US pole vaulter sends Aussies into isolation

The fragile nature of an Olympics during the training track this week, and Australia an- pandemic came into sharp focus Thursday nounced it had put its entire 54-person team Australia’s Stephanie when the entire Australian track team spent (41 athletes and 13 offi cials) in isolation and Anna Kershaw (14) time in a brief quarantine after American pole subjected it to testing after three athletes and New Zealand’s Liz vaulter Sam Kendricks pulled out of the To- reported having casual contact with Kend- Thompson (16) battle for kyo Games because of a positive COVID-19 ricks. the ball during a women’s test. A few hours after that, the Australian Olym- fi eld hockey match at the The news about Kendricks - a two-time pic Committee announced the trio had tested 2020 Summer Olympics, world champion and the American record negative and all but those three had been on July 29, in Tokyo, holder - deprived the meet of one of its high- cleared to return to normal activities. Japan. (AP) profi le athletes, then rippled across the sport, The three athletes remained in isolation, which was scheduled to open less than 24 allowed to resume practice under strict dis- hours after the announcement. tancing protocols. Australia said everyone He was one of dozens of athletes on the was expected to be able to compete. (AP)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 30-31, 2021

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Canadian women get 1st hoops win over South Korea Spain beat Argentina, tie Doncic’s Slovenia atop Group C SAITAMA, Japan, July 29, (AP): to Doncic and lost 118-100 in its Hernangomez had the fi nal four the third quarter and led 49-39 go- scored 26 points and opener. added 13 and points to make it 40-34 at halftime. ing into the fourth. Spain remained unbeaten in the had 10. Spain opened a 14-point lead on Natalie Achonwa fi nished with Olympics by beating Argentina 81- This game, featuring 41-year- Gasol’s three-point play in the fi nal a double-double - 14 points and 10 71 on Thursday in a rematch of the olds and Scola meeting minute of the third. Argentina cut rebounds -for Canada. The 6-foot-3 World Cup. again in their men’s basketball re- it to eight headed to the fourth but forward looked comfortable playing added 10 for Spain, cord-tying fi fth Olympics, was the Spain quickly pulled away again, with a brace on her right knee that which improved to 2-0 and will latest matchup between nations that pushing it to 16 points midway she sprained June 12 with the WN- face Luka Doncic and Slovenia on have been basketball’s best outside through the period. BA’s Minnesota Lynx. Kayla Alex- Sunday for the top spot from Group Argentina fi nishes pool play ander added 10 points for Canadians. C. against host Japan, also 0-2. JiSu Park, a member of the Las Rubio was the MVP when Spain BASKETBALL Fernandez is also in his fi fth Vegas Aces, scored 15 points and beat Argentina 95-75 two years Olympics. grabbed 11 rebounds for South ago in to win its second of the U.S. over the last two dec- Meanwhile, Bridget Carleton Korea. Leeseul Kang and Danbi world championship - with the fi rst ades. scored 18 points, and Canada got Kim added 11 apiece. Alba Torrens coming in this very Saitama Super Argentina got off a strong start its fi rst victory of the Olympic scored 25 points to lead Spain to an Arena in 2006. and led 15-6 when Laprovittola women’s basketball tournament 85-70 win over . The Spanish might have another made a 3-pointer. Rubio had 11 beating South Korea 74-53. Cristina Ouvina added 10 points, run at an Olympic medal in them points in the fi rst quarter but Spain The Canadians never trailed in eight rebounds and eight assists to after winning silvers in 2008 and trailed 25-20. the game, which was close early.. help Spain (2-0) remain unbeaten 2012, and bronze in 2016. The Argentines still held a one- They led 16-15 after the fi rst in group play. Slovenia’s Luka Doncic (77), (left), is fouled by Japan’s Yuta Watanabe Nicolas Laprovittola scored 27 point lead after Scola made his only quarter and 33-28 at halftime. Can- The Canadians conclude pool (12), (center), during men’s basketball preliminary round game at the 2020 points for Argentina, which fell basket of the half, but Rudy Fer- ada took control of the game with a play against Spain and South Ko- Summer Olympics, on July 29, in Saitama, Japan. (AP) to 0-2 after giving up 48 points nandez made a 3-pointer and Willy 10-0 run, including the fi rst six of rea will take on Serbia on Sunday. Olympic Medalists Djokovic dominates Nishikori CANOE SLALOM GOLD: (Valentina Rodini, Federica Cesarini) Women’s Canoe SILVER: (Laura Taran- GOLD: Jessica Fox, Australia tola, Claire Bove) SILVER: Mallory Franklin, Britain BRONZE: Netherlands (Marieke BRONZE: Andrea Herzog, Ger- Keijser, Ilse Paulis) many to reach Tokyo medal rounds SHOOTING Trap Men Women’s Foil Team GOLD: Jiri Liptak, Czech Repub- GOLD: ROC (Inna Deriglazova, lic Bencic, Vondrousova set for women’s singles fi nal Adelina Zagidullina, Larisa Ko- SILVER: David Kostelecky, robeynikova, Marta Martyanova) Czech Republic SILVER: France (Anita Blaze, BRONZE: Matthew John Coward TOKYO, July 29, (AP): Astrid Guyart, Pauline Ranvier, Holley, Britain Kei Nishikori thought he Ysaora Thibus) Trap Women BRONZE: Italy (Erica Cipressa, was playing well. Then he Arianna Errigo, Martina Batini, Al- GOLD: Zuzana Rehak Stefece- played Novak Djokovic. ice Volpi) kova, Slovakia SILVER: Kayle Browning, United The top-ranked Serb never gave GYMNASTICS States Nishikori a chance in a 6-2, 6-0 BRONZE: Alessandra Perilli, San Women’s All-Around GOLD_ rout of the home favorite from Ja- Marino Sunisa Lee, United States pan to reach the semifi nals of the SILVER: Rebeca Andrade, SWIMMING tennis tournament at the Tokyo BRONZE: Angelina Melnikova, ROC Men’s 100m Freestyle Olympics on Thursday. GOLD: Caeleb Dressel, United The dominant performance ad- JUDO States vanced Djokovic into the medal rounds SILVER: Kyle Chalmers, Australia Men — 100 kg and - more importantly - moved him BRONZE: Kliment Kolesnikov, one step closer to fi nishing off this seg- GOLD: Aaron Wolf, Japan ROC SILVER: Guham Cho, South Ko- ment of his Golden Slam bid. rea Men’s 200m Breaststroke In the women’s tournament, 12th- BRONZE: Jorge Fonseca, Portu- GOLD: Izaac Stubblety-Cook, ranked Belinda Bencic of gal Australia and 2019 French Open fi nalist Marketa BRONZE: Niiaz Iliasov, ROC SILVER: Arno Kamminga, Neth- Vondrousova of the Czech Republic Women -78 kg erlands will meet in the gold-medal match. BRONZE: Matti Mattsson, Finland GOLD: Shori Hamada, Japan Bencic beat Elena Rybakina of Ka- SILVER: Madeleine Malonga, Men’s 800m Freestyle zakhstan 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-3 and Von- France GOLD: Robert Finke, United drousova - who eliminated Naomi BRONZE: Anna-Maria Wagner, States Osaka in the third round - defeated SILVER: Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina of BRONZE: Mayra Aguiar, Brazil BRONZE: Mykhailo Romanchuk, Ukraine 6-3, 6-1. Ukraine ROWING Women’s 200m Butterfl y Men’s Pair GOLD: (Martin Sinkovic, GOLD: Yufei Zhang, China TENNIS Valent Sinkovic) SILVER: Regan Smith, United SILVER: Romania (Marius Coz- States Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays Kei Nishikori of Japan during the quarterfi nals of the tennis competition at the 2020 miuc, Ciprian Tudosa) BRONZE: Hali Flickinger, United Djokovic - who is in his third Olym- Summer Olympics, on July 29, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP) BRONZE: Denmark (Frederic States pic semifi nal but has never made it to Vystavel, Joachim Sutton) Women’s 4 x 200m the gold-medal match - will next face Djokovic After it was done, Djokovic called it US qualify for quarters Lightweight Freestyle Relay either Alexander Zverev of Germany or Jeremy Chardy of France. The other his “best performance” of the tourna- Men’s Double Sculls GOLD: China (Muhan Tang, Yi- semifi nal will feature Karen Khach- ment. GOLD: Ireland (Fintan Mc Carthy, fan Zhang, Jie Dong, Bingjie Li, anov of ROC against Pablo Carreno For the second straight day, Djoko- Junxuan Yang, Yufei Zhang) Fiji upset Canada, Black Ferns Paul O’Donovan) Busta of Spain. vic had two matches scheduled. He’s SILVER: Germany (Jonathan SILVER: United States (Arabella Sims, Paige Madden, Kathryn Mc Khachanov beat Ugo Humbert of also playing again later with Serbian Rommelmann, Jason Osborne) France 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 and Carreno partner Nina Stojanovic against the BRONZE: Italy (Stefano Oppo, Laughlin, Brooke Forde, Allison fend off Britain in women’s 7s Pietro Ruta) Schmitt, Kathleen Ledecky) Busta defeated second-seeded Daniil German pair of Laura Siegemund and BRONZE: Australia (Mollie Medvedev of ROC 6-2, 7-6 (5). Kevin Krawietz in the mixed doubles TOKYO, July 29, (AP): Reputations women had early control of the game. Women’s Pair O’Callaghan, Meg Harris, Brianna Djokovic, who has already won the quarterfi nals. and rankings meant nothing when Fiji While the bronze and silver medalists GOLD: New Zealand (Grace Throssell, Tamsin Cook, Ariarne Australian Open, French Open and Bencic also had another match upset Canada and Britain raced to a from 2016 either lost or had close calls, Prendergast, Kerri Gowler) Titmus, Emma McKeon, Madison Wimbledon this year, needs the Tokyo scheduled. She was scheduled to play 21-point lead against New Zealand on defending champion Australia opened SILVER: ROC (Vasilisa Stepano- Wilson, Leah Neale) Games title and the U.S. Open trophy with Swiss partner Viktorija Golubic Day 1 of the Olympic women’s rugby with a 48-0 win over Japan and a 26-10 va, Elena Oriabinskaia) sevens competition. win against China. The U.S. women also BRONZE: Canada (Caileigh Film- TABLE TENNIS to become the fi rst man to achieve the against the Brazilian pair of Laura Golden Slam. Pigossi and Luisa Stefani in the semifi - The lack of international competi- posted back-to-back wins over China er, Hillary Janssens) Women’s Singles tion during the COVID-19 pandemic and Japan, in contrasting fashion, to GOLD: Meng Chen, China As it’s been for months, it seems nals of the doubles tournament. Lightweight that Djokovic, who has not dropped a If she also wins in doubles, Ben- has created uncertainty for every team. qualify for the quarterfinals. SILVER: Yingsha Sun, China A night after Fiji’s men clinched The Chinese women made an Women’s Double Sculls BRONZE: Mima Ito, Japan set in the tournament, is getting better cic would become the fifth player to match by match - so much so that it reach two finals at the same Olym- back-to-back Olympic golds, the impressive Olympic debut, scoring looks like he’s hardly being tested. pics since tennis returned at the Pacific island nation’s women’s team early points against the United States Over the course of the match, there Games in 1988, joining Serena and shocked Canada 26-12. Fiji piled on before losing 28-14, and also against was really only one moment when Djok- Venus Williams, Andy Murray and 21 points before the 2016 bronze med- Australia. South Korea rally to beat ovic was in slight trouble. It came in the Nicolas Massu. alists could respond. U.S. coach Chris Brown said he opening game of the second set when The results means that Switzerland The British women took an equally could understand having a little rust in Nishikori held a break point. Djokovic is guaranteed a tennis medal at a fourth unexpected lead with three quick tries the opening match against China, but responded with a rally that sent Nishikori consecutive Olympics after Federer against New Zealand, but the Black was far from happy with the 17-7 win Israel in Olympic baseball scrambling from corner to corner before and Stan Wawrinka won gold in dou- Ferns responding like competition over Japan in the night session. favorites should and rallied for a 26-21 The U.S. will play Australia on YOKOHAMA, Japan, July 29, (AP): ond pandemic rule used in 2020 and this unleashing a forehand cross-court win- bles in 2008, Federer took silver in sin- ner that the Nishikori couldn’t come gles in 2012 and Martina Hingis and victory. Three tries to winger Michaela Wednesday to determine top spot in Most of the Olympics is a competition season. Blyde and one to Tyla Nathan-Wong Pool C. among the best in each sport. Israel’s Jaegyun Hwang sacrificed, and Ji close to getting his racket on. Timea Bacsinszky claimed silver in That prompted a loud roar from doubles in 2016. New Zealand leads Pool A over the fate in its baseball debut came down to Hwan Oh popped out to Ty Kelly, who Russian team and Britain, and France a pitcher whose last professional game made an over-the-shoulder catch in leads Pool B following a wins over Fiji was nearly 23 months ago. short left field. RUGBY It didn’t work out. Bleich (0-1), whose big league career (12-5) and Brazil (40-5). The top two Jeremy Bleich forced in the game- consisted of two games for Oakland in teams in each group and the two best ending run by hitting batters with con- 2018, hit Kyoungmin Hur on the rear, quickly restored order and New third-place teams will advance to quar- secutive pitches in the 10th inning, giv- then brushed the jersey of Euiji Yang Zealand finished Thursday atop Pool terfinals on Friday night. ing defending champion South Korea a with his next pitch. A. The group placings will be decided 6-5 victory Thursday night. Kinsler had taken a called third strike New Zealand has won just about in the morning session, when the The 34-year-old left-hander has been that ended the top of the 10th against everything there is to win in women’s French face a Canadian lineup desper- working as a front office assistant for former St. Louis, Toronto and Colorado rugby sevens since their disappointing ate to get back on track. the Pittsburgh Pirates, focusing on reliever Seunghwan Oh (1-0), who loss to Australia in the Olympic final Canada started slowly before beat- defensive shifting and positioning. His struck out the side to give four South at five years ago. ing Brazil 33-0 but never really got last professional game was Sept. 1, Korean pitchers 17 strikeouts. They started the tournament with an going against Fiji. 2019, for Triple-A Rochester at Major League Baseball refuses to aura of invincibility but, after a 29-7 The Canadian squad lost a month of Syracuse. make 40-man roster players available opening win over Kenya, that was seri- practice in May because of a COVID- On a night when Ryan Lavarnway and many teams refuse to let top eligible ously tested. 19 outbreak and have had an unsettling homered twice for Israel and Ian Kinsler prospects play. Several players have In the morning session, Britain coaching overhaul after John Tait also went deep, South Korea overcame said they hope the Olympics serves as a edged the Russian team with Abbie stepped down in April following an 2-0 and 4-2 deficits, and Israel rallied showcase that gets them signed for Brown scoring long after the full-time independent review of his five-year from down 5-4. major league stretch runs. siren sounded to even the score and tenure. Bleich entered to start the 10th. Japan, which opened Group A with a Holly Aitchison converting for a Mick Byrne, a former assistant Under international rules, extra innings win over the Dominican Republic, does comeback 14-12 win. coach with Australia’s national men’s start with runners on first and second, have most of its top players after the Canada’s Britt Benn, (left), is tackled by Fiji’s Ana Maria Naimasi in their That was against a team in its team who replaced Tait, said he was an even bigger distortion than the con- Central and Pacific Leagues stopped women’s rugby sevens match at the 2020 Summer Olympics, on July 29, Olympic debut. Against the highest- confident Canada could come back troversial major league runner on sec- their seasons. in Tokyo, Japan. (AP) rated team in the sport, the British quickly.