Category: Sports

Guinea’s government asked their delegations not to attend the Games a day before but has reversed its decision to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics. On Wednesday, Sports Minister Sanoussy Bantama Sow showed his concern over a recent rise of COVID-19 variants.

Sow added that they were simply caring about the life of their Guineans and it was not a question about the finances. They had a conversation with the Tokyo organizers and were assured about the safety of their athletes. On 21st July, the statement which was issued by Sow announced Guinea’s late withdrawal which came with the small delegation yet to fly.

Asia News stated that the delegation of Guinea includes five competitors-one apiece in athletics, wrestling, and judo while two are the swimmers. Mariama Toure is one of the delegations who are first in the action to race in the women’s 100m breaststroke heats on Sunday with judoka Mamadou Samba.

If this withdrawal lasted then Guinea’s country would have been the second time a country withdrew from the delayed Games. The first country was North Korea which pulled out in April citing the concern over COIVID-19.

Syrian table tennis player Hend Zaza is all set to become the youngest athlete to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. Zaza is just 12 years old and also the first Syrian to compete in Olympics table tennis through the qualification round.

AsiaOne reported that the Syrian booked her ticket to Tokyo Olympic in February with her win. To make it to the 2020 Tokyo Games Zaza had beaten 42-year-old Labanese player Mariana Sahakian. Hend has been playing table tennis since she was 5 years old. At the age of 6, she competed at the World Hopes Week and Challenge event in Doha, Qatar where she was spotted by an International Table Tennis Federation official.

News Asia One mentioned that she has become a national champion in all age categories including seniors and earned her place in Tokyo. Her first match in the singles event is against Austria’s Liu Jia. Zaza happily said in an interview that this is a gift for her country, her parents, and all her friends. Like other Syrian children, Zaza’s childhood has also been marked by the Syrian civil war. She says although she found table tennis to be an escape, the civil war has always remained present. Constant power cuts, rickety floor, and many other challenges have not diminished her desire to become an Olympic medalist.

The ICO confirms Brisbane as the host city for the Olympic Games to be held in 2032. The committee gave its approval for the city’s bid which was already a preferred bidder. The IOC proposed its name in June.

As per AsiaOne report, this marks the third time when Australia will be a host for the Games. Previously, it has been a host in Sydney in 2000 and Melbourne in 1956. Commonwealth Games in 2018 were also hosted by Queensland’s Gold Coast.

It also makes Queensland an unopposed name in the IOC’s ballot while the number of nations had showcased interest for hosting the magnificent Games event.

Asia One News stated that, the IOC has been encouraging projects related to Olympic Games owing to its economic and sustainable responsibility. It is an event that is sought-after by world-class athletes across the globe.

The vision for the Brisbane 2032 Games is aligned with the thought of promoting long-term national and regional sports strategies, along with bringing in economic development in Queensland, Australia. It aims at providing a remarkable experience to athletes, fans and people following the games worldwide.

Sara Gamal, an Egyptian lady, is poised to make record as the first Muslim and African woman to work as a basketball referee at the Tokyo Olympics.

As per Asia One News, Gamal, an Egyptian civil engineer, will also make history by becoming the first Arab woman to officiate 3×3 basketball. The game will be played for the first time in Tokyo.

The referee told that she has received comments from several female referees in Egypt who have thanked her for giving them hope that their aspirations are possible.

The majority of them believed they had no chance in large tournaments outside of the ones they referee in their own country.

Gamal has blazed a route for influential young referees and players before, including in the FIBA World Youth Cup in Belarus in 2018 and the African Women’s Championship in 2017. She is not frightened or intimidated by refereeing male players on hardwood courts, while working in a male-dominated sector as a civil engineer in Alexandria.

She’s excited to put her skills and experience on display during the Olympics. She began as a player before switching to refereeing at the age of 16 because she had a strong desire to gain a better understanding of the rules.

On Sunday, the American golfer Collin Morikawa won the final round at St. George’s in his first debut appearance. Morikawa proved that experience was overrated by outplaying Oosthuizen who was a winner in British Open 2010 and runner-up at six other major championships.

24-year-old shot a bogey-free, 4-under 66 at Royal St. George’s, finishing at 15 under and 2 strokes ahead of Spieth. Louis Oosthuizen was leading Morikawa until No.11. After a shaky start, Morikawa closed out his remarkable major by making par on the final four-hole, with the only genuine scare coming at 15 where he hit into deep rough and chipped to 10 feet within. Morikawa received a standing ovation from the full grandstand on the 18th hole after he finished at a 15-under-par total of 265.

Collin is a graduate with a business degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He plays on the PGA Tour as a professional golfer. Morikawa has spent three weeks as a top-ranked golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in May 2018. He became the second player since 1926 to win two majors in his first eight starts. He is the first player to win two different majors in his first appearance and the eighth to win two majors before turning 25.

The Copper Queens of Zambia are all set to make their debut this year in Tokyo Olympics after winning the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Women’s Olympic qualifying tournament. The Olympic squad of Zambia was unveiled by Mwape on July 2nd. Mwape kept his faith in the core players that have served him well throughout the grueling five-round Olympic qualifying race.

The team has a three-month intensive camp in Zambia to play against two silver medalists Brazil and European champion the Netherlands and have Zambia’s Copper Queens have secured two friendlies against South Africa and Kenya. The Zambian won a two-legged tie after drawing 4-4 with Cameroon. Cooper queens lost against Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaounde 3-2 in their first match. Grace Chanda’s two goals in this match turned out to be very crucial. Mary Mwakapila and Hellen Mubanga put Zambia 2-0 in the first 45th minute in the second match, before Ajara Nchout Njoya scored for Cameroon in the last minutes of the game.

The Zambian team is all set to join hosts Japan, Brazil, The Netherlands, Britain, Canada, Sweden, and defending champions United States at Tokyo Olympics 2020. From The Asian Football Confederation, two teams are yet to be decided with Australia, Vietnam, South Korea, and China currently contesting the final round of qualification.

Viswanathan Anand bags the Sparkassen Trophy against Vladimir Kramnik at Dortmund on Sunday. This fascinating battle took place between the two former World Champions who fought for over four games in a brand new format of chess.

According to News Asia One Anand got it in just 40 moves and needed only a draw in the final game of the No-Castling Chess event. The event was devised by the Russian GM. Russian player Vladimir Kramnik started the day 1-2 down and had to win the game if he wanted to stop his old rival from claiming the trophy. He forced a draw in the third game on Saturday to keep alive his chances of leveling the scores in the four-game match.

The opening game was won by the Indian maestro Viswanathan Anand before the next three ended in stalemate. While Playing in white Tarrasch variation, Anand settled for a draw and secured his victory by 2.5-1.5.

AsiaOne stated that to make the game more interesting, castling is not allowed in this format. Castling is the special move to protect the king and activate the rook which gives the only time for a chess player to move two pieces in one move.

Last week Viswanathan Anand returned to over-the-board action at the Croatia Grand Chess Tour Tournament in Zagreb. The player bagged second place there.

In a successful, thrilling run chase, India beat Bangladesh by three wickets, and bagged the Asia Cup 2018, in the final of an extraordinary tournament. The Indian cricket team successfully secured their Asia Cup trophy by defeating worn-out Bangladesh cricket team in the tournament finals.

India, after winning the toss, elected fielding. Bangladesh openers played some outstanding strokes and gave a good start for their team. Liton Das, who scored his maiden 121 runs off 117 balls before being stumped by Dhoni, made a valuable contribution in runs, including 12 fours and 2 sixes, partnering with Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Despite the good start by Das and Miraz, the Bangladesh team’s middle order tumbled and lost their crucial three wickets in just 31 runs. Owing to the batting collapse, Bangladesh lost 10 wickets for 102 runs, and their innings lasted 48.3 overs.

Kuldeep Jadhav was very effective in his spell of 45 runs in 9 overs, and gave a lurch to the Bangladeshi team by nabbing three wickets. After a great start from Indian openers, India managed to restrain Bangladesh to just 222. In all, Bangladesh team put up a great show and won the hearts of true cricket lovers all over the world. In the run chasing of 223, Rohit Sharma’s magnificent 48, together with some outstanding knocks from MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar made

India win off in a nail-biting last ball happenstance.

Ariya Jutanugarn wins The United States Women’s Open Golf Championship, which is one of the thirteen national championships conducted by United States Golf Association (USGA) and is the oldest of five other major championships of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). The Championship came into being 72 years ago in 1946. The Tournament is usually held in early July and is the third major of the LPGA season. The winner of the event bags a large sum of money which is considered the highest purse in women’s golf. In 2017, the amount was $5 Million.

Ariya is the first player from Thailand to win the championship. Her win came after she parred the fourth extra hole after earlier finishing regulation at 11-under-par 277. She suffered a back nine collapse before beating her South Korean opponent, Kim Hyo-joo in the playoff at the U.S women’s open.

Through this win, she has joined Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb, Se Ri Pak and Inbee Park as the only players to win both the US women’s Open and the British Open, which she won in 2016. Some considered the tournament to be the most difficult day of her career, but she walked away bagging the trophy and the cash prize worth $900,000.

Since 2018, the U.S Women’s Open is being held prior to the Men’s tournament in order to provide optimum playing conditions to the world’s best players across the various and finest golf courses that the U.S has to offer.

As per the latest Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and Association of Tennis Professionals rankings, Naomi Osaka of Japan and Novak Djokovic of Serbia continue to be World’s Number 1 tennis players. The recent ATP and WTA rankings were announced before 2019 Wimbledon Championships.

In an unchanged top 20 WTA rankings, Naomi Osaka has retained the World’s Number 1 spot by being 252 points ahead of World’s Number 2 Ashleigh Barty of Australia. Similarly, for the men’s championship, Novak Djokovic leads the men’s ATP raking ahead of Rafael Nadal (French Open winner 2019) and former World’s Number 1 Roger Federer. Men’s top ranking remains unchanged even after Rafael Nadal claimed the Roland Garros title in the final with a victory over Dominic Thiem. The results for 2019 Wimbledon Championships have also been declared. It is a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom.

The defending Gentlemen’s singles champion Novak Djokovic retained his title, while the defending Ladies’ singles champion Angelique Kerber lost in the second round to Lauren Davis. Simona Halep won the Ladies’ Singles title.

Colombia’s Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah beat French pair Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin to win the Wimbledon men’s doubles final. Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strýcová won the women’s doubles title, defeating Dabrowski and Xu in the final.