; 2. Erlon Silva/Macio dos Santos (BRA), 3:38.176; 3. Fitzpatrick/Varga (CAN), 3:38.456. Also: 6. Brice Anderson/Ian Ross (USA), 5:01.497.

K-1/200 m: 1. Desar de Cesare (ECU), 34.529; 2. Ruben Rezola (ARG), 34.859; 3. Edson da Silva (BRA), 35.213. Also: 8. Aaron Mullican, 37.535.

K-1/500 m: 1. Juan Caceres (ARG), 1:41.802; 2. Jarret Kenke (CAN), 1:42.714; 3. Sebastian Delgado (URU), 1:43.474. Also: 5. Jesse Lishchuk (USA), 1:46.014.

K-1/1,000 m: 1. Agustin Vernice (ARG), 3:45.839; 2. Brian Malfesi (CAN), 3:49.407; 3. Fidel Vargas (CUB), 3:52.075. Also: 5. Lishchuk (USA), 3:56.417.

K-2/200 m: 1. Mark de Jonge/Alexander Scott (CAN), 34.262; 2. Juan Ignacio Caceres/Abraham Saavedra (ARG), 34.874; 3. Edson da Silva/Pedro da Costa (BRA), 35.790. Also: 5. Stanton Collins/Aaron Mullican (USA), 35.986.

K-2/500 m: 1. Nicholas Matveev/Pierre-Luc Poulin (CAN), 1:37.043; 2. Caceres/Saavedra (ARG), 1:37.189; 3. Osbaldo Fuentes/Javier Lopez (MEX), 1:42.305. Also: 4. Stanton Collins/Miles Cross-Whiter (USA), 1:43.683.

K-2/1,000 m: 1. Manuel Lascano/Agustin Vernice (ARG), 3:36.828; 2. Fuentes/Lopez (MEX), 3:39.532; 3. Vagner Souta/Roberto Maehler (BRA), 3:40.632. Also: 7. Tim Burdiak/Carl Thompson Crockett (USA), 3:52.546.

K-4/500 m: 1. Canada, 1:22.223; 2. Argentina, 1:22.781; 3. Mexico, 1:25:101. Also: 6. United States (Collins, Cross-Whiter, Errez, Mullican), 1:28.301.

K-4/1,000 m: 1. Argentina, 2:56.959; 2. Canada, 2:58.263; 3. Mexico, 2:58.759. Also: 4. United States (Buriak, Thompson Crockett, Errez, Lishchuk), 3:04.628.

Women

C-1/200 m: 1. Mayvihanet Borges (CUB), 50.890; 2. Maria Maillard (CHI), 52.192; 3. Anggie Avegno (ECU), 53.234. Also: 4. Ann Marie Armstrong (USA), 54.114.

C-1/500 m: 1. Karen Roco (CHI), 2:15.766; 2. Ana Roy-Cyr (CAN), 2:17.790; 3. Stephanie Rodriguez (MEX), 2:22.044. Also: 5. Armstrong (USA), 2:26.144.

C-1/1,000 m: 1. Maillard (CHI), 4:33.150; 2. Rowan Hardy-Kavanagh (CAN), 4:50.172; 3. Clara Lopez (GUA), 4:58.257. Also: 4. Lia Marie Gaetano (USA), 5:02.041.

C-2/200 m: 1. Maria Maillard/Karen Roco (CHI), 44.560; 2. Angela da Silva/Andrea de Oliveira (BRA), 45.558; 3. Rowan Hardy-Kavanagh/Hannah McIntosh (CAN), 46.330. Also: 7. Anne Marie Armstrong/Lia Marie Gaetano (USA), 50.550.

C-2/500 m: 1. Katie Vincent/Laurence Vincent-Lapointe (CAN), 1:57.016; 2. Mayvihanet Borges/Liliana Naranjo (CUB), 1:57.974; 3. Maillard/Roco (CHI), 2:00.438. Also: 8. Armstrong/Gaetano (USA), 2:14.688.

C-2/1,000 m: 1. Maillard/Roco (CHI), 4:46.945; 2. Rowan Hardy-Kavanagh/Anna Roy-Cyr (CAN), 4:55.307; 3. Ana Dazy/Manuela Gomez (COL), 5:01.345. Also: 4. Armstrong/ Gaetano (USA), 5:19.817.

K-1/200 m: 1. Andreanne Langlois (CAN), 41.571; 2. Brenda Gutierrez (MEX), 41.953; 3. Yurieni Guerra (CUB), 42.137. Also: 8. Kaitlyn McElroy (USA), 43.523.

K-1/500 m: 1. Michelle Russell (CAN), 1:56.783; 2. Yurieni Guerra (CUB), 1:59.319; 3. Ana Paula Vergutz (BRA), 2:01.557. Also: 7. Samantha Barlow (USA), 2:06.265.

K-1/1,000 m: 1. Madeline Schmidt (CAN), 4:14.692; 2. Ysumy Orellana (CHI), 4:18.068; 3. Micaela Maslein (ARG), 4:19.994. Also: 4. Renae Jackson (USA), 4:29.769.

K-2/200 m: 1. Alanna Bray-Lougheed/Andreanne Langlois (CAN), 41.664; 2. Sabrina Ameghino/Brenda Rojas (ARG), 41.664; 3. Brenda Gutierrez/Marciela Montemayor (MEX), 42.940. Also: 7. Samantha Barlow/Kaitlyn McElroy (USA), 45.637.

K-2/500 m: 1. Lissa Bissonette/Courtney Stott (CAN), 1:52.892; 2. Karina Morales/Beatriz Briones (MEX), 1:53.760; 3. Ameghino/Rojas (ARG), 1:55.020. Also: 6. Barlow/McElroy (USA), 2:00.662.

K-2/1,000 m: 1. Morales/Briones (MEX), 3:57.875; 2. Natalie Davidson/Alexa Irvin (CAN), 4:02.057; 3. Barlow/McElroy (USA), 4:04.813.

K-4/500 m: 1. Canada, 1:35.470; 2. Mexico, 1:35.662; 3. Argentina, 1:38.088. Also: 6. United States (Allen, Barlow, Jackson, McElroy), 1:51.112.

K-4/1,000 m: 1. Mexico, 3:22.117; 2. Canada, 3:25.233; 3. Chile, 3:35.110.

GYMNASTICS: Fifth of six World Challenge Cup is in Szombathely

By
Rich Perelman
-

The FIG “regular season” is heading toward the close this week in Szombathely (HUN), with qualifying on Friday and finals on Saturday and Sunday at Arena Savaria. This is the fifth of six World Challenge Cup events – a level below the World Cup, held earlier in the year – with the last event in Paris next week.

There are 120 gymnasts from 24 countries entered. Among the top men’s entries:

∙ Artem Dolgopyat (ISR) ~ 2017 World Championships silver in Floor
∙ Marian Dragulescu (ROM) ~ 2015 World Championships silver in Vault
∙ Oleg Verniaiev (UKR) ~ 2015-17 World Championships silvers in Parallel Bars

Among the top women’s entries:

∙ Boglarka Devai (HUN) ~ 2018 European Champion in Vault
∙ Jonna Adlerteg (SWE) ~ 2018 European Championships silver in Uneven Bars

Prize money of € 800-600-400-300-250-200-150-100 will be available to the top eight finishers in each apparatus final. Look for results here.

BASKETBALL Preview: U.S. women favored for third straight World Cup title

By
Rich Perelman
-

One of the most dominant teams in international sports is the United States women’s national team in basketball, which is assembled to try for its 10th title in the FIBA World Cup, the new name for what used to be called the women’s “World Championship.”

Since the competition began back in 1953, the U.S. women have won nine times, including the first two editions in ‘53 and ‘57, then again in 1979-86-90-98-2002-10-14. Since a semifinal loss to Russia in the 2006 tournament, the U.S. has won 16 straight games in “World Cup” competition.

This year’s event will be played in the Canary Islands of Spain, in the 5,100-seat Tenerife Sports Pavilion Santiago Martin in San Cristobal de La Laguna and the 3,600-seat Palacio Municipal de Deportes in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. There are 16 teams in four groups (with current world rankings):

∙ Group A: Korea (16), Greece (20), Canada (5), France (3)
∙ Group B: Australia (4), Turkey (7), Argentina (15), Nigeria (34)
∙ Group C: Japan (13), Puerto Rico (22), Belgium (28), Spain (2)
∙ Group D: Latvia (26), United States (1), Senegal (17), China (10)

The group phase will be played from 22-25 September. The U.S. will play Senegal on Saturday (22nd), China on Sunday (23rd) and Latvia on Tuesday (25th).

The top three teams in each group will qualify for the playoffs. The group winners will advance directly into the quarterfinals, with the second- and third-place teams playing among themselves to get into the quarters. The play-in games will be held on the 26th, quarters on the 28th, semis in the 29th and the finals in 30 September.

The main question is whether anyone can beat the U.S. In the most recent major international tournament – the 2016 Rio Games – the U.S. won its eight games by an average score of 102-65 and swamped Spain in the final, 101-72.

The U.S. squad for 2018 looks just as formidable, with nine members of the 2018 WNBA All-Star Games on the team:

∙ G Sue Bird (Seattle)
∙ C Tina Charles (New York)
∙ F Elena Delle Donne (Washington)
∙ C Brittney Griner (Phoenix)
∙ G Jewell Loyd (Seattle)
∙ F Nneka Ogwumike (Los Angeles)
∙ F Breanna Stewart (Seattle)
∙ G Diana Taurasi (Phoenix)
∙ F A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas)

Six players – Bird, Charles, Delle Donne, Griner, Stewart and Taurasi – return from the Rio team. USA Basketball noted the pedigree of the U.S. roster:

∙ Olympic gold medalists include Bird (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016), Charles (2012, 2016), Delle Donne (2016), Griner (2016), Stewart (2016) and Taurasi (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016).

∙ World Cup gold winners include Bird (2002, 2010, 2014), Charles (2010, 2014), Griner (2014), Ogwumike (2014), Stewart (2014) and Taurasi 2010, 2014). Bird and Taurasi also took home bronze from the 2006 World Cup.

The American squad will be coached by Dawn Staley of South Carolina, herself a three-time Olympic gold medalist in 1996-2000-04. She has some personal history with the World Cup as well, winning a bronze medal as a player in 1994 and was an assistant coach on the 2006 bronze-medal winners in Brazil. She very successfully coached the U.S. women to the FIBA U-18 Americas Championship in 2014 and to the U-19 World Championship in 2015 in Russia.

Amazingly, Staley played with two members of the 2018 team on the gold-medal winners in Athens in 2004: Bird and Taurasi!

Only four nations have ever won this tournament: the U.S. has nine golds, followed by the Soviet Union (6) and Brazil (1: 1994) and Australia (1: 2006). The U.S. has won six of the last eight.

The schedule of matches and scores are here.

THE BIG PICTURE: “Don’t even consider building a venue if there is not a 50-year legacy plan”

By
Rich Perelman
-

Although not designed as an activist organization, the Associated Press is keeping the pressure on officials of the Gangwon Province in Korea with a story on Wednesday headlined “Costly Pyeongchang Olympic venues could eventually be razed.”

The story outlined the continuing issues over the future of the alpine skiing course, the hockey and skating arenas, sliding course and ski-jump facilities. That doesn’t count the $100 million stadium used for ceremonies and then dismantled.

Said IOC Executive Director for the Olympic Games Christophe Dubi (SUI), “We’ve never been shy to raise concerns about the legacy of some of the venues (in Pyeongchang) that we read about right now.

“I can tell you for ’26, we are ruthless on this: Don’t even consider building a venue if there is not a 50-year legacy plan.”

THE BIG PICTURE: IOC Session moved from Milan to Lausanne in 2019

By
Rich Perelman
-

The newest wrinkle in the bid process for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games is the move of the International Olympic Committee Session for 2019 from Milan (ITA) to the Olympic capital of Lausanne, Switzerland.

The move was needed because Milan was the host of that Session, at which the 2026 Winter Games will be awarded. The conflict of having the vote in one of the candidate cities is too obvious for the IOC and it moved the event on its own. The Italians were told at a meeting of its National Olympic Committee, known as CONI, along with the Mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, in Lausanne earlier this week.

There are also conflicting reports on whether the Italian government will agree to support the Milan-Cortina bid, as it was ready to when Turin was also involved. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini was reported as saying the government would help, but Giancarlo Giorgetti, the Secretary of the Council of Ministers – and primary contact for CONI on this bid – indicated that governmental funding was not assured.

LANE ONE: Russia readmitted by WADA, causing it to split apart

By
Rich Perelman
-

The World Anti-Doping Agency’s Executive Committee did a curious thing on Thursday during its meeting in the Seychelles: by re-integrating Russia into its membership, it set off a civil war.

First, the action. According to WADA:

“The ExCo resolved to reinstate RUSADA, subject strictly to the following post-reinstatement conditions:

1. RUSADA and the Russian Ministry of Sport must procure that the authentic Information Management System (LIMS) data and underlying analytical data of the former Moscow Laboratory set out in the WADA President’s letter of 22 June 2018 are received by WADA (via access to the data by an independent expert agreeable to both WADA and the Russian authorities) by no later than 31 December 2018.

2. RUSADA and the Russian Ministry of Sport must procure that any re-analysis of samples required by WADA following review of such data is completed by no later than 30 June 2019.

In addition, as per the RUSADA Roadmap to Compliance, a successful audit of RUSADA must be carried out within four months to ensure RUSADA continues to meet compliance standards.” 

The vote was 9-2, with only Linda Helleland (NOR) and Grant Robertson, the Minister of Sport and Recreation in New Zealand, voting against; Polish Minister of Sport & Tourism Witold Banka abstained.

The only ones who seemed happy about the outcome were those who voted for it, the International Olympic Committee – which had been lobbying for this outcome for months – and the Russians. WADA chief Craig Reedie (GBR) said in the WADA statement:

“WADA understands that this decision will not please everybody. When cheating is as rampant and as organized as it was in Russia, as was definitively established thanks to investigations commissioned by WADA, it undermines so much of what sport stands for. Clean athletes were denied places at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as other major events, and others were cheated of medals. It is entirely understandable that they should be wary about the supposed rehabilitation of offenders. The pressure on WADA to ensure that Russian sport is genuinely clean now and in the future is one that we feel very keenly and we will maintain the highest levels of scrutiny on RUSADA’s operations and independence.”

OK, so Reedie understands what he’s done. A lot of others were not pleased, no matter what the justification. The most uncompromising statement came from U.S. Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis Tygart, which said in part:

“Today marked the biggest decision in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)’s history, and it delivered a devastating blow to the world’s clean athletes. By ripping up the very ‘Roadmap’ it created, WADA’s decision to reinstate Russia despite the nation not having met the two remaining Roadmap conditions is bewildering and inexplicable. In its landmark meeting today, WADA sent one clear message to the world: we put the wishes of a small handful of sports administrators above the rights of millions of clean athletes …”

“Athletes from Germany, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States have come out like never before to demand a robust, independent and confident WADA that stands on its own two feet. The world’s athletes want the International Olympic Committee (IOC) – and the conflict that their involvement brings to clean sport – to stay well away from WADA. They want a WADA with teeth, authority, sanctioning power and the determination to get the job done of cleaning up sport and restoring the trust of the billions of sports fans and athletes worldwide. Today, that job must start – and it starts by reforming WADA and giving it the power to regulate as any good global watchdog must do. … It starts by removing the inherent conflict of interest that comes about from the IOC fox guarding the WADA henhouse. The road to the new, stronger WADA must start now.”

The prime Russian whistleblower in the scandal, Russian lab chief Grigory Rodchenkov, said in a statement, “WADA’s decision to reinstate Russia represents the greatest treachery against clean athletes in Olympic history.” U.K. Anti-Doping chief executive Nicole Sapstead’s statement included, “It is clear from the events of the past few days that WADA’s governance system is not sufficiently independent and that the view of athletes and the anti-doping community are not fairly represented.”

So, what happens now?

WADA and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) have their work cut out for them, according to their own terms. The Moscow lab database has to be turned over by the end of the year and the re-testing requested by WADA has to be finished by the middle of next year. Remember that WADA’s own internal expert stated that “the Moscow laboratory’s LIMS database includes 9,453 suspicious findings that were not reported in ADAMS, some of which relate to the 2,876 samples still stored at the Moscow laboratory.” So this is no small task.

But there are other players:

∙ The International Paralympic Committee, which has been much more aggressive than the IOC in suspending Russia from its events, responded to the WADA action by noting its own review committee will decide whether to recommend Russian re-admittance and that (1) the IPC will not be satisfied until Russia reimburses it €257,500 for its costs and (2) “There are many athletes around the world who have concerns with this decision. … The whole world is watching on with great interest.”

∙ The International Assn. of Athletics Federations also has suspended Russia and stated that its taskforce, chaired by Rune Andersen (NOR) will make a recommendation to the IAAF Council at its next meeting in December. The IAAF has its own demands, separate from WADA, that the Russian authorities must acknowledge the McLaren and Schmid Commission reports and provide access to the Moscow Lab’s testing database from 2011-15 “so that the Athletics Integrity Unit can determine whether the suspicious findings reported in the Moscow lab’s LIMS database should be pursued.”

Now let’s talk about money.

According to its latest financial statement, WADA received 46.5% of its $31.96 million in revenue for 2017 from the International Olympic Committee. About 51.4% came from governmental contributions and grants. So without the IOC’s money, WADA would be cut in half.

It would be difficult for the IOC to walk away from supporting WADA and it got its way on the reinstatement of Russia (for now). But an insurgency within the IOC by its Athletes Commission could be effective if well managed. Anything which places the IOC leadership against the clear interests of its athlete constituency will lower public confidence in it further.

Warning sign: look for any significant contribution to WADA by Russia, or an entity controlled by the Russian government. WADA does not list the public authorities which contributed $14.56 million to it in 2017; it should be pressured to at least identify the countries future funds come from.

And the next showdown comes in 2019.

WADA will hold elections next year as Reedie’s term as president will expire. The organization works on a rotating system of Olympic Movement and governmental presidencies and current vice president and Norwegian Minister for Children and Equality, Linda Helleland, has already declared herself as a candidate. She voted against Russia on Thursday, but didn’t come close to carrying the day. Others may now look for a more compelling, charismatic candidate.

The avowed purpose of WADA’s suspension of Russia was to keep the pressure on the country to come clean from its past transgressions. What it has done is turn the pressure on itself. It’s as if WADA’s Executive Committee has turned anti-doping into a dangerous game: Russian Roulette.

Rich Perelman
Editor

WEIGHTLIFTING: Colombia sparkles in Pan Am Junior Champs

By
Rich Perelman
-

The Pan American Junior Championships were a showcase for the host Colombians, with nine wins in the combined totals, including six men’s events and three women’s.

Counting all classes in each division – Snatch, Clean & Jerk and Combined – Colombia took 22 medals in the men’s weight (19-3-0, with Venezuela (2-5-4) and the U.S. (0-5-6) following with 11. In the women’s classes, the hosts won 21 medals (10-10-1), to 15 for Venezuela (2-3-10) and 13 for the U.S. (5-2-6).

Colombia also won the men’s and women’s team title. In the men’s class, Colombia compiled 607 points, with the U.S. second (416) and Ecuador (347). The Colombians won the women’s scoring with 619 points, followed by the U.S. (564) and Ecuador (495). Summaries:

Pan American Junior Championships
Manizales (COL) ~ 5-12 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

56 kg (combined totals only): 1. Angel Perez (VEN), 220 kg; 2. Nestor Cardenas (VEN), 215 kg; 3. Juan Vargas Samboy (DOM), 203 kg.

62 kg: 1. Cristian Zurita Vallejo (ECU), 280 kg; 2. Victor Badur Guemez (MEX), 271 kg; 3. Roger Ochoa (VEN), 259 kg.

69 kg: 1. Jose Luis Osorio (COL), 294 kg; 2. Kevin Sandoval (COL), 286 kg; 3. Pedro Yoamona Leon (PER), 272 kg.

77 kg: 1. Oscar Garces (COL), 308 kg; 2. Oscar Terrones Miranda (PER), 299 kg; 3. Jesus Shiguango (ECU), 283 kg.

85 kg: 1. Juan Solis (COL), 333; 2. Adolfo Fernandez Lugo (MEX), 311 kg; 3. Steven Escobar (ECU), 306 kg.

94 kg: 1. Jhonatan Rivas (COL), 355 kg; 2. Juan Zaldivar Milian (CUB), 336 kg; 3. Jaden Washington (USA), 330 kg.

105 kg: 1. Fry Mosquera (COL), 345 kg; 2. Dennis Tan (USA), 317 kg; 3. Isac Borges Veira (BRA), 275 kg.

+105 kg: 1. Jhonatan Hoyos (COL), 333 kg; 2. Christopher Peters (USA), 308 kg; 3. Marcos Bribiesca (USA), 297 kg.

Women

48 kg (combined totals only): 1. Fiorella Cueva Uribe (PER), 167 kg; 2. Manuela Berrio (COL), 165 kg; 3. Yineth Santoya (COL), 160 kg.

53 kg: 1. Yenny Sinisterra (COL), 189 kg; 2. Julieth Palechor (COL), 186 kg; 3. Karen Fernandez (VEN), 173 kg.

58 kg: 1. Anyelin Venegas (VEN), 191 kg; 2. Isabel Nieto (VEN), 187 kg; 3. Nicole Cintra Lagos (BRA), 185 kg.

63 kg: 1. Rosalba Morales (COL), 203 kg; 2. Jessica Jarquin Gonzales (MEX), 202 kg; 3. Erin Amos (USA), 196 kg.

69 kg: 1. Celia Gold (USA), 199 kg; 2. Angy Palacios Dajome (ECU), 198 kg; 3. Daiana Serrano (DOM), 192 kg.

75 kg: 1. Hellen Escobar (COL), 222 kg; 2. Valeria Rivas (COL), 212 kg; 3. Euquerys Molaya (VEN), 202 kg.

90 kg: 1. Juliana Riotto (USA), 224 kg; 2. Dayana Mina Torres (ECU), 218 kg; 3. Magnolia Pen (VEN), 214 kg.

+90 kg: 1. Lisseth Ayovi Cabezas (ECU), 248 kg; 2. Angie Chaverra (COL), 235 kg; 3. Ashamarie Benitez (USA), 225 kg.

VOLLEYBALL: U.S. undefeated, heads to Round 2 in World Champs

By
Rich Perelman
-

The quadrennial FIVB World Championships in men’s volleyball continues in Italy and Bulgaria, with the first-round action finally completed and the serious work starting in round 2. Through the first round of games:

∙ Pool A: 1. Italy (5-0); 2. Belgium (3-2); 3. Slovenia (3-2); 4. Argentina (2-3); 5. Japan (2-3); 6. Dominican Republic (0-6).

∙ Pool B: 1. Brazil (4-1); 2. Netherlands (4-1); 3. France (3-2); 4. Canada (3-2); 5. Egypt (1-4); 6. China (0-5).

∙ Pool C: 1. United States (5-0); 2. Serbia (4-1); 3. Russia (3-2); 4. Australia (2-3); 5. Cameroon (1-4); 6. Tunisia (0-5).

∙ Pool D: 1. Poland (5-0); 2. Iran (4-1); 3. Bulgaria (3-2); 4. Finland (2-3); 5. Cuba (1-4); 6. Puerto Rico (0-5).

The U.S. had its difficult matches at the start, getting past Serbia in five sets (3-2) in its opener, then squeezing by Australia (3-2), Russia (3-1), Cameroon (3-0) and Tunisia (3-0). John Speraw’s team had to rally from 2-1 down to Serbia and 0-2 against Australia, but they did it and are on to the second round.

This is another round-robin now, this time with four groups of four teams each. The first-round points carry over and the four pool winners in Round 2 will advance to the third stage, together with the top two of the second ranked teams. The new pools:

∙ Pool E: Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Finland in Milan (ITA)
∙ Pool F: Brazil, Belgium, Slovenia, Australia in Bologna (ITA)
∙ Pool G: United States, Iran, Bulgaria, Canada in Sofia (BUL)
∙ Pool H: Poland, Serbia, France, Argentina in Varna (BUL)

These games will start on Friday (21st) and continue through Sunday (23rd). The final phase will begin on the 26th and finish on Sunday the 30th.

Look for the scores here.

SWIMMING: U.S. strong in Open Water World Juniors in Israel

By
Rich Perelman
-

The 2018 Open Water World Junior Championships were held earlier in September at the exotic location of Eilat (ISR), with competition in three age groups: 14-15 year-olds, 16-17 year-olds and 18-19 year-olds.

The 14-15 group swam 5 km, the 16-17s had a 7.5 km race and the junior swam the standard 10 km distance. The winners included American Michael Brinegar in the men’s race and Paula Ruiz Bravo (ESP) for the women. Summaries:

FINA World Junior Open Water Championships
Eilat (ISR) ~ 6-8 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Junior 10 km: 1. Michael Brinegar (USA), 1:49:55.5; 2. Enzo Roldan Munoz (FRA), 1:49:55.7; 3. Kirill Dolgov (RUS), 1:50:00.4. Also: 4. Brennan Gravley (USA), 1:50:01.4.

Women’s Junior 10 km: 1. Paula Ruiz Bravo (ESP), 1:57:21.9; 2. Maria A. Bramont-Arias (PER), 1:57:24.2; 3. Reka Rohacs (HUN), 1:57:26.3. Also: 5. Erica Sullivan (USA), 1:57:44.6; 6. Kensey McMahon (USA), 1:57:47.4.

Mixed 4×1250 m: 1. France, 55:39:09 (Madelon Catteau, Jean-Baptiste Clusman, Lisa Pou, Enzo Roldan Munoz); 2. United States, 56:06:07 (Erica Sullivan, Brennan Gravley, Kensey McMahon, Michael Brinegar); 3. Italy, 56:11:03.

SHOOTING: China and India best in World Junior Championships

By
Rich Perelman
-

As part of the massive ISSF World Championships, a full set of World Junior Championships were held for men, women and mixed teams at Changwon (KOR).

The big winner on the junior level was China, with 11 gold-medal performances, followed by India (9) and Italy (4). The U.S. also did well, winning four men’s medals and six in the women’s division for a total of 10. Summaries:

ISSF World Junior Championships
Changwon (KOR) ~ 31 August-15 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

10 m Air Pistol: 1. Chaudhary Saurabh (IND), 245.5 (World Junior Record); 2. Hojin Lim (KOR), 243.1; 3. Arjun Cheema (IND), 218.0.

10 m Air Pistol/Team: 1. Korea, 1,732 (World Junior Record); 2. India, 1,730; 3. Russia, 1,711. Also: 10. United States (Jack Leverett, Henry Leverett, Kyler Swisher), 1,685.

25 m Rapid Fire Pistol: 1. Haojie Zhu (CHN), 35 (World Junior Record); 2. Jaekyoon Lee (KOR), 29; 3. Zhipeng Cheng (CHN), 24. Also: 4. Henry Leverett (USA), 21.

25 m Rapid Fire Pistol/Team: 1. China, 1,747 (World Junior Record); 2. Korea, 1,719; 3. Poland, 1,706. Also: 7. United States (J. Leverett, H. Leverett, Paul Kang), 1,692.

25 m Standard Pistol: 1. Vijarveer Sidhu (IND), 572; 2. Gunhyeok Lee (KOR), 570; 3. H. Zhu (CHN), 565. Also: 5. J. Leverett (USA), 563.; … 28. Ryan Yi (USA), 538; 29. Kevin Bennett (USA), 500.

25 m Standard Pistol/Team: 1. India, 1,695; 2. Korea, 1,693; 3. Czech Rep., 1,674. Also: 9. United States (J. Leverett, Yi, Bennett), 1,601.

25 m Pistol: 1. Udhayveer Sidhu (IND), 587; 2. Henry Leverett (USA), 584; 3. J. Lee (KOR), 582. Also: 6. J. Leverett (USA), 578; … 29. Yi (USA), 558.

25 m Pistol/Team: 1. India, 1,736; 2. China, 1,730; 3. Korea, 1,721. Also: 4. United States (H. Leverett, J. Leverett, Yi), 1,720.

50 m Pistol: 1. Cheema (IND), 559; 2. Woojong Kim (KOR), 554; 3. Gaurav Rana (IND), 551. Also: 26. Sam Gens (USA), 526; … 30. Bernard Melus (USA), 502; 31. Paul Kang (USA), 501.

50 m Pistol/Team: 1. India, 1,659; 2. Korea, 1,640; 3. China, 1,627. Also: 7. United States (Gens, Melus, Kang), 1,529.

10 m Air Rifle: 1. Hriday Hazarika (IND), 250.1; 2. Amir Mohammad Nekounam (IRI), 250.1 (shoot-off, 10.3-10.2); 3. Gigorii Shamakov (RUS), 228.6.

10 m Air Rifle/Team: 1. China, 1.876.2 (World Junior Record); 2. Iran, 1,874.3; 3. Russia, 1,873.7. Also: 10. United States (Shaner, Ogden, Sanchez), 1,854.7.

50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Nekounam (IRI), 455.5; 2. Zalan Pekler (HUN), 455.0; 3. Bo Cao (CHN), 442.9.

50 m Rifle/3 Positions/Team: 1. China, 3,467; 2. Russia, 3,455; 3. Hungary, 3,452. Also: 8. United States (Shaner, Fiori, Buchanan), 3,422.

50 m Rifle/Prone: 1. Benjamin Karlsen (NOR), 619.7; 2. Zalan Pekler (HUN), 619.1; 3. William Shaner (USA), 618.2.

50 m Rifle/Prone/Team: 1. Norway, 1,852.5; 2. Austria, 1,846.1; 3. Russia, 1,845.6. Also: 10. United States (Shaner, Liao, Peiser), 1,828.5.

Skeet: 1. Elia Sdruccioli (ITA), 55; 2. Nic Moschetti (USA), 54; 3. Gurnihal Garcha (IND), 46.

Skeet/Team: 1. Czech Rep., 356; 2. India, 355; 3. Italy, 354. Also: 6. United States (Moschetti, Eli Christman, Alexander Ahlin), 346.

Trap: 1. Nathan Argiro (AUS), 42; 2. Logan Lucas (USA), 41; 3. Lorenzo Ferrari (ITA), 31.

Trap/Team: Australia, 348; 2. India, 348; 3. Italy, 346. Also: 4. United States (Lucas, Dale Royer, Mick Wertz), 343.

Women

10 m Air Pistol: 1. Sevval Tarhan (TUR), 237.9; 2. Gaeun Choo (KOR), 234.5; 3. Lizi Kiladze (GEO), 213.6.

10 m Air Pistol/Team: 1. Korea, 1,700; 2. Mongolia, 1,698; 3. Russia, 1,693. Also: 9. United States (Sarah Choe, Katelyn Abeln, Kellie Foster), 1,685.

25 m Pistol: 1. Xiaoyu Wang (CHN), 37; 2. Katelyn Abeln (USA), 27; 3. Anna Dedova (CZE), 25. Also: 6. Sarah Choe (USA), 11.

25 m Pistol/Team: 1. Korea, 1,723; 2. China, 1,717; 3. Hungary, 1,714. Also: 4. United States (Choe, Abeln, Abie Leverett), 1,712.

10 m Air Rifle: 1. Mengyao Shi (CHN), 250.5; 2. Elavenil Valarivan (IND), 249.8; 3. Shreya Agrawal (IND), 228.4.

10 m Air Rifle/Team: 1. India, 1,880.7 (World Junior Record); 2. China, 1,874.6; 3. Korea, 1,871.9. Also: 8. United States (Stith, Marsh, Osborn), 1,864.3.

50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Hong Xu (CHN), 456.6; 2. Jade Bordet (FRA), 455.5; 3. Maria Ivanova (RUS), 443.2. Also: 4. Morgan Phillips (USA), 434.3.

50 m Rifle/3 Positions/Team: 1. China, 3,474; 2. United States (Phillips, Elizabeth Marsh, Kristen Hemphill), 3,461; 3. Russia, 3,458.

50 m Rifle/Prone: 1. Qiaoying Zhang (CHN), 622.2; 2. Rebecca Koeck (AUT), 619.5; 3. Aleksandra Szutko (POL), 619.3. Also: 5. Phillips (USA), 618.8.; … 19. Katie Zaun (USA), 614.2; … 25. Elizabeth Marsh (USA), 613.3

50 m Rifle/Prone/Team: 1. Austria, 1,855.0; 2. China, 1,847.0; 3. United States (Phillips, Zaun, Marsh), 1,846.3.

Skeet: 1. Yufei Che (CHN), 53 (World Junior Record); 2. Zhenghi Song (CHN), 51; 3. Austin Smith (USA), 43. Also: 6. Samantha Simonton (USA), 16.

Skeet/Team: 1. China, 349 (World Junior Record); 2. United States (Simonton, Smith, Katharina Jacob), 345; 3. Russia, 334.

Trap: 1. Erica Sessa (ITA), 41; 2. Manisha Keer (IND), 41 (both equal World Junior Record; shoot-off, 1-0); 3. Daria Semianova (RUS), 31.

Trap/Team: 1. Italy, 352 (World Junior Record); 2. China, 327; 3. United States (Emma Williams, Carey Garrison, Madelynn Bernau), 326.

Mixed

10 m Air Pistol/Team: 1. Gaeun Choo/Yunho Sung (KOR), 483.0 (World Junior Record); 2. Hyun-young Yoo/Hojin Lim (KOR), 473.1; 3. Abhidnya Patil/Chaudhary Saurabh (IND), 407.3.

10 m Air Rifle/Team: 1. Sofia Benetti/ Marco Suppini (ITA), 499.0 (World Junior Record); 2. Sadeghian Armina/Amir Nekounam (IRI), 497.7; 3. Shreya Agrawal/Divyansh Panwar (IND), 435.0.

Trap/Team: 1. Erica Sassa/Lorenzo Ferrari (ITA), 42 (World Junior Record); 2. Maria Palmitessa/Matteo Marongiu (ITA), 35; 3. Wendi Gao/Yiliu Ouyang (CHN), 29. Also: 5. Emma Williams/Logan Lucas (USA), 21.

GOLF: Stanford stays calm to win Evian Champs in France

By
Rich Perelman
-

A wild finish ended on the final stroke of the tournament at The Evian Championship at the Evian Resort Golf Club as presumptive winner Amy Olson double-bogeyed the 18th hole to give the title to fellow American Angela Stanford.

Olson shot 65s on Friday and Saturday to take the third-round lead at -14, but Stanford charged on Sunday with a 68 to move into contention, with a wild run-in of eagle-double bogey-birdie-par. Olson needed only a par on the final hole to win, but missed a six-foot putt for the victory and her double-bogey placed her in a four-way tie for second.

Americans dominated this tournament, taking six of the top nine places. It’s the first U.S. win in the tournament since 2007 and the first win on tour for Stanford, now 40, since 2012!

During 2018, no one country dominated the women’s major tournaments, with winners from five different nations: Stanford, Georgia Hall (ENG) in the British Open, Sung-hyun Park (KOR) in the PGA Championship, Ariya Jutanugarn (THA) in the U.S. Open and Pernilla Lindberg in the ANA Inspiration. However, Korean players won at least one medal (top three placing) in all five events. Summaries:

The Evian Championship
Evian-les-Bains (FRA) ~ 13-16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Final Standings: 1. Angela Stanford (USA), 272 (-12); 2. tie, Amy Olson (USA), Austin Ernst (USA), Sei-young Kim (KOR) and Mo Martin (USA), 273 (-11); 6. tie, Ryann O’Toole (USA) and Jeong-eun Lee (KOR), 274 (-10); 8. tie, Jessica Korda (USA) and Inbee Park (KOR), 275 (-9); 10. tie, Brooke Henderson( CAN), Lydia Ko (NZL), Katherine Kirk (AUS), Mi-hyang Lee (KOR) and So-yeon Ryu (KOR), 276 (-8).

EQUESTRIAN: British sweep Eventing in World Equestrian Games

By
Rich Perelman
-

The worst of the weather has passed and competition resumed at the World Equestrian Games at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina with the Eventing program on Monday.

Great Britain was the big winner in what used to be called the Three-Day Event, winning both the individual gold with Rosalind Canter, but also the team title!

Canter had the second-best score coming out of Dressage, had no faults in Cross Country and was one of only three riders to have no faults in Jumping to pass Germany’s Ingrid Klimke for the gold medal. Ireland’s Padraig McCarthy also had a perfect jumping record and ended up second, with Klimke third by 0.1 points. It was the first win in the event for a British rider since 2006.

The British quartet of Canter, Piggy French, Tom McEwen and Gemma Tattersall won the team title with 88.8 points, well clear of Ireland (93.0) and France (99.8). It was the first British win in the event since 2010, but the sixth overall, more than any other nation.

The remaining schedule (as planned) of the medal sessions:

∙ Jumping:
21 September Team Competition
23 September Individual Competition

∙ Driving:
23 September Team and Individual

∙ Vaulting:
19 September Team Freestyle Final
20 September Pas-de-Deux Final
23 September Freestyle Finals for Men, Women, Squad

NBC has extensive coverage of the WEG, weather permitting, on NBC, NBCSN and the NBC Olympic Channel; the schedule is here. Look for results here. Summaries so far:

World Equestrian Games
Mill Spring, North Carolina (USA) ~ 11-23 September 2018
(Full results here)

Dressage/Grand Prix Special: 1. Isabell Werth (GER, on Bella Rose), 86.246; 2. Laura Graves (USA, on Verdades), 81.717; 3. Charlotte Dujardin (GBR, on Mount St. John Freestyle), 81.489; 4. Sonke Rothenberger (GER), 81.277; 5. Patrik Kittel (SWE), 79.726; 6. Kasey Perry-Glass (USA), 78.541; 7. Edward Gal (NED), 77.751; 8. Juliette Ramel (SWE), 77.751.

Dressage/Grand Prix Freestyle: cancelled.

Dressage/Team: 1. Germany (von Bredlow-Warndl, Schneider, Rothenberger, Werth), 242.950; 2. United States (Steffen Peters, Adrienne Lyle, Kasey Perry-Glass, Laura Graves), 233.136; 3. Great Britain (Wilson, Faurie, Hester, Dujardin), 229.628; 4. Sweden, 229.456; 5. Netherlands, 223.664; 6. Spain, 220.186; 7. Denmark, 216.584; 8. Australia, 210.016.

Eventing: 1. Rosalind Canter (GBR, on Allstar B), 24.6 points; 2. Padraig McCarthy (IRL, on Mr. Chunky), 27.2; 3. Ingrid Klimke (GER, on SAP Hale Bob OLD), 27.3; 4. Andrew Hoy (AUS), 29.8; 5. Sarah Ennis (IRL), 30.3; 6. Thibaut Vallette (FRA), 30.8; 7. Astier Nicolas (FRA), 31.2; 8. Tim Price (NZL), 31.2. Also: 13. Phillip Dutton (USA), 34.0; … 25. Lynn Symansky (USA), 40.3.

Eventing/Team: 1. Great Britain (Piggy French, Tom McEwen, Rosalind Canter, Gemma Tattersall), 88.8; 2. Ireland (Sam Watson, Cathal Daniels, Padraig McCarthy, Saran Ennis), 93.0; 3. France (Donatien Schauly, Maxime Livio, Thibaut Vallette, Sidney Dufresne), 99.8; 4. Japan, 113.9; 5. Germany, 118.2; 6. Australia, 135.8; 7. New Zealand, 142.2; 8. United States (William Coleman, Boyd Martin, Lynn Symansky, Phillip Dutton), 145.0.

Reining: 1. Bernard Fonck (BEL, on What a Wave), 227.0; 2. Daniel Huss (USA, on Ms Dreamy), 226.5; 3. Cade McCutcheon (USA, on Custom Made Gun), 225.0; 4. Joao Andrade C.S. Lacerda (BRA), 225.0; 5. Manuel Cortesi (ITA), 224.5; 6. Martin Muhlstatter (AUT), 224.5; 7. Thiago Boechat (BRA), 223.0; 8. Grischa Ludwig (GER), 222.5. Also: 18. Casey Dreary (USA), 219.0; 19. Jordan Larson (USA), 215.0.

Reining/Team: 1. United States (Casey Deary, Cade McCutcheon, Daniel Huss, Jordan Larson), 681.0; 2. Belgium (Verschuren, Poels, Baeck, Fonck), 671.5; 3. Germany (Ludwig, Suchting, Schoeller, Schumacher), 666.5; 4. Austria, 666.0; 5. Brazil, 664.5.

BASKETBALL: U.S. squashes Panama, 78-48, in men’s World Cup qualifier

By
Rich Perelman
-

The U.S. men’s national team continued its run toward the FIBA men’s World Cup in 2019 by breezing past Panama, 78-48 on Monday (17th), in its second game of the second round.

Jeff Van Gundy’s team took an 18-7 lead in the first quarter and had a 36-23 edge at the half. Panama stayed within striking distance in the third, but the American squad pulled out to a 19-point lead at the end of the quarter. A 21-10 final period made the game a rout.

The U.S. held Panama to only 31.1% shooting, but shot only 42.6% itself and made just eight of 27 three-point shots. Guard Reggie Hearn led the scoring with 12 and forward Dwayne Bacon had 10.

Coupled with its prior win over Uruguay in Las Vegas, the U.S. improved to 7-1 in Group E:

∙ Standings:
United States (7-1), Argentina (7-1), Puerto Rico (5-3), Uruguay (5-3), Panama (3-5), Mexico (3-5).

∙ Scores:
United States 78 at Panama 48
at Uruguay 63, Mexico 60
at Argentina 106, Puerto Rico 84

The U.S. only has to finish in the top three in the group to move on to the World Cup in 2019. The qualifying period is over for now; the next pair of games will take place on 29 November and 2 December.

In Group F, Canada and Venezuela are both 7-1 now, with Brazil at 6-2 and the Dominican Republic at 5-3; and the Virgin Islands is 2-6 and Chile is 1-7.

TAEKWONDO Preview: Third Grand Prix lands in Chinese Taipei

By
Rich Perelman
-

The third of five stops on the World Taekwondo Grand Prix circuit is this weekend in Taoyuan (TPE), with competition in the eight Olympic classes. The top seeds (★ = 2017 World Champion, but not necessarily at this weight):

Men:
∙ -58 kg: 1. Tae-hun Kim (KOR) ★ 2. Mikhail Artamonov (RUS)
∙ -68 kg: 1. Dae-Hoon Lee (KOR) ★ 2. Jaouad Achab (BEL)
∙ -80 kg: 1. Cheick Sallah Cisse (CIV) 2. Maksim Khramtcov (RUS) ★
∙ +80 kg: 1. Vladislav Larin (RUS) 2. Kyo-don In (KOR)

Women:
∙ -49 kg: 1. Panipak Wongpattanakit (THA) 2. So-hui Kim (KOR)
∙ -57 kg: 1. Jade Jones (GBR) 2. Ah-reum Lee (KOR) ★
∙ -67 kg: 1. Hyeri Oh (KOR) ★ 2. Nur Tatar Askari (TUR) ★
∙ +67 kg: 1. Bianca Walkden (GBR) ★ 2. Shuyin Zheng (CHN)

There are two Americans seeded in the top five in their division: Paige McPherson (women’s -67 kg: 5) and Jackie Galloway (women’s +67 kg: 4). Both won Worlds silvers last year.

Prizes are $5,000-3,000-1,000 for the top three place winners. Look for results here.

JUDO Preview: Huge field for 2018 World Championships in Baku

By
Rich Perelman
-

A massive total of 800 judoka from 129 countries have gathered in Baku (AZE) for the IJF World Championships, with competition in 14 classes, from 20-27 September at the National Gymnastics Arena.

The top seeds in each class (and their current IJF World Rankings):

Men:
∙ -60 kg:
1. Ryuju Nagayama (JPN: 1)
2. Robert Mshvidobadze (RUS: 2)
Defending champion: 4. Naohisa Takato (JPN: 4)

∙ -66 kg:
1. Tal Flicker (ISR: 1:)
2. Hifumi Abe (JPN: 2)
Defending champion: 2. Abe

∙ -73 kg:
1. Soichi Hashimoto (JPN: 1)
2. Rustam Orujov (AZE: 2)
Defending champion: 1. Hashimoto

∙ -81 kg:
1. Saeid Mollaei (IRI: 1)
2. Frank de Wit (NED: 2)
Defending champion: 27. Alexander Wieczerzak (GER: 37)

∙ -90 kg:
1. Aleksandar Kukolj (SRB: 1)
2. Beka Gviniashvili (GEO: 2)
Defending champion: 6. Nemanja Majdov (SRB: 6)

∙ -100 kg:
1. Varlam Liparteliani (GEO: 1)
2. Michael Korrel (NED: 2)
Defending champion: 10. Aaron Wolf (JPN: 17)

∙ +100 kg:
1. Guram Tushishvili (GEO: 1)
2. David Moura (BRA: 2)
Defending champion: – Teddy Riner (FRA; not entered)

Women:
∙ -48 kg:
1. Urantseteg Munkhbat (MGL: 1)
2. Irina Dolgova (RUS: 2)
Defending champion: 4. Funa Tonaki (JPN: 4)

∙ -52 kg:
1. Amandine Buchard (FRA: 1)
2. Natalia Kuziutina (RUS: 3)
Defending champion: 7. Ai Shishime (JPN: 10)

∙ -57 kg:
1. Sumiya Dorjsuren (MGL: 1)
2. Tsukasa Uoshida (JPN: 2)
Defending champion: 1. Dorjsuren

∙ -63 kg:
1. Clarisse Agbegnenou (FRA: 1)
2. Tina Trstenjak (SLO: 3)
Defending champion: 1. Agbegnenou

∙ -70 kg:
1. Maria Portela (BRA: 1)
2. Marie Eve Gahie (FRA: 2)
Defending champion: 5. Chizuru Arai (JPN: 6)

∙ -78 kg:
1. Guusje Steehuis (NED: 1)
2. Natalie Powell (GBR: 2)
Defending champion: 5. Mayra Aguiar (BRA: 5)

∙ +78 kg:
1. Minjeong Kim (KOR: 1)
2. Larisa Ceric (BIH: 2)
Defending champion: – Song Yu (CHN: not entered)

So, six of the seven world champions from 2017 are back in both the men’s and women’s divisions, with only the heavyweights (Riner and Wu) sitting out. Only three of last year’s World Champions are still seeded first in their weight class.

The prize purse is substantial: € 26,000 for the winners (with € 5,200 to the coach), € 15,000 for second (20% to coach) and € 8,000 to both bronze medalists (20% to coach).

Look for results here.

BADMINTON Preview: Star-studded China Open has $1 million in prize money

By
Rich Perelman
-

One of the biggest-paying events on the BWF World Tour, the $1,000,000 Victor China Open is on this week in Changzhou (CHN) with a strong cast of the top players in the world. The top seeds:

∙ Men’s Singles:
1. Viktor Axelsen (DEN)
2. Yuqi Shi (CHN)

∙ Men’s Doubles:
1. Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA)
2. Junhui Li/Yuchen Liu (CHN)

∙ Women’s Singles:
1. Tzu Ying Tai (TPE)
2. Akane Yamaguchi (JPN)

∙ Women’s Doubles:
1. Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (JPN)
2. Misaki Matsumoto/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN)

∙ Mixed Doubles:
1. Siwei Zheng/Yaqiong Huang (CHN)
2. Yilyu Wang/Dongping Huang (CHN)

Worth noting in the men’s Singles is the presence of two Olympic champions: China’s Lin Dan (2008-12) and Long Chen (2016). If they win in the early rounds, they would meet in the quarterfinals in the same bracket and world no. 1 (and 2016 bronze winner) Axelsen. Chen has won this tournament four times and Dan three times and Chen in the defending champion.

In the women’s Singles, all three medalists from Rio are in: gold winner Carolina Marin (ESP), silver medalist P.V. Sindhu (IND) and bronze medalist Nozomi Okuhara from Japan. Japan’s Yamaguchi is the defending champion; Sindhu won in 2016.

In Doubles, Gideon and Sukamuljo are two-time defending champs in the men’s division and Zheng and Huang won in Mixed Doubles last year=.

The event is the equal-third best-paying tournament of the year; the World Tour Finals in December will pay $1.5 million, then the Indonesia Open ($1.25) and then the China Open and the All-England Open at $1 million each.

Look for results here.

THE BIG PICTURE: Italy’s bid for the 2026 Winter Games is in turmoil as Turin withdraws

By
Rich Perelman
-

While much of the focus in international sport is on WADA’s decision on Russian reinstatement and its own ethics, there is also more turmoil in the derby for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

Italy is a potential candidate, proposing a unique three-city program in Milan, Turin and Cortina d’Ampezzo. It was reported Monday that Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala demanded that his city be identified as the “host city” of the Games, but could also include venues in Turin and Cortina.

That position has not appealed to Turin Mayor Chiara Appendino, and on Tuesday, the Secretary of the Council of Minister for Sport, Giancarlo Giorgetti, said that the Italian national government has withdrawn its support for the prior, three-city bid proposal made by the Italian National Olympic Committee.

Instead, a Milan-Cortina could be substituted and regional leaders of the two area issued a statement noting “at this point it is unthinkable to throw everything out the window. The application must be saved, so we are willing to take this challenge together. If Turin is called out, and we are sorry, at this point there remain two realities, which are called Lombardy-Veneto.”

Representatives of the two-region bid are supposed to meet with the IOC staff in Lausanne (SUI) on Wednesday to pitch the idea. The IOC’s deadline for inviting cities to bid for the 2026 Winter Games comes on 8 October.

The Milan-Cortina bid would have to go through the gymnastics of getting national governmental support once again. That’s the same situation as the Stockholm (SWE) bid, which has to wait for government support; the national elections on 9 September produced no clear winner and another coalition government will have to be assembled.

Sapporo (JPN) formally pulled out of the 2026 race to focus on 2030. Calgary (CAN) has a referendum on 13 November, leaving Erzurum (TUR) still standing and actually ready to bid.

LANE ONE: Thursday’s decision on RUSADA reinstatement is now about WADA, not Russia

By
Rich Perelman
-

Strange how politics works, turning one thing into another.

The protest by a small number of National Football League players to kneel during the playing of the U.S. national anthem – poorly communicated as a stand against racism – morphed into a question of patriotism and love of country.

Thursday’s meeting of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Executive Committee in the Seychelles, during which a recommendation from the WADA Compliance Review Committee to reinstate the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) as compliant with WADA rules will be considered, is in the same situation.

The question at hand is whether Russia has fulfilled the conditions set before it to be considered compliant. But the issue has turned into a question of confidence in WADA itself.

And WADA has no one to blame but itself.

As explored in detail in Monday’s issue, the Compliance Review Committee forwarded a recommendation for Russian reinstatement based on an exchange of letters between WADA Chair Craig Reedie (GBR) and Director-General Oliver Niggli (SUI) and Russian Minister of Sport Pavel Kolobkov dating back to June. In short, the two sides agreed that the remaining conditions for reinstatement – agreement to the McLaren Reports published in 2016, and complete access to the database and samples in the Moscow Laboratory of RUSADA – would be met by lesser actions:

∙ Instead of acknowledging the truth of the McLaren Reports, the Russians agreed to accept the findings of the International Olympic Committee’s Schmid Commission report, published in 2017.

∙ Instead of turning the Moscow Lab database and samples over to WADA for re-testing, Reedie and Niggli proposed that the database could be shared with a mutually-agreed, “independent expert” and instead of access to all of the samples, a re-analysis of only those samples which are identified from the raw data as having been doping positives would be required.

This has set off a firestorm of protest from within WADA’s own ranks, including the resignation from the Compliance Review Committee of WADA Athlete Committee chair Beckie Scott (CAN), a furious Op-Ed essay published in The New York Times from U.S. Anti-Doping Agency chair Edwin Moses, and blistering statements from the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations (iNADO) and individual national anti-doping organizations including the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, U.K. Anti-Doping and many others.

The title of Moses’s critique, WADA’s Credibility Rides on Its Russia Decision, framed the issue perfectly.

The outreach by Reedie and Niggli to the Russian Minister of Sport, was designed – as acknowledged in a WADA statement – “in pragmatism and are nuanced interpretations of the Roadmap in order to bring matters to a conclusion.” That is the point of departure.

In truth, the substitution of agreement to the Schmid Commission Report instead of the McLaren Reports should be enough to satisfy the first requirement of the WADA Roadmap, that Russia take institutional responsibility for its 2011-15 doping scheme. The Schmid Commission Report is quite clear on this.

So we are left with the final requirement, which is access to the Moscow Lab database and stored samples, which have been under the control of an internal Russian “Investigative Committee” for several years. This is where Reedie and Niggli came up short.

The numbers at issue are not small. The WADA Compliance Review Committee recommendation for reinstatement noted that WADA’s own internal expert stated that “the Moscow laboratory’s LIMS database includes 9,453 suspicious findings that were not reported in ADAMS, some of which relate to the 2,876 samples still stored at the Moscow laboratory.”

The iNADO statement, issued on Monday, was clear:

“Given the many months of prior silence it is hard not to be cynical that a proposal, based on weakened terms to accommodate Russia, comes before ExCo at the 11th hour. …

“Both the process and the recommendation itself have been roundly criticized by numerous athlete and anti-doping organizations. Indeed, the fact that these pivotal groups in anti-doping will have no say in a decision which has enormous repercussions for them demonstrates fundamental flaws in the construct of WADA governance. …

“iNADO looks forward to the full return of RUSADA to compliance at the earliest legitimate moment. However, based on the letters exchanged by Russia and WADA, any reasonable person would conclude that Russia has not yet fulfilled its obligations to the global sporting community. WADA must make its decisions based on consistent application of principles and not simply out of expedience pandering to the will of a powerful nation.”

Its call was for the recommendation of the Compliance Review Committee to be tabled.

The statement co-posted by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, U.K. Anti-Doping and others, also asked for the decision on reinstating Russia be postponed:

“Leaders urge WADA not to reinstate RUSADA until such time as it is in receipt of all Moscow Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) analytical data, allowing anti-doping rule violations to be pursued and justice to be sought for clean athletes impacted by the Pound and McLaren Reports.”

This statement goes further, noting that “Of particular concern is the fact that the Russian Government has yet to provide appropriate access for WADA to the stored urine samples in the Moscow Laboratory.” And:

“For the avoidance of doubt, we, the international anti-doping leaders wish to place on record that the goal posts have been moved. The Roadmap has changed. This is quite simply unacceptable and will not restore confidence in global sport at a time when athletes and sports fans need it most. We implore WADA not to consider reinstating RUSADA until such time as it is in receipt of all Moscow Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) analytical data, which is essential information and evidence that will help pursue anti-doping rule violations across all sports identified in the Pound and McLaren Reports. Until Russia provides this information and access to samples for reanalysis, unconditionally and within an agreed timeframe, it cannot be deemed to have met this crucial Roadmap requirement. (Emphasis added)

“The global athlete community has taken an unprecedented step to voice their concerns at the WADA Compliance Review Committee’s sudden and new recommendation to reinstate Russia at WADA’s Executive Committee meeting on the Seychelles on 20 September. It sends a message to the world that doping is tolerated at a time when we need to send the entirely opposite message.”

The WADA Executive Committee’s meeting will now be the subject of much scrutiny, as will each of its 12 members. As we noted on Monday, there are multiple options on the table and there will be pressure to give the Russians some relief – remember the IOC reinstated the Russian National Olympic Committee last February – and agreeing that the Schmid Commission Report satisfies one of the two remaining issues could be agreed to.

That would focus the attention on the major issue remaining: access to the Moscow Lab database and the stored samples, which could be re-analyzed by a fully-accredited WADA lab close by; there are two within two hours flight time, in Helsinki (FIN) and Warsaw (POL).

How can Russia be re-admitted without WADA having the Moscow Lab database in hand and access to the 2,876 samples stored there? And if WADA does vote to re-admit Russia, what chance is there that anyone other than the IOC will keep funding it? Maybe Russia will become WADA’s financial backer?!? The discussion should be about Russia, but it’s now all about what WADA will do. Sad.

Rich Perelman
Editor

SWIMMING: FINA World Cup money list posted for Cluster 1

By
Rich Perelman
-
Swedish swimming sprint superstar Sarah Sjostrom

FINA posted the final standings for the first cluster of its 2018 Swimming World Cup, and the payouts for the top eight in the point standings after the first two meets:

Men:
1. 90 Anton Chupkov (RUS) ($50,000)
2. 87 Michael Andrew (USA) ($35,000)
3. 84 Vladimir Morozov (RUS) ($30,000)
4. 72 Mitch Larkin (AUS) ($20,000)
5. 57 Blake Pieroni (USA) ($10,000)
6. 54 David Verraszto (HUN) ($ 5,000)
7. 48 Andrii Govorov (UKR) ($ 4,000)
8. 45 Felipe Lima (BRA) ($ 3,000)

Women:
1. 120 Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) ($50,000)
2. 90 Katinka Hosszu (HUN) ($35,000)
3. 78 Yulia Efimova (RUS) ($30,000)
4. 66 Kira Toussaint (NED) ($20,000)
5. 63 Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) ($10,000)
6. 51 Femke Heemskerk (NED) ($ 5,000)
7. 48 Vitalina Simonova (RUS) ($ 4,000)
8. 45 Zsuzsanna Jakabos (HUN) ($ 3,000)

The second cluster starts in Eindhoven (NED) on 28 September.

ATHLETICS: Remember Allyson Felix?

By
Rich Perelman
-
More Worlds medal than anyone else: American sprint icon Allyson Felix (Photo: Wikipedia)

What’s happened to Allyson Felix?

We didn’t see much of the six-time Olympic gold medalist in 2018; she ran just five times between late April and mid-June, with very modest results: 11.30 in the 100 m and 51.35 in the 400 m.

But she has a plan and noted it a couple of days ago on Twitter:

“season #15 was different for me. an investment in myself. i had a limited race schedule, so that i can be at my best the next few years. most of the work i did was unseen. as a competitor it’s hard to see the bigger picture, but I trust the plan & look forward to it paying off!”

Felix has suffered since 2016 from the workout injury that nearly derailed her Olympic hopes for Rio, then managed two relay golds at the 2017 World Championships and a bronze medal in the 400 m behind Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH) and Salwa Eid Naser (BRN).

She knows that she has to run faster than ever before – and she’s 32 now – to compete with those two and so the training time is now key. It’s not enough to be healthy enough to compete; she needs to be healthy enough to put in the kind of training that is going to lower her 400 m best from 49.26 (‘15) to challenge Miller-Uibo’s 48.97 and Naser’s 49.08 marks from 2018.

Felix’s favorite event is the 200 m, but she hasn’t seriously approached her 21.69 best from 2012 since then. The best in 2018? Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith at 21.89 at the European Championships.

Felix is right; that training time is the investment she needs to have a chance to compete at the elite level again.

WATER POLO: Hungary beats Australia to win men’s World Cup

By
Rich Perelman
-

Surely Serbia was the favorite in the 16th men’s Water Polo World Cup, having won the last three and then co-leading Group B in the group phase of the tournament in Berlin (GER).

But the decisive game came in the championship semifinals, as Hungary, second in Group A, managed a 12-11 win to advance to the title contest against Australia. The Aussies were only third in Group A, but had beaten group-winner Germany, 10-9, and faced the Germans again.

The result was the same, almost to the score: Australia 11, Germany 10.

That set up the final and the Hungarians won the World Cup title for the first time since 1999 and their fourth title overall with a commanding 10-4 win. Hungary took a 4-2 halftime lead and then took an 8-2 lead in the third quarter and cruised home. Australia won only its second medal in this event, previously a bronze in 1993; Australia’s Aaron Younger was named as the best player in the tournament.

The Serbians won their fourth straight World Cup medal, defeating Germany, 15-9, in the bronze-medal match. The U.S. finished sixth, losing to Croatia, 10-7, in the 5-6 final. The complete results are here.

TRIATHLON: Mola & Holland win World Series titles; Zaferes second

By
Rich Perelman
-

The Grand Final of the 2018 ITU World Series was expected to be a coronation for Spain’s Mario Mola and a fight to the finish between Katie Zaferes of the U.S. and Vicky Holland (GBR) for the women’s seasonal title. And that’s exactly how it played out.

Zaferes and Holland had their eyes on each other throughout the race, knowing that whoever finished ahead of the other was going to be the season champion. They were close out of the water, on the bike and into the run phase.

The two contenders were joined by Australian Ashleigh Gentle in a breakaway and the trio would all finish on the podium. Zaferes and Gentle stayed in front through the first 5 km, but then it was Holland who pressed the pace with 3 km left and dropped Zaferes on the final lap. Gentle sprinted for the win, but the seasonal crown went to Holland, 5,540-5,488.

“I can’t actually believe it,” said Holland afterwards. “I thought at one point of the run that it was done because there was quite a big gap there. I can’t believe I brought it back in. This season as a whole has been absolutely incredible with three wins, two seconds and now the world title. It is so much more than I thought I would get out of the year!”

Said Zaferes, who moved up from third last season to second, “I gave it my all and I tried new things and I took a risk that didn’t pay off in the end, but I am proud of myself for trying it and really going for the win. I am never surprised; the thing about Vicky is that she is a fighter to the end and I was just trying to fight as well. For a while I felt really good, then not so good, but I tried to keep fighting right to the end and keep coming back till I finished but I couldn’t do it. I took another step in the right direction, so there is always next year.”

Mola didn’t win either, but finished second to France’s Vincent Luis – a training partner – and won his third straight seasonal title. The two were part of a leading pack of five on the run, but Luis scooted to the lead on the final lap, dropped Mola and Richard Murray (RSA) and cruised home for a 13-second win. While Mola won the season’s title, Luis got up for second and was the only one other than Mola to compile more than 5,000 points.

“I have a lot of feelings,” said Mola. “It has been a great season and finishing with a second place behind my training partner – it was a great race. I’ll try to make it four in a row next year and it’s in my hands to come back next year and be better.”

Mola won not only his third straight World Series title, but his sixth straight year with a top-three finish and the sixth year in a row that a Spaniard has won the title. Summaries:

ITU World Series Grand Final
Gold Coast (AUS) ~ 15-16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Vincent Luis (FRA), 1:44:34; 2. Mario Mola (ESP), 1:44:48; 3. Richard Murray (RSA), 1:44:56; 4. Pierre Le Corre (FRA), 1:45:01; 5. Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR), 1:45:04; 6. Henri Schoeman (RSA), 1:45:06; 7. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS), 1:45:46; 8. Jonny Brownlee (GBR), 1:45:51; 9. Marten van Riel (BEL), 1:45:56; 10. Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN), 1:45:57. Also in the top 25: 16. Eli Hemming (USA), 1:46:38.

Final 2018 Standings: 1. Mario Mola (ESP), 6,081; 2. Vincent Luis (FRA), 5,060; 3. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS), 4,884; 4. Richard Murray (RSA), 4,792; 5. Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR), 3.936; 6. Fernando Alarza (ESP), 3,520; 7. Henri Schoeman (RSA), 3,438; 8. Pierre Le Corre (FRA), 3,215; 9. Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN), 3,194; 10. Marten van Riel (BEL), 2,960.

Women: 1. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS), 1:52:00; 2. Vicky Holland (GBR), 1:52:02; 3. Katie Zaferes (USA), 1:52:33; 4. Laura Lindemann (GER), 1:52:53; 5. Kirsten Kasper (USA), 1:53:15; 6. Melanie Santos (POR), 1:53:26; 7. Taylor Spivey (USA), 1:53:28; 8. Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR), 1:53:31; 9. Leonie Periault (FRA), 1:53:33; 10. Jodie Stimpson (GBR), 1:53:41. Also in the top 25: 13. Chelsea Burns (USA), 1:54:06.

Final 2018 Standings: 1. Vicky Holland (GBR), 5,540; 2. Katie Zaferes (USA), 5,488; 3. Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR), 4,183; 4. Kirsten Kasper (USA), 3,887; 5. Jessica Learmonth (GBR), 3,810; 6. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS), 3,750; 7. Jodie Stimpson (GBR), 3,658; 8. Taylor Spivey (USA), 3,603; 9. Laura Lindemann (GER), 3,423; 10. Rachel Klamer (NED), 3,306. Also in the top 25: 22. Chelsea Burns (USA), 1,943; … 25. Summer Cook (USA), 1,767.

SWIMMING: Xin repeats in Open Water World Cup

By
Rich Perelman
-

China’s Xin Xin is making her case to be considered as one of the world’s top open-water swimmers with her second consecutive victory in the FINA Marathon Swim World Series, this time in home waters at Chun’An (CHN).

Fourth in the 10 km Open Water event in Rio, but just 17th in the 10 km at last year’s World Championships, she touched just less than a second ahead of Leonie Beck (GER) and Brazil’s Ana Marcela Cunha in Sunday’s race.

In the men’s race, Britain’s Jack Burnell – the 2016 European 10 km silver winner – outlasted a group of 10 swimmers on the final lap to touch first. He1:56:34.8, just 0.1 ahead of Germany’s Rob Muffels.

Olympic and world distance swimming champion Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) and Rio open-water champ Ferry Weertman (NED) followed in less than a second.

Prize money in this event was $3,500-3,000-2,500-1,700-1,500-1,200-950-650 for the top eight place winners in both the men’s and women’s races. The final event in the series will be on 9 November in Abu Dhabi (UAE). Summaries:

FINA Marathon Swim World Series no. 7
Chun’An (CHN) ~ 16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men (10 km): 1. Jack Burnell (GBR), 1:56:34.8; 2. Rob Frederik Muffels (GER), 1:56:34.9; 3. Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), 1:56:35.3; 4. Ferry Weertman (NED), 1:56:36.8; 5. Kristof Rasovszky (HUN), 1:56:37.3.

Women (10 km): 1. Xin Xin (CHN), 2:06:22.6; 2. Leonie Beck (GER), 2:06:23.4; 3. Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA), 2:06:23.5; 4. Sharon van Rouwendaal (NED), 2:06:24.9; 5. Finnia Wunram (GER), 2:06:25.5.

SWIMMING: Hosszu swims 15 events, wins seven, in World Cup II

By
Rich Perelman
-
Triple Olympic Champion Katinka Hosszu (HUN)

She’s unbelievable.

Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu swam in 15 (!) events in the second World Cup, held in Doha (QAT) and won seven events and took home an astonishing 12 medals:

1st: 7: 400-800 m Free, 200-400 m Medley, 100-200 m Back, 200 m Fly
2nd: 1: Mixed 4×100 m Free
3rd: 4: 200 m Free, 50 m Back, 50 m Breast, Mixed 4×100 m Medley
5th: 1: 100 m Breast
6th: 1: 200 m Breast
8th: 1: 50 m Free

Her legend as “The Iron Lady” continues to grow, even though she was surpassed in points for the meet by her main rival in the World Cup, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom.

FINA’s rules only allow swimmers to score in three events and Sjostrom did her job and more, winning five events for the second meet in a row, in the 50-100-200 m Frees and 50-100 m Fly. She also had the top performance on the FINA points table, so for the second week in a row, she should collect (on our scorecard), 60 points for a two-meet total of 120 and a win in the first cluster.

That will be worth a $50,000 bonus, with Hosszu second, worth $30,000.

In the men’s events, American Blake Pieroni won three events – the 100-200-400 Frees – to equal Australia’s Mitch Larkin, who took the 100-200 m Backs and the 200 m Medley. Both Brazil’s Felipe Lima (50-100 m Breaststroke) and American Michael Andrew (50 m Back, 100 m Fly) won two events each. On our scorecard, Russian sprinter Vladimir Morozov – who won the 50 m Free and had two other seconds – tied with Andrew at 84 points for the top scorer in the first cluster. FINA will announce the official standings (and payouts) this week.

The other big winner in Doha was Russian breaststroker Yuliya Efimova, who won all three events in the 50 m, 100 m and 200 m distances.

Prize money for the events is not capped by FINA and with $1,500-1,000-500-400-300-200 in individual events and $3,000-2,000-1,000 for relays, Hosszu won $13,750 in Doha!

The World Cup now moves to short-course (25 m) pools with the next cluster starting in Eindhoven (NED) from 28-30 September. Summaries from Doha:

FINA Swimming World Cup II
Doha (QAT) ~ 13-15 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

50 m Freestyle: 1. Vladimir Morozov (RUS), 21.80; 2. Michael Andrew (USA), 21.95; 3. Blake Pieroni (USA), 22.17.

100 m Free: 1. Pieroni (USA), 48.11; 2. Morozov (RUS), 48.43; 3. Pieter Timmers (BEL), 49.04.

200 m Free: 1. Pieroni (USA), 1:47.20; 2. Kyle Stolk (NED), 1:49.45; 3. Lorenz Weiremans (BEL), 1:49.68.

400 m Free: 1. Pieroni (USA), 3:53.98; 2. Weiremans (BEL), 3:54.94; 3. Yuhang Wu (CHN), 3:55.57.

1,500 m Free: 1. Marcos Gil Corbacho (ESP), 15:28.19; 2. Ferran Julia Tous (ESP), 15:42.84; 3. Zheqi Lin (CHN), 15:57.24.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Andrew (USA), 24.49; 2. Morozov (RUS), 24.79; 3. Mitch Larkin (AUS), 25.15.

100 m Back: 1. Larkin (AUS), 53.68; 2. Andrew (USA), 54.11; 3. Morozov (RUS), 55.07.

200 m Back: 1. Larkin (AUS), 1:57.45; 2. Manuel Martos (ESP), 2:02.52; 3. David Verraszto (HUN), 2:07.08.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Felipe Lima (BRA), 26.84; 2. Andrew (USA), 27.47; 3. Kirill Prigoda (RUS), 27.60.

100 m Breast: 1. Lima (BRA), 59.61; 2. Arno Kamminga (NED), 59.74; 3. Anton Chupkov (RUS), 59.89.

200 m Breast: 1. Chupkov (RUS), 2:08.77; 2. Kamminga (NED), 2:11.21; 3. Prigoda (RUS), 2:11.61.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Andrii Govorov (UKR), 22.82; 2. Andrew (USA), 23.21; 3. Ryan Coetzee (RSA), 23.54.

100 m Fly: 1. Andrew (USA), 51.83; 2. Coetzee (RSA), 52.20; 3. Mathys Goosen (NED), 52.99.

200 m Fly: 1. Maksym Shenberev (AZE), 1:58.45; 2. Verraszto (HUN), 1:58.70; 3. Yuhang Wu (CHN), 1:59.81.

200 m Medley: 1. Larkin (AUS), 1:59.14; 2. Tomas Peribonio Avila (ECU), 2:00.40; 3. Prigoda (RUS), 2:03.47.

400 m Medley: 1. Verraszto (HUN), 4:13.44; 2. Shemberev (AZE), 4:13.61; 3. Peribonio Avila (ECU), 4:17.02.

Women

50 m Freestyle: 1. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 23.99; 2. Femke Heemskerk (NED), 24.54; 3. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 24.62. Also: 8. Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 26.41.

100 m Free: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 53.13; 2. Kromowidjojo (NED), 53.29; 3. Heemskerk (NED), 53.34.

200 m Free: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 1:56.32; 2. Heemskerk (NED), 1:56.92; 3. Hosszu (HUN), 2:00.16.

400 m Free: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 4:10.02; 2. Heemskerk (NED), 4;12.56; 3. Chanzhen Zhou (CHN), 4:13.62.

800 m Free: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 8:34.58; 2. Zhou (CHN), 8:35.67; 3. Andrea Galisteo Zapatero (ESP), 8:43.99.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Kira Toussaint (NED), 28.01; 2. Kromowidjojo (NED), 28.49; 3. Hosszu (HUN), 28.57.

100 m Back: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 59.63; 2. Kira Toussaint (NED), 1:00.05; 3. tie, Tamara Frias Molina (ESP) and Yuru Jiang (CHN), 1:02.47.

200 m Back: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:11.00; 2. Toussaint (NED), 2:13.24; 3. Jiang (CHN), 2:15.54.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Yuliya Efimova 9RUS), 30.43; 2. Vitalina Simonova (RUS), 32.01; 3. Hosszu (HUN), 32.81.

100 m Breast: 1. Efimova (RUS), 1:06.27; 2. Simonova (RUS), 1:07.90; 3. Sishi Zhang (CHN), 1:10.35. Also: 5. Hosszu (HUN), 1:11.82.

200 m Breast: 1. Efimova (RUS), 2:23.55; 2. Simonova (RUS), 2:24.06; 3. Alba Vazquez (ESP), 2:30.33. Also: 6. Hosszu (HUN), 2:41.60.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 25.22; 2. Kromowidjojo (NED), 25.76; 3. Kimberly Buys (BEL), 25.94.

100 m Fly: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 56.46; 2. Buys (BEL), 58.23; 3. Kromowidjojo (NED), 59.40.

200 m Fly: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:09.26; 2. Zsuzsanna Jakabos (HUN), 2:10.34; 3. Carina Brand (RSA), 2:35.58.

200 m Medley: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:11.57; 2. Efimova (RUS), 2:13.60; 3. S. Zhang (CHN), 2:14.23.

400 m Medley: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 4:39.57; 2. Jakabos (HUN), 4:44.87; 3. Alba Vazquez Ruiz (ESP), 4:48.68.

Mixed

4×100 m Freestyle: 1. Netherlands (Stolk, Puts, Heemskerk, Verraszto), 3:30.81; 2. Hungary, 3:37.71; 3. China, 3:40.76.

4×100 m Medley: 1. Netherlands (Toussaint, Kamminga, Goosen, Heemskerk), 3:49.18; 2. China, 3:58.36; 3.Hungary, 3:59.43.

SPORT CLIMBING: Garnbret dominates World Champs, now Olympic favorite

By
Rich Perelman
-

The IFSC World Championships in Innsbruck (AUT) left one indelible impression: Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret is the favorite to win the women’s event at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Still 19, she was the star of the Worlds with a gold medal in the Bouldering event, ahead of two-time bronze medalist Akiyo Noguchi (JPN), was runner-up to Austria’s Jessica Pilz in the Lead event on time and then overpowered everyone to win the Combined title with just 4.00 points, well ahead of Korea’s Sol Sa (10.00) and Pilz (24.00).

Only the Combined will be held in Tokyo, so Garnbret’s ability in two events makes her the clear, early favorite.

In the men’s Combined, Lead World Champion Jakob Schubert showed the best balance, winning the Bouldering segment from 2014 World Champion Adam Ondra (CZE), finishing second in Lead to Ondra and then finishing second in Speed to Germany’s Jan Hojer. The combination left him with just 4.00 points to 10.00 for Ondra and 24.00 for Hojer. He’s a slight favorite for Tokyo, as the Japanese climbers did not fare well in Innsbruck. Summaries:

IFSC World Championships
Innsbruck (AUT) ~ 6-16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

Bouldering: 1. Kai Harada (JPN), 4T/4z~6; 2. Jongwon Chon (KOR), 3T/4z~19; 3. Gregor Vezonik (SLO), 3T/4z~19; 4. Keita Watabe (JPN), 2T/4z~16; 5. Kokoro Fujii (JPN), 2T/2z~5; 6. Nathan Phillips (GBR), 1T/2z~5.

Lead: 1. Jakob Schubert (AUT), 36+; 2. Adam Ondra (CZE), 36+; 3. Alexander Megos (GER), 33.5; 4. Meichi Natasaki (JPN), 31+; 5. Domen Skofic (SLO), 29+; 6. tie, Jakub Konecny (CZE) and Tomoaki Takata (JPN), 29+; 8. Sascha Lehmann (SUI), 23; 9. Marcello Bombardi (ITA), 20+; 10. Kai Harada (JPN), 16+.

Speed/Final: 1. Reza Alipour (IRI), 5.630; 2. Bassa Mawem (FRA), fell; Small Final: 3. Stanislav Kokorin (RUS), 6.028; 4. Qixin Zhong (CHN), fell.

Combined: 1. Schubert (AUT), 4.00 points; 2. Ondra (CZE), 10.00; 3. Jan Hojer (GER), 24.00; 4. Kai Harada (JPN), 60.00; 5. Tomoa Narasaki (JPN), 72.00; 6. Kokoro Fujii (JPN), 90.00.

Women

Bouldering: 1. Janja Garnbret (SLO), 2T/3z~7; 2. Akiyo Noguchi (JPN), 2T/2z~4;
3. Stasa Gejo (SRB), 1T/2z~1; 4. Jessica Pilz (AUT), 0T/2z~0; 5. Miho Nonaka (JPN), 0T/2z~0; 6. Petra Klingler (SUI), 0T/0z-0.

Lead: 1. Jessica Pilz (AUT), Top; 2. Janja Garnbret (SLO), Top; 3. Jain Kim (KOR), 34+; 4. Mai Kotake (JPN), 33+; 5. Ashima Shiraishi (USA), 32; 6. Anak Verhoeven (BEL), 31+; 7. Mia Krampl (SLO), 31+; 8. tie, Akiyo Noguchi (JPN) and Hannah Schubert (AUT), 31+; 10. Laura Rogora (ITA), 24+.

Speed/Final: 1. Aleksandra Rudzinska (POL), 7.560; 2. Anna Brozek (POL), 7.910. Small Final: 3. Marina Krasavina (RUS); 4. Aleksandra Kalucka (POL), false start.

Combined: 1. Garnbret (SLO), 5.00; 2. Sol Sa (KOR), 12.00; 3. Pilz (AUT), 24.00; 4. Noguchi (JPN), 54.00; 5. Nonaka (JPN), 64.00; 6. Klingler (SUI), 75.00.

SHOOTING: Hancock equals World Record for men’s Skeet gold at ISSF Worlds

By
Rich Perelman
-

Twice Olympic gold medalist Vincent Hancock of the U.S. had his eye on the Skeet title at the ISSF World Championships in Changwon (KOR) and he almost didn’t miss a single shot!

With Olympic qualifying quota spots on the line for the U.S., Hancock went out and equaled the World Record of 125 (0 misses) for the qualifying round first set in 2014 by Italy’s Valerio Lichini (and equaled multiple times since) and then shot 59/60, hitting his last 52 targets to equal the record for finals shooting set by Ricardo Filippelli (ITA) and Ben Llewellin (GBR in 2017; they finished third and sixth, respectively, in the final!

“This was an amazing match,” he said afterwards. “I had a really good 125 and I was able to accomplish my goal which was to come out here and do the best I could. I’m very happy of shooting a 59 and being able to win another gold, it’s one more step. Hopefully I could get to the Olympics and shoot both a 125 and a 60.

“Having won the quota [place] now does change the plans for next year. I had a goal of being able to take some time off next year to try to set myself up and to be able to peak again in 2020. Taking time off after 2016 was a good experience, and it led to a very successful 2017 and obviously a very good 2018. So I’ll try to emulate that, take some time off, spend some time with the family, be happy and love what I do.”

Along with two Olympic golds in 2008-12, this was Hancock’s fourth World Championships gold, to go along with his wins in 2005-09-15.

The 2018 Worlds started the Olympic qualification cycle for Tokyo as 60 quota places – generally the top four in each event – were assigned for the 2020 Games. The U.S. claimed places in the men’s 50 m Rifle/3 Positions (1), men’s Skeet (1), and women’s Skeet (2). Summaries:

ISSF World Championships
Changwon (KOR) ~ 31 August-15 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

10 m Air Pistol: 1. Jong-Oh Jin (KOR), 241.5; 2. Artem Chernousov (24.15), 241.5 (Jin won shoot-off: 10.3-9.5); 3. Dae-Myung Lee (KOR), 220.6; 4. Pavlo Korostylov (UKR), 198.5; 5. Ruslan Lunev (AZE), 177.7; 6. Seung-Woo Han (KOR), 158.8; 7. Quoc Cuong Tran (VIE), 136.9; 8. Abhishek Verma (IND), 118.0.

Team 10 m Air Pistol: 1. Korea (Dae. Lee, Jin, S. Han), 1,747; 2. India (Verma, Mitharval, Rizvi), 1,738; 3. Russia (Chernousov, Koulakov, Gourianov), 1,736; 4. Vietnam, 1,731; 5. Serbia, 1,729; 6. Ukraine, 1,729; 7. China, 1,726; 8. Italy, 1,726. Also: 17. United States (Nick Mowrer, Jerson Herndon, James Hall), 1,710.

10 m Running Target/Final: 1. Jesper Nyberg (SWE), 6; 2. Maxi Stepanov (RUS), 3. Third: Vladislav Prianishnikov (RUS), 6; 4. Lukasz Czapla (CZE), 4.

Team 10 m Running Target: 1. Russia (Prianishnikov, Stepanov, Shchepotkin), 1,734; 2. DPR Korea, 1,722; 3. Sweden, 1,718; 4. Finland, 1,696; 5. Korea, 1,685; 6. Hungary, 1674; 7. China, 1,674; only entrants.

25 m Rapid Fire Pistol: 1. Junmin Lin (CHN), 32; 2. Jian Zhang (CHN), 31; 3. Jean Quiquampoix (FRA), 24; 4. Alexei Klimov (RUS), 20; 5. Oliver Geis (GER), 12; 6. Junhong Kim (KOR), 12.

Team 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol: 1. China (Lin, Zhang, Yao), 1,756 (World Record; old, 1,749, China, 2010); 2. Germany (Geis, Reitz, Freckmann), 1,751; 3. Korea (Kim, Song, Park), 1,745; 4. France, 1,742; 5. Russia, 1,741; 6. Ukraine, 1,737; 7. Czech Republic, 1,727; 8. Poland, 1,724. Also: 12. United States (Keith Sanderson, Brian Kim, Alexander Chichkov), 1,702.

10 m Air Rifle: 1. Sergey Kamenskiy (RUS), 248.4; 2. Petar Gorsa (CRO), 247.5; 3. Miran Maricic (CRO), 227.3; 4. Zicheng Hui (CHN), 206.1; 5. Hoaran Yang (CHN), 185.7; 6. Deepak Kumar (IND), 164.1; 7. Mahyar Sedaghat (IRI), 143.0; 8. Taeyun Nam (KOR), 121.4.

Team 10 m Air Rifle: 1. China (Yang, Hui Yu), 1,887.4 (World Record; old, 1,886.5, China, 2014); 2. Russia (Kamenskiy, Maslennikov, Dryagin), 1,884.0; 3. Korea (Nam, Kim, Song), 1,878.5; 4. India, 1,878.4; 5. Croatia, 1,878.3; 6. Japan, 1,877.6; 7. Hungary, 1,876.6; 8. Iran, 1,875.9. Also: 17. United States (Bryant Wallizer, Dempster Christiansen, Lucas Kozeniesky), 1,866.0.

50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Tomasz Bartnik (POL), 460.4; 2. Petar Gorsa (CRO), 457.4; 3. Michael McPhail (USA), 446.9; 4. Henrik Larsen (NOR), 437.0; 5. Haoran Yang (CHN), 427.4; 6. Zicheng Hui (CHN), 416.4; 7. Vitali Bubnovich (BLR), 401.4; 8. Dane Sampson (AUS), 401.0.

Team 50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Russia (Louginets, Maslennikov, Kamenskiy), 3,535 (World Record; old, 3,529, China, 2013); 2. China (Yang, Hui, Yao), 3,532; 3. Belarus (Shcherbatsevich, Chareika, Bobnovich), 3,526; 4. France, 3,522; 5. Austria, 3,516; 6. Norway, 3,513; 7. United States (Matt Emmons, Michael McPhail, Lucas Kozeniesky), 3,511; 8. Ukraine, 3,510.

300 m Rifle/Prone: 1. Rajmond Debevec (SLO), 592; 2. Daniel Romanczyk (POL), 592; 3. Josip Kuna (CRO), 590; 4. Gilles Vincent Defaux (SUI), 589; 5. Jan Lochbihler (SUI), 589; 6. McPhail (USA), 588; 7. Sitan Bogar (NOR), 588; 8. Valerian Sauveplane (FRA), 588. Also: 27. Johnny Whidden Jr. (USA), 581.

Team 300 m Rifle/Prone: 1. France (Moreno Flores, Sauveplane, D’Halluin), 1,761; 2. Switzerland (Defaux, Lochbihler, Ackermann), 1,757; 3. Norway (Bryhn, Bogar, Brekne), 1,755; 4. Sweden, 1,753; 5. Korea, 1,752; 6. Austria, 1,744; 7. Poland, 1,729; 8. United States (Michael McPhail, Johnny Widden, Jr., Joseph Hein), 1,727.

300 m Rifle/Standard: 1. Aleksi Leppa (FIN), 580; 2. Karl Olsson (SWE), 576; 3. Odd Arne Brekne (NOR), 576; 4. Young Jeon Choi (KOR), 576; 5. Lochbihler (SUI), 575; 6. Alexis Raynaud (FRA), 575; 7. Defaux (SUI), 574; 8. Peter Sidi (HUN), 574. Also: 27. Bradley Yliniemi (USA), 554; … 31. Mark Gould (USA), 549

Team 300 m Rifle/Standard: 1. Norway (Brekne, Lund, Bryhn), 1,722; 2. Korea (Choi, lee, Cheon), 1,711; 3. Switzerland (Lochbihler, Defaux, Rossi), 1,708; 4. France, 1,691; 5. Austria, 1,691; 6. Slovenia, 1,691; 7. Saudi Arabia, 1,656; 8. India, 1,642.

Skeet: 1. Vince Hancock (USA), 59 (equals World Record, also by Ricardo Filippelli (ITA), 2017 and Ben Llewellin (GBR), 2017); 2. Erik Watndal (NOR), 55; 3. Riccardo Filippelli (ITA), 45; 4. Emmanuel Petit (FRA), 37; 5. Jakub Tomecek (CZE), 27; 6. Ben Llewellin (GBR), 17.

Team Skeet: 1. France (Petit, Delaunay, Terras), 365; 2. Italy (Filippelli, Rossetti, Cassandro), 363; 3. Russia (Astakhov, Zemlin, Startsev), 361; 4. United States (Vince Hancock, Frank Thompson, Phillip Russell), 360; 5. Germany, 359; 6. Finland, 358; 7. Korea, 357; 8. Cyprus, 357.

Trap: 1. Alberto Fernandez (ESP), 48 (equals World Record, Fernandez, 2017); 2. Erik Varga (SVK), 47; 3. Abdulrahman Al Faihan (KUW), 32; 4. James Willett (AUS), 28; 5. Mauro de Filippis (ITA), 23; 6. Walton Eller (USA), 17.

Team Trap: 1. Kuwait (Abdul Al Faihan, Talai Alrashidi, Khaled Almudhaf), 360; 2. United States (Walton Eller, Grayson Davey, Casey Wallace), 360; 3. Italy (De Filippis, Pellielo, Grazini), 360; 4. Russia, 359; 5. Croatia, 358; 6. Czech Republic, 357; 7. Portugal, 356; 8. Slovakia, 355.

Women

10 m Air Pistol: 1. Anna Korakaki (GRE), 241.1; 2. Zorana Arunovic (SRB), 239.8; 3. Bomi Kim (KOR), 218.8; 4. Qian Wang (CHN), 198.1; 5. Ranxin Jiang (CHN), 178.7; 6. Vitalina Batsarashkina (RUS), 157.2; 7. Klaudia Bres (POL), 136.9; 8. Minjung Kim (KOR), 116.5.

Team 10 m Air Pistol: 1. China (Jiang, Wang, Ji), 1,739 (World Record; new event); 2. Korea (Min. Kim, B. Kim, Kwak), 1,734; 3. Russia (Batsarashkina, Lomova, Medvedeva), 1,720; 4. India, 1,713; 5. France, 1,712; 6. Iran, 1,711; 7. Poland, 1,710; 8. Chinese Taipei, 1,708. Also: 14. United States (Sandra Uptagrafft, Lexi Lagan, Nathalia Granados), 1,700.

10 m Running Target/Final: 1. Olga Stepanova (RUS), 7; 2. Xue Yan Li (CHN), 5. Third: 3. Galina Avramenko (UKR), 6; 4. Ji Ye Ri (PRK), 3.

Team 10 m Running Target: 1. China (Li, Su, Huang), 1,673 (World Record; new event); 2. DPR Korea, 1,672; 3. Russia, 1,668; 4. Ukraine, 1,659; 5. Korea, 1,613; only entrants.

25 m Pistol: 1. Olena Kostevych (UKR), 37; 2. Batsarashkina (RUS), 37 (Kostevych won shoot-out, 4-4-3 to 4-4-2); 3. Doreen Vennekamp (GER), 31; 4. Chia Chen Tien (TPE), 26; 5. Monika Karsch (GER), 18; 6. Jungeun Lee (KOR), 16; 7. Aldana Said Almubarak (QAT), 11; 8. Xiu Hong Teh (SGP), 7.

Team 25 m Air Pistol: 1. China (Jiang, Lin, Yao), 1,746; 2. Korea (Lee, Kim, Kwak), 1,746; 3. Germany (Karsch, Vennekamp, Skeries), 1,744; 4. Poland, 1,741; 5. Bulgaria, 1,739; 6. India, 1,738; 7. Russia, 1,738; 8. France, 1,736. Also: 12. United States (Uptagrafft, Lagan, Brenda Silva), 1,726.

10 m Air Rifle: 1. Hana Im (KOR), 251.1; 2. Anjum Moudgil (IND), 248.4; 3. Eunhea Jung (KOR), 228.0; 4. Apurvi Chandela (INDZ0, 207.0; 5. Adele Tan (SGP), 184.3; 6. Ying-Shin Lin (TPE), 163.4; 7. Petra Zublasing (ITA), 142.9; 8. Isabella Straub (GER), 122.1.

Team 10 m Air Rifle: 1. Korea (Im, Jung, Keum), 1,886.2 (World Record; new event); 2. India (Moudgil, Chandela, Ghosh), 1,879.0; 3. Germany (Straub, Gschwandtner, Simon), 1,878.4; 4. Chinese Taipei, 1,878.2; 5. Mongolia, 1,877.3; 6. China, 1,876.5; 7. Russia, 1,875.6; 8. Romania, 1,873.5. Also: 16. United States (Sarah Beard, Minden Miles, Alison Weisz), 1,867.0.

50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Yulia Karimova (RUS), 461.1; 2. Isabella Straub (GER), 459.5; 3. Snjezana Pejcic (CRO), 446.4; 4. Seonald McIntosh (GBR), 435.0; 5. Nina Christen (SUI), 424.4; 6. Xiangyan Wan (CHN), 414.3; 7. Jenny Stene (NOR), 404.7; 8. Franziska Peer (AUT), 400.9.

Team 50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Germany (Straub, Beer, Orth), 3,521 (World Record; new event); 2. Denmark (Ibsen, Neilsen, Grundsoee), 3,518; 3. Russia (Kairmova, Khorosheva, Zykova), 3,511; 4. China, 3,510; 5. Norway, 3,503; 6. Korea, 3,501; 7. United States (Sarah Beard, Sagen Maddalena, Mackensie Martin), 3,493; 8. Austria, 3,491.

300 m Rifle/Prone: 1. Sohee Bae (KOR), 592; 2. Eva Roesken (GER), 588; 3. Silvia Guignard Schnyder (SUI), 586; 4. Elin Ahlin (SWE), 585; 5. Lisa Mueller (GER), 584; 6. Helen Freiman (NZL), 584; 7. Charlotte Jakobsen (DEN), 583; 8. Bitna Eum (NOR), 582. Also: 13. Sarah Beard (USA), 580; … Reya Kempley (USA), 573; … 32. Denise Loring (USA), 562.

Team 300 m Rifle/Prone: 1. Germany (Roesken, Mueller, Beer), 1,748; 2. Korea (Sohee Bae, Eum, Sang Bae), 1,737; 3. Switzerland (Guignard Schnyder, Bruehlmann, Schnider), 1,737; 4. Sweden, 1,734; 5. Ukraine, 1,731; 6. Austria, 1,726; 7. Estonia, 1,725; 8. Poland, 1,719. Also: 9. United States (Sarah Beard, Reya Kempley, Denise Loring), 1,715.

300 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Mueller (GER), 1,161 (World Record; new event); 2. Jolyn Beer (GER), 1,161 (equals World Record); 3. Ahlin (SWE), 1,159; 4. Franzisak Peer (AUT), 1,157; 5. Beard (USA), 1,154; 6. Sohee Bae (KOR), 1,150; 7. Guignard Schnyder (SUI), 1,150; 8. Roesken (GER), 1,147. Also: 23. Kempley (USA), 1,117; … 30. Loring (USA), 1,053.

Team 300 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Germany (Mueller, Beer, Roesken), 3,469 (World Record; new event); 2. Austria (Peer, Hofmann, Ungerank), 3,436; 3. Switzerland (Guignard Schnyder, Schnider, Bruehlmann), 3,429; 4. Sweden, 3.419; 5. Korea, 3,373; 6. Ukraine, 3,370; 7. Estonia, 3,368; 8. Poland, 3,365. Also: 9. United States (Beard, Kempley, Loring), 3,324.

Skeet: 1. Caitlin Connor (USA), 57; 2. Kim Rhode (USA), 56; 3. Amber English (USA), 46; 4. Danka Bartenova (SVK), 36; 5. Natalia Vinogradova (RUS), 26; 6. Andri Eleftheriou (CYP), 14.

Team Skeet: 1. United States (Connor, Rhode, English), 355 (World Record, new event); 2. Italy (Spada, Bacosi, Cainero), 347; 3. Cyprus (Eleftheriou, Nikolaou, Andreou), 345; 4. Germany, 341; 5. Thailand, 330; 6. Korea, 329; 7. Poland, 329; 8. Czech Republic, 324.

Trap: 1. Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova (SVK), 45; 2. Xiaojing Wang (CHN), 45 (Rehak Stefecekova won shoot-off, 3-2); 3. Silvana Stanco (ITA), 36; 4. Laetisha Scanlan (AUS), 30; 5. Chun Lin Yi (CHN), 25; 6. Beatriz Martinez (ESP), 19.

Team Trap: 1. Italy (Stanco, Rossi, Iezzi), 343 (World Record; new event); 2. Spain (Martinez, Galvez, Munoz), 342; 3. United States (Kayle Browning, Ashley Carroll, Aeriel Skinner), 339; 4. China, 338; 5. Chinese Taipei, 329; 6. Finland, 329; 7. Korea, 326; 8. India, 325. Mixed

Team 10 m Air Pistol: 1. Vitalina Batsarashkina/Artem Chernousov (RUS), 488.1; 2. Qian Wang/Meng Yi Wang (CHN), 480.2; 3. Olena Kostevych/Oleh Omelchuk (UKR), 416.7; 4. Zorana Arunovic/Damir Mikec (SRB), 376.7; 5. Sonia Franquet/Pablo Carrera (ESP), 331.6.

Team 10 m Air Rifle: 1. Ruozhu Zhao/Haoran Yang (CHN), 500.9; 2. Mingyang Wu/Buhan Song (CHN), 500.6; 3. Anastasia Galashina/Vladimir Maslennikov (RUS), 434.2; 4. Laura-Georgeta Coman/Alin George Moldoveanu (ROU), 390.5; 5. Isabella Straub/Maximillian Dallinger (GER), 346.9.

Team Mixed Trap: 1. Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova/Erik Varga (SVK), 45; 2. Ekaterina Rabaya/Alexey Alipov (RUS), 40; 3. Kirsty Barr/Aaron Heading (GBR), 33; 4. Silvana Stanco/Mauro de Filippis (ITA), 28; 5. Jessica Rossi/Giovanni Pellielo (ITA), 22; 6. Safiye Sariturk/Oguzhan Tuzun (TUR), 18.

1...888990...102Page 89 of 102
© 2017-2025 Perelman Pioneer & Company