Olympic Times - Sports Daily

Iran beat South Africa 73-62 in the opener of the men’s wheelchair basketball in the National Indoor Stadium Sunday at the Beijing Paralympics.
Alireza Ahmadi scored 24 points to lead Iran past South Africa for an easy win. Other Iranian players reaching double digit points were Vahid Gholam Azad, 18 points, Morteza Gharibloo, 14, and Adel Torfi Meneshidi, 12.
Iran did obviously a better job in offense and also defense in the first match of preliminaries, limiting South African double-digit scorers to two, Richard Nortje and Nicholas Taylor in 25, 24 apiece.
The 11 points deficit disappointed South African team. “It’s really disappointing. We put everything into this game. This was our must-win game that we identified. We’ve got some really hard games coming up and we thought if there was a team we could beat, we could beat Iran,” said South African coach Vivian Sierra.
“If we could have started off with a win, I’d feel a lot better than we do, but I think my guys played well. I think our shooting let us down a little bit and there’s two big men out there that just kill us.”
South Africa suffered a shooting slump in the third quarter and was outshot 23-15 to slide away.
“I think we just lost our focus during halftime. In the third quarter, we just were not thinking about basketball,” said South African forward Richard Nortje.
“We made a bit of comeback, but it was too little, too late. I think we need to identify the scorers and put pressure on them. We need to stop the big guys,” added the top scorer of the game.
“The third quarter really let us down. The whole team has identified the third as a critical point for us in terms of performance and something we really need to focus on. Once you’re down in a hole like that, it’s really hard to get out of it. We just didn’t perform like we’d liked,” said South African guard Nicholas Taylor.
There are 12 teams divided into two pools at the Paralympics. The top four teams in each pool after round-robin matches advance to the eliminations.

source: xinhuanet.com

The United States delivered a powerful message of intent by pulverizing world champions Spain 119-82 in the men’s Olympic basketball tournament on Saturday.

A fired-up Yao Ming was close to tears after driving hosts China into the quarter-finals with a 59-55 victory over Germany.

The Spanish players wore the look of weary men as they trudged off after being put to the sword by a U.S. team still smarting after finishing third at the 2004 Olympics and 2006 world championships.

“They are more intense now,” Spanish forward Pau Gasol said. “They play with a purpose and that’s to show everyone else they’re superior. That’s the bottom line.”

LeBron James led the Americans with 18 points while Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony each added 16 in a one-sided game where they outscored Spain 32-0 on fast-break points.

“Spain were in the way of our gold medal,” shrugged Anthony after helping the U.S. to a fourth straight victory, securing top spot in Group B.

“When we get everybody on the same page it’s kind of hard to beat us.”

DEAFENING ROARS

Energized by a huge crowd, Yao poured in 25 points, leaving the court with 7.2 seconds left pumping his fists in triumph to deafening roars.

“It’s a moment you never want to forget in your life,” an emotional Yao said. “It’s not just about five players. We had 18,000 fans with us — that’s a very strong power behind us.

“We survived the ‘group of death.’ China will bring more surprises. It feels like we won a medal already.”

China led by 12 points on a Yao jumper before Dirk Nowitzi fuelled a German fightback.

A turn-around jump shot from Yao made it 56-52 with 2:14 before Nowitzki, who finished with 24 points, replied with a long three as a furious clash of NBA titans went down to the wire.

An offensive foul called on Nowitzki effectively sealed China’s second win in Group B and ended Germany’s hopes of a place in the last eight.

Reigning Olympic champions Argentina advanced to the last eight with a 97-82 win over Iran, San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili exploding for 32 points.

Argentina improved to 3-1 in Group A behind three-times bronze medalists Lithuania, who posted their fourth win, beating Croatia 86-73.

from: reuters.com

Yao Ming was strong enough to carry his nation’s flag into the emotional cauldron of the Bird’s Nest stadium for the ceremonial opening of the Beijing Olympics.

But the Houston Rockets star was unable to single-handedly fulfil China’s hopes of upsetting the United States Dream Team in their opening game of the basketball tournament.

The mighty efforts of the tallest man in the competition proved insufficient against the combined power of Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Jason Kidd and co, who prevailed 101-70 in an impressive show of strength that ruthlessly ended the unrealistic pre-game expectations of the hosts.

With the 2008 Dream Team striving to regain the Olympic title which the United States lost in Athens four years ago, the match did not turn into the superpower confrontation which had been frenziedly built up beforehand, as the Americans maintained their record of never having lost to China in five contests at the Games.

It did not start quite that way, with the visitors clearly unnerved by what was certainly a superpower occasion at the Wukesong Indoor Arena. It was Yao who fittingly opened the scoring with a three-pointer after 24 seconds which was rapturously received by the home crowd.

The Americans could only shake their heads as the man who is renowned for his height has only previously managed one successful three-point shot in 404 matches in the NBA, and that was almost five and half years ago. They are more used to his blocking and rebounding skills, which he proceeded to show to good effect.

But gradually the tricky and guile of the United States superstars, allied with increasingly assured teamwork, found a way round the giant’s defence and it began to seem as if the stress fracture of his foot, that had kept Yao off the court for five months this year, was still a problem for him.

A deficit of 16-20 after the first quarter turned into a decisive difference at the interval of 37-49 as the Americans inexorably pulled clear towards the end of the first half. By the finish, it was only prevented from being a record win for the United States as the Dreamers eased up at this early stage of the competition.

The American goal is simple: reach the top of the podium or their visit to Beijing will be a failure. For China, the first priority now will be to get through the group stages. Then they can think about surpassing their previous Olympic best of eighth place in 1996 and again in 2004.

But this might just have been the most difficult opponent they will ever face.

source: telegraph.co.uk

Wade leads U.S. past Australia

The U.S. men’s basketball team wrapped up its exhibition schedule with its toughest test, pulling away and beating Australia 87-76 Tuesday night in Shanghai, China, in its final game before heading to Beijing.

The United States led by only four points nearly halfway through the third quarter and was up by seven midway through the fourth against an Australian team that was resting its best player, Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut.

Dwyane Wade scored 22 points and LeBron James had 16 for the Americans, who finished three of 18 from behind the arc and 20 of 33 (61 percent) at the foul line.

Kobe Bryant scored 13 points, and Carmelo Anthony had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the United States, which faces host China on Sunday in its Olympic opener.

Bogut, the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NBA draft, wanted more time to rest a sore right ankle that has been bothering him, but said he expects to be ready by the opener against Croatia on Sunday.

U.S. women win tournament

Lisa Leslie scored 14 points, and the United States held off Australia 71-67 in the FIBA Diamond Ball tournament title game at Haining, China.

This was the first meeting between these two rivals with both teams at full strength since the 2004 Olympics gold-medal game, won by the Americans 74-63.

Penny Taylor led Australia with 19 points. Lauren Jackson added 16 and was chosen the tournament’s MVP.

Candace Parker had 12 points, and Sue Bird added 11 for the United States.

Medical chief suspects doping

The leader of the International Olympic Committee’s medical commission said seven Russian female track and field athletes, accused of tampering with their urine samples, appeared to be involved in a case of “systematic doping.”

Seven Russian women were provisionally suspended last week by the International Association of Athletics Federations in the doping scandal. They included Yelena Soboleva, a world record holder and world champion middle-distance runner who was favored to win the 800 and 1,500 meters at the Beijing Olympics.

“I think it is just frustrating to find that such type of cheating — planned cheating — is still going on,” said Arne Ljungqvist, the chairman of the International Olympic Committee’s medical commission.

Country will pay medal winners

The Dominican Republic says it will pay its athletes who win gold, silver or bronze medals.

Sports Minister Felipe Payano said the awards will range from nearly $90,000 to $200,000. Winners could also get a car. It is the first time the Dominican government has made such an offer.

The Caribbean country has won only two medals in Olympic history.

Torch arrives in Beijing

Torch bearers carried the Olympic flame on the final relay of its long and sometimes contentious global tour today, greeted by rapturous crowds in Beijing two days before it officially launches the Summer Games.

The arrival of the torch in the capital marks one of the concluding steps in China’s seven years of preparations for the games that have cost billions of dollars, and one which Beijing hopes will serve as the country’s symbolic debut as a modern world power.

Apology for beating of journalists

The beating of two Japanese journalists by police in western China drew an official apology Tuesday, but Beijing also set new obstacles for news outlets wanting to report from Tiananmen Square in the latest sign of trouble for reporters covering the Olympics.

The IOC, which last week only partially succeeded in getting China to unblock some Internet sites after journalists raised a furor, said it would look into the new rules that require reporters to make appointments to do reports at Tiananmen.

The Japanese government and the Foreign Correspondents Club of China condemned the roughing up of the Japanese newsmen who were covering an attack by alleged Muslim separatists on police in Xinjiang province.

Indian weightlifter banned

India’s only weightlifting entry for the Games, Monica Devi, was stopped from boarding a flight to Beijing to compete in the Olympics after testing positive for a banned substance.

The Press Trust of India reported that Devi tested positive for an anabolic salt in a test conducted on June 29. It quoted unidentified officials as saying the report showing the positive result came just hours before Devi was to leave the Indian capital for Beijing. It said she has now been withdrawn from the games.

Devi’s failed doping test is the fourth by an Indian weightlifter since May.

source: kansascity.com

Belarus and Latvia joined Spain and the Czech Republic in the Beijing Olympics after their quarter-final victories in the women’s Olympic qualifying tournament here on Friday.
Belarus stunned Brazil 86-79 as Natallia Marchanka and Anastasiya Verameyenka scored 21 and 19 points respectively, winning in overtime against the 2004 Olympics’ fourth-placed finishers.
Belarus levelled at 72-72, and ran away 14-7 in the extra period to reach the Olympics for the first time.
Brazil lost captain Iziane Castro Marques who refused to enter the second half after an argument with coach Paulo Bassul at the interval.
“As a leader I have to make difficult decisions. She didn’t just say no to me, but to the group and the country. I don’t know about the future,” Bassul told reporters.
Latvia crushed Angola 84-26 to make the Olympics for the first time, after going on a 17-point scoring run in the second quarter.
However, experienced forward Ieva Tare dislocated her elbow early in the second half.
Earlier, the Czech Republic and Spain booked their places with straight-forward wins.
The Czechs, who beat Spain in the fifth-place play-off game in Athens in 2004, overturned a 10-point deficit before overcoming Japan 76-64.
Forward Eva Viteckova and shooting guard Hana Machova led the way notching 26 and 19 points respectively.
Spain, the European championship silver medallists, scored an 82-68 victory over Cuba.
Elisa Aguilar, the veteran point guard, sank a game-high 28 points, with 17 coming in the second quarter, and was supported by Amaya Valdemoro with 18.
Four quarter-final winners qualify directly, while the four losers play off in semi-finals on Saturday when Cuba will play Japan, and Angola will take on Brazil.
The winners will meet in the final on Sunday to play-off for the fifth and final qualification slot.
Qualifiers join hosts China, world champions Australia, gold medal holders US, Mali, South Korea, Russia, and New Zealand for the Olympics in August.

from: xinhuanet.com

The German women’s team rallied from 13 points behind to beat Japan 48-43 in the third round of the “Good Luck Beijing” 2008 Wheelchair Basketball International Invitational Tournament this evening.
The Japanese players, who had won two straight games, relied on fast breaks and steals to open the match 20-7 while Germany concentrated more on defense to close the gap. The score was 26-20 at halftime.
The third quarter was the turning point of the game as Germany poured in 18 points, with Japan getting only 6. Germany then took over the match and grabbed the win with a final score of 48-43.
Marina Mohnen made 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Germany during the game. Japan’s top scorer was Ikumi Takubo with 14 points.
Germany now finishes atop the rankings with three wins. Japan and Canada come second and third respectively with China at the bottom.

Germany’s women oust Japan 48-43

from: beijing2008.cn

Next week’s wheelchair basketball tournament in Beijing is giving Olympic organizers a final chance to make sure that preparations are in the place for the Paralympic competition in September.
The tournament, an invitational, will be held at the newly-built National Indoor Stadium from January 20-25.
It is one of two pre-Paralympic test events that have been scheduled and follows on from last year’s Good Luck Beijing International Goalball Tournament.
Eight teams from six countries will participate. The women’s side features teams from China, Canada, Germany and Japan, while the men’s teams come from China, Canada, the Netherlands and Australia.
Overseeing the matches will be 24 international officials from the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF), the sport’s governing body.
A total of 842 volunteers will be assigned to their posts on January 18. Games organizers will also take this opportunity to disseminate knowledge about the Paralympics.
Zhu Shanlu, head of the Beijing Olympic Education team, has already begun workshops to educate BOCOG staff, technical officials, volunteers and Olympic sponsors about the Paralympics.
“Para” refers to the fact that the two Games are held in tandem, as opposed to implying some kind of disability. BOCOG has pledged that the 2008 Paralympics will be a “Games of Equal Splendor.”
Nonetheless, cheap tickets attest to the struggling popularity of many events. Wheelchair basketball is one of the few exceptions that enjoy evergreen support.
It was invented in 1946 by U.S. basketball players keen to shrug off their wartime injuries and re-experience the exhilaration of an athletic sport in a team environment.
It is now played in over 80 countries by some 25,000 people with physical disabilities. It is similar to basketball except that the wheelchair is considered a part of the player’s body.
Every team has five players and seven substitutes; each game is made up of four 10-minute periods.
Players who spin their wheels more than two times without dribbling are booked for traveling violations. Faster wheelchairs are also employed featuring anti-tipping devices and up to four wheels.
The Beijing Paralympics will run from September 6-17. It is expected to attract 4,000 athletes from over 150 countries and regions. They will compete in 20 sports (471 disciplines) including goalball, boccia, rowing, sailing (held in Qingdao), equestrian (Hong Kong) and wheelchair rugby.

from: xinhuanet.com

The FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men is to take place in Athens, Greece, according to a decision by the Central Board of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), which met and made the decision in Chicago from December 7 to 9.Brazil, Cape Verde, Canada, Cameroon, Croatia, Germany, Greece, the Republic of Korea, Lebanon, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, and Slovenia will compete for three Olympic berths at the 12-team FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men.
The tournament will take place at the 18,000-seat OAKA Sports Arena located in Maroussi from July 14 to 20, 2008. The participating teams will compete in four groups that will be determined by lottery on January 31, 2008 in Athens.
Nine other teams have already qualified for the men’s Olympic Basketball competition: China, Angora, Argentina, Australia, Iran, Lithuania, Russia, Spain, and the United States.
The men’s Olympic Basketball competition will be held from August 10 to 24, 2008 at Beijing’s Wukesong Indoor Stadium.

from: beijing2008.cn