Established 1961 Sport TUESDAY, JULY 27, 2021 Japan top medals table, Britain’s Daley strikes gold Kuwait’s Rashidi brings home bronze; US, Australia battle in swimming TOKYO: Japan topped the medals table remained frustratingly elusive. However at the Tokyo Olympics after the host yesterday, Daley and Lee capitalized nation won three golds yesterday and after a rare blunder by China’s Chen British diver Tom Daley was finally Aisen and Cao Yuan to snatch gold. crowned an Olympic champion at his fourth Games in an emotional triumph. Tribute to dad Meanwhile, Kuwaiti shooter Abdullah A tearful Daley paid tribute to late Al-Rashidi won a bronze medal with a father Rob, who died of cancer in 2011 at score of 46 in the Olympic men’s skeet the age of 40. “He never saw me win an shooting competition. The US Vincent Olympic medal, get married, have a child, Hancock took the gold with an Olympic teach me to drive, have a pint down the record score of 59 and Denmark’s Jesper pub,” said Daley. “He took me to every Hansen won silver with 55. training session, every competition, he Heading the Japanese charge was 13- was always there.” year-old skateboarder Momiji Nishiya Elsewhere yesterday, the battle for who took gold a day after the host supremacy between swimming super- nation also won the men’s title. “I’m so powers Australia and the United States glad to become the youngest (Japanese heated up. Ariarne Titmus landed the gold medalist) at my first Olympics... biggest blow for Australia with a pulsat- tears came to my eyes,” Nishiya said. ing victory over American great Katie Shohei Ono, one of Japan’s biggest Ledecky in the 400m freestyle. judo stars, won his second straight Ledecky came to Japan on the back Olympic title with a tense victory over of winning four gold medals and a silver Georgian world champion Lasha at Rio in 2016, but Titmus ousted her as Shavdatuashvili at the Nippon Budokan, world champion in 2019 and topped the the spiritual home of the sport. timesheets this season. The Australian Japan’s third gold, and eighth of the reeled in Ledecky over the final 50m and Games so far, came in a table tennis said afterwards: “To pull it off in the shock as mixed doubles pair Jun backend against someone who has an Mizutani and Mima Ito claimed their amazing second half of her race, I’m country’s first ever Olympic title in the really proud of that.” sport. China had won every Olympic The United States bounced back to table tennis gold medal since the 2004 claim an emphatic victory in the men’s Athens Games, but Xu Xin and Liu 4x100m freestyle relay. Zach Apple Shiwen blew a two-game lead in a brought them home after Caeleb Dressel thrilling final. led off, ensuring they touched in 3:08.97, TOKYO: USA’s gold medalist Vincent Hancock (center), Denmark’s silver medalist Jesper Hansen (left), and Kuwait’s bronze Tears flowed at the diving venue as ahead of Italy and Australia. Despite her medalist Abdullah Al-Rashidi pose on the podium after the men’s skeet final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Asaka Britain’s Daley claimed a surprise first setback, Ledecky was back in the pool in Shooting Range in the Nerima district of Tokyo yesterday. — AFP Olympic gold in the synchronized 10m the evening to post the quickest time in platform event with Matty Lee. The 27- the 200m heats and qualify fastest for crown. Tom Pidcock won the mountain off on the swimming leg only to be men’s event, world number one Novak year-old Daley is hugely popular in the 1500m final. bike cross-country title for Britain’s third hauled back. The bungled start was Djokovic beat Jan-Lennard Struff of Britain, where he has spent half of his life gold of the day. caused by a media boat filming the Germany 6-4, 6-3 to stay on course for a in the public eye and become an LGBT False start farce Day three’s action got under way competitors before they dived in for first Olympic title. COVID-19 continued figurehead. Britain’s unstoppable Adam Peaty with chaotic scenes at the men’s the swimming leg. to stalk the Games however, with Dutch His Olympic journey began as a 14- extended his dominance of the 100m triathlon, eventually won by Norway’s Japan’s tennis favorite Naomi Osaka tennis players Jean-Julien Rojer and year-old at the 2008 Beijing Games and breaststroke, powering to gold in Kristian Blummenfelt. In a farcical false eased into the third round of the Wesley Koolhof pulling out of the men’s he won bronzes at the 2012 and 2016 Rio 57.37sec ahead of Dutchman Arno start, around two-thirds of the 56 com- women’s singles with a 6-3, 6-2 win over doubles after Rojer tested positive for Olympics, but a gold medal had Kamminga to retain his 2016 Olympic petitors dived into the water and set Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic. In the coronavirus. — AFP Doncic hits 48 points in Olympic basketball debut to remember TOKYO: NBA star Luka Doncic scored a sensational 48 points as Slovenia routed Argentina 118-100 in their Tokyo Olympics medals table after yesterday’s first game of the Tokyo Olympics men’s basketball tour- events (G = Gold, S = Silver, B = Bronze, T= nament yesterday. On his Olympic debut, the 22-year- Total): old Dallas Mavericks guard had 31 points in the first half and at one stage was on track to break the Olympic G S B T scoring record of 55 points set by Brazil’s Oscar Schmidt in 1988. His final total still tied the second-highest total in Japan 8 2 3 13 men’s basketball history at the Games. “It was very spe- United States 7 3 4 14 cial,” Doncic said. “Both for me and the whole team.” China 6 5 7 18 Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez said Doncic Russian Olympic Committee 4 5 3 12 “killed us” with 15 points in a devastating three-minute Great Britain 3 3 1 7 spell. “I said it two years ago and I say it again: he’s the South Korea 3 0 4 7 best player in the world,” Hernandez said. Ricky Rubio Australia 2 1 3 6 scored 20 points as world champions Spain made a SAITAMA: Slovenia’s Luka Doncic shoots the ball as Argentina’s Facundo Campazzo falls on the court in the Kosovo 2 0 0 2 solid start to their challenge by beating host nation men’s preliminary round group C basketball match between Argentina and Slovenia during the Tokyo 2020 Italy 1 4 4 9 Japan 88-77. Olympic Games at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama yesterday. — AFP France 1 2 2 5 The experienced Minnesota Timberwolves guard hit Canada 1 2 1 4 62 percent from the field as the bronze medalists from flagbearers at the opening ceremony, grabbed 20 scored 12 points, and Victor Claver, with 13 points, and Hungary 1 1 0 2 2016 proved too strong for Japan and their NBA play- points and Toronto Raptors forward Watanabe con- Spain were never troubled. Japan are the next country to Tunisia 1 1 0 2 ers Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe. Hachimura, the tributed 19 points. face Doncic and Slovenia in Group C on Thursday when Croatia 1 0 1 2 Washington Wizards forward who was one of Japan’s But Rubio got able support from Marc Gasol, who Spain play Argentina. — AFP Slovenia 1 0 1 2 Austria 1 0 0 1 Ecuador 1 0 0 1 Hong Kong 1 0 0 1 Iran 1 0 0 1 Nagornyy’s Russian Norway 1 0 0 1 Philippines 1 0 0 1 Thailand 1 0 0 1 ‘typhoon’ storms to Uzbekistan 1 0 0 1 Netherlands 0 3 0 3 gymnastics team gold Taiwan 0 2 2 4 Brazil 0 2 1 3 Georgia 0 2 0 2 TOKYO: Nikita Nagornyy’s Russian No.1 filtered out through the sound sys- Czech Republic 0 1 1 2 team stormed past defending champions tem at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. Indonesia 0 1 1 2 Japan and superpower China to claim The Russian composer’s music was cho- Serbia 0 1 1 2 the coveted men’s artistic gymnastics sen to play the role of super sub, as Spain 0 1 1 2 gold at the Tokyo Olympics yesterday Russia’s national anthem cannot be used Switzerland 0 1 1 2 with the last tumble on the floor. The because the country is under a doping Belgium 0 1 0 1 Russians turned the tables on Japan, suspension and its athletes are compet- Bulgaria 0 1 0 1 who had pipped them to the title in Rio ing under a neutral banner. TOKYO: Russia’s Nikita Nagornyy competes in the rings event of the artistic gym- Colombia 0 1 0 1 in 2016. China had to settle for bronze. The outcome of the first gold on Denmark 0 1 0 1 “Do you remember the news about offer at the gymnastics competition was nastics men’s team final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Ariake Gymnastics Center in Tokyo yesterday. —AFP India 0 1 0 1 the typhoon (Tropical Storm Nepartak) in the balance right until the closing Jordan 0 1 0 1 this morning? Well, the typhoon has exercise. China were within less than a Romania 0 1 0 1 happened, we took the medal, so don’t point of the Rio silver medalists going get the Russian Olympic Committee program, but there was a mistake before Germany 0 0 3 3 worry about the typhoon anymore,” into the sixth rotation, with Japan, the team over the line.