Table Tennis: Team Quotas Confirmed However Singles Quota Rejected

All nations participating in the team events in table tennis have confirmed their spot with the third athlete being announced. However there has been one rejection in the women’s singles event. Ukraine’s Margaryta Pesotska’s quota has been rejected by her NOC. The quota has been reallocated to the next highest ranked eligible athlete in the Olympic rankings, specifically Hungary’s Petra Lovas. Hungary must confirm the quota for this to be finalized.

The third team members, which only compete in the team event are as follows, for the women; Yousra Abdelrazek (Egypt), Liu Shiwen (China), Xiaona Shan (Germany), Bruna Takahashi (Brazil), Jiaqi Zheng (United States), Ziyu Zhang (Australia), Mima Ito (Japan), Yihan Zhou (Singapore), Yana Tie (Hong Kong), Yang Haeun (South Korea), Huang Yi-Hua (Chinese Taipei), Ri Mi Gyong (North Korea), Britt Eerland (Netherlands), Bernadette Szocs (Romania), Natalia Partyka (Poland) and Qiangbing Li (Austria).

For the men’s team event the third members will be; Bode Abiodun (Nigeria), Xu Xin (China), Bastian Steger (Germany), Cazuo Matsumoto (Brazil), Timothy Wang (United States), Heming Hu (Australia), Maharu Yoshimura (Japan), Kwan Kit Ho (Hong Kong), Joao Monteiro (Portugal), Yoo Saehyuk (South Korea), Tristan Flore (France), Mattias Karlsson (Sweden), Daniel Habeson (Austria), Daniel Gorak (Poland), Chiang Hung-Chieh (Chinese Taipaei) and Samuel Walker (Great Britain).

 

References

• ITTF. Players Qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Access on June 3 2016.
• ITTF. Teams Qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Access on June 3 2016.

Modern Pentathlon: Athletes Qualify After Olympic Rankings Are Published

The International Modern Pentathlon Union has published the Olympic Qualification Rankings. Athletes are able to earn points in various competitions such as the World Championship, the World Cups and continental championships. Originally the top 6 men and women were supposed to qualify, but due to reallocations the top 8 men and top 10 women not yet qualified are qualified to the Olympics. As a reminder in modern pentathlon the athlete is directly qualified. If a nation has more than two athletes per gender qualified then they must select two from that list. The Olympic Qualification Rankings contain events starting on May 30th 2015 and ending on May 29th 2016.

For the men’s rankings world number one James Cooke of Great Britain leads the qualification list. Also qualified are Amro El Geziry (Egypt), Adam Marosi (Hungary), Omar El Geziry (Egypt), Maksim Kustov (Russia), Justinas Kinderis (Lithuania), Yasser Hefny (Egypt) and Guo Jian-Li (China). Since Egypt has three qualified athletes through the Olympic rankings (plus one through the African Championship) after selecting two athletes at least one will be reallocated through the Olympic rankings meaning Bence Demeter (Hungary) is guaranteed a spot.

For the women’s rankings the qualified athlete list is led by world number three Zsofia Foldhazi of Hungary.  Also qualifying are Annika Schleu (Germany), Claudia Cesarini (Italy), Anastasiya Prokopenko (Belarus), Ieva Serapinaite (Lithuania), Freyja Prentice (Great Britain), Gintare Venckauskaite (Lithuania), Iryna Khokhlova (Argentina), Melanie McCann (Canada) and Margaux Isaksen (United States).

Overall a few nations have more than two athletes in one event meaning they will have to choose two. Should the rejected quota come from a continental qualifier then the next best athlete from that event will be selected. In all other cases the reallocated quota will be through the Olympic Qualification Rankings. Also the tripartite quotas need to be announced, if things are similar to 2012 they may also be reallocated to the rankings.

 

Athletes by Nations

• Egypt – 3
• Lithuania – 3
• Great Britain – 2
• Hungary – 2
• Argentina – 1
• Belarus – 1
• Canada – 1
• China – 1
• Germany – 1
• Italy – 1
• Russia – 1
• United States – 1

 

References

• UIPM. Modern Pentathlon Men Senior OG Rankings. Access on June 1 2016.
• UIPM. Modern Pentathlon Women Senior OG Rankings. Access on June 1 2016.

Shooting: Tripartite, Trading and Reallocations Announced

The International Sport Shooting Federation has updated its tripartite, traded quotas and the reallocation of some quotas. Originally 24 quotas were reserved for nations which have qualified less than an average of eight athletes to individual events over the past two Olympics. The quotas can be spread out over any of the 15 Olympic events.

In total 18 nations were granted tripartite quotas. Four nations were actually given two quotas; Bolivia (men’s 50m pistol and women’s 10m air rifle), Malta (men’s double trap and women’s 10m air pistol), Oman (men’s 50m rifle 3 positions, women’s 10m air pistol) and Pakistan (men’s 25m rapid fire pistol and women’s 10m air rifle). The 14 nations which received a single tripartite quota were; Andorra (women’s 10m air rifle), Angola (men’s trap), Bangladesh (men’s 10m air rifle), Barbados (men’s skeet), Bhutan (women’s 10m air rifle), Bosnia and Herzegovina (women’s 10m air rifle), Iraq (women’s 10m air rifle), Kosovo (women’s 10m air rifle), Lebanon (women’s trap), Macedonia (women’s 10m air rifle), Nicaragua (men’s 10m air pistol), Panama (men’s 10m air pistol), Paraguay (men’s double trap) and Sri Lanka (men’s 50m rifle prone).

In shooting nations are allowed to trade one of their athlete quotas to another. A nation can only do this once. In total 12 nations have traded quotas; Egypt (women’s 50m rifle 3 positions to men’s trap), India (men’s 50m rifle 3 positions to men’s trap), Italy (men’s 50m pistol to men’s 25m rapid fire pistol), Kazakhstan (men’s trap to women’s trap), South Korea (men’s 10m air pistol to women’s 10m air rifle), Qatar (men’s 50m rifle 3 positions to men’s skeet), Russia (women’s 10m air pistol to women’s skeet), Slovenia (women’s 10m air pistol to women’s 10m air rifle), Sweden (women’s 10m air rifle to men’s double trap) and Switzerland (women’s 10m air rifle to men’s 50m rifle 3 positions). China and Germany also traded quotas, but they also declined a quota due to a single athlete qualifying in two events despite the nation owning two athlete quotas thus we don’t know the trade. Regardless China has lost an athlete quota in men’s 50m pistol and women’s 50m rifle 3 positions and gained an athlete quota in men’s 50m rifle prone. Similarly Germany lost quotas in men’s 50m rifle 3 positions and women’s 10m air rifle and gained an athlete quota in women’s 25m pistol.

The ISSF also announced some reallocations of quotas. Reallocated quotas go to the nation with the most athletes which have attained the MQS, but did not qualify any athlete quotas during the qualification process. In total there were seven reallocated quotas, two from unused tripartite quotas, three through unqualified quotas from the continental qualifiers and two from nations which have declined athlete quotas, specifically China and Germany. The reallocated quotas went to; Azerbaijan (men’s 25m rapid fire pistol), Bahrain (men’s 50m rifle prone), Colombia (men’s trap), Estonia (men’s 25m rapid fire pistol), Lithuania (men’s skeet), Romania (men’s 10m air rifle) and Uzbekistan (men’s 10m air rifle). Technically the Netherlands was initially given a spot, but it was declined.

It is expected that a few more reallocation quotas will be given out as nations begin to finalize their teams. Similarly we can also expect more traded athlete quotas.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Bolivia – 2
• Malta – 2
• Oman – 2
• Pakistan – 2
• Andorra – 1
• Angola – 1
• Azerbaijan – 1
• Bahrain – 1
• Bangladesh – 1
• Barbados – 1
• Bhutan – 1
• Bosnia and Herzegovina – 1
• Colombia – 1
• Estonia – 1
• Iraq – 1
• Kosovo – 1
• Lebanon – 1
• Lithuania – 1
• Macedonia – 1
• Nicaragua – 1
• Panama – 1
• Paraguay – 1
• Romania – 1
• Sri Lanka – 1
• Uzbekistan – 1

 

References

• ISSF. 2016 Olympics Quota Places by Nation and Number. Access on May 29 2016.

Rowing: Qualification Concludes With European and Final Regatta

In total 24 nations qualified boats at the 2016 European and Final Olympic Qualification Regatta. The regatta was split into two qualification tournaments. The European portion which includes entries from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States had Olympic qualification for the top three boats in the single sculls and the top two boats in the lightweight double sculls. Like the other continental qualifiers a nation can only qualify one boat per gender. The final regatta portion contained the other 10 events where any nation can qualify. In total two boat quotas were available in the double sculls, quadruple sculls, eights, men’s pairs, men’s fours and men’s lightweight fours while four boat quotas were available in the women’s pairs. The European and Final Olympic Qualification Regatta was held in Lucerne, Switzerland from May 22nd to May 24th 2016.

In the European Regatta an extra boat quota was made available in the women’s single sculls due to a returned quota from the tripartite commission. The women’s single sculls was won by New Zealand’s Emma Twigg whom finished with a time of 7:21.870. Also joining her to the Olympics were boats from Ireland, Belarus and Denmark. The women’s lightweight doubles sculls was won by the Netherlands with a time of 6:54.910. Joining them was the silver medal boat from Romania.

On the men’s side the single sculls was won by Belgium’s Hannes Obreno whom won gold with a time of 6:47.610. Also qualifying to the Olympics were boats from Australia and Hungary. Belgium also won the men’s lightweight double sculls with a time of 6:21.780 while Turkey won the silver medal. Since a nation can only qualify one boat per gender at the continental qualifier this meant Belgium will have to pick between the men’s single sculls and lightweight double sculls. The non-selected boat will be reallocated to the next best boat here which will be Denmark regardless of choice.

At the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta Spain won the women’s pairs event with a time of 7:10.160. Joining them to the Olympics will be China, Italy and Poland. The women’s double sculls had the Czech Republic defeating Denmark with a time of 6:56.690. The women’s quadruple sculls was won by China whom finished 1.67 seconds ahead of the silver medalists from the Ukraine finishing with a time of 6:19.000. Romania won the women’s eights with a time of 6:02.560 while the Netherlands also qualified to the Olympics, finishing with the silver medal.

Among the men’s boats the Czech Republic won the men’s pairs with a time of 6:29.820 while Hungary also qualified by winning the silver medal. The men’s double sculls was won by Norway whom won by almost 2 seconds against Serbia, finishing with a time of 6:16.130. Similarly South Africa won the men’s fours by almost 2 seconds, winning against France with a time of 5:55.220. The men’s quadruple sculls was won by Russia whom defeated Canada with a time of 5:42.130. Russia was also able to win the men’s lightweight four by defeating Germany with a time of 6:02.970. The men’s eights had a three-way race for almost the entire race, but with only two Olympic quotas available Italy was the odd nation out as the United States won the gold over Poland with a time of 5:29.160.

This was the final opportunity for nations to qualify in rowing and with the exception of Belgium’s choice between the men’s single sculls and lightweight double sculls all of the boats competing are now known. In total 68 nations will be competing in rowing.

 

Boats by Nations

• Belgium – 2*
• China – 2
• Denmark – 2
• Hungary – 2
• Netherlands – 2
• Poland – 2
• Romania – 2
• Russia – 2
• Australia – 1
• Belarus – 1
• Canada – 1
• France – 1
• Germany – 1
• Ireland – 1
• Italy – 1
• New Zealand – 1
• Norway – 1
• Serbia – 1
• South Africa – 1
• Spain – 1
• Turkey – 1
• Ukraine – 1
• United States – 1

* Must choose one boat

 

Athlete Quotas by Nations

• Netherlands – 11
• Poland – 11
• Romania – 11
• United States – 9
• Russia – 8
• China – 6
• Canada – 4
• Czech Republic – 4
• France – 4
• Germany – 4
• South Africa – 4
• Ukraine – 4
• Belgium – 3*
• Denmark – 3
• Hungary – 3
• Italy – 2
• Norway – 2
• Serbia – 2
• Spain – 2
• Turkey – 2
• Australia – 1
• Belarus – 1
• Ireland – 1
• New Zealand – 1

* Will either be 1 or 2 athlete quotas depending on boat choice

 

References

• WorldRowing. 2016 FISA European and Final Olympic Qualification Regatta Schedule and Results. Access on May 24 2016.

Table Tennis: Team Quotas Announced

With the singles quotas confirmed the International Table Tennis Federation has announced the team quotas for each gender. The team quotas were determined through the Olympic Team Rankings. The highest ranking nation from each of the six continents which qualified two athletes qualified their nation to the Olympics. In addition the overall top 10 nations which qualified two athletes also qualified their nation. By qualifying in a team event nations can add one more athlete to their team though the athlete can only compete in the team event. The nations can gain points towards the Olympic Team Rankings through their performance at select world and continental events. The deadline to gain points was May 1st 2016.

For the women’s teams the continental quotas went to China, Germany, United States, Brazil, Egypt and Australia. The tournament was complete with the addition of Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, North Korea, Netherlands, Romania, Poland and Austria.

The continental quotas for the men’s teams went to China, Germany, Brazil, Nigeria, United States and Australia. The tournament was complete with the addition of Japan, Hong Kong, Portugal, South Korea, France, Sweden, Austria, Poland, Chinese Taipei and Great Britain.

Nations must confirm the quotas before they become finalized. In addition there will be seven reallocated quotas to the singles for both genders due to the excess of quotas for athletes only participating in the team events and the host quota.  While it is simple to calculate where those quotas would go it is best to wait for the ITTF to officially announce them.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Australia – 2
• Austria – 2
• Brazil – 2
• China – 2
• Chinese Taipei – 2
• Germany – 2
• Hong Kong – 2
• Japan – 2
• Poland – 2
• South Korea – 2
• United States – 2
• Egypt – 1
• France – 1
• Great Britain – 1
• Netherlands – 1
• Nigeria – 1
• North Korea – 1
• Portugal – 1
• Romania – 1
• Singapore – 1
• Sweden – 1

 

References

• ITTF. Teams Qualified For The Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Access on May 21 2016.

Triathlon: Qualified Nations List Released

The International Triathlon Union has published its Olympic Qualification List filling out the qualified nations through the Olympic Rankings, Olympic Points List and tripartite nations. The Olympic Rankings and Olympic Points List consisted of approved events including World Championship, Continental Championship and other world events. The top eight nations were allowed to qualify three athletes per gender through the Olympic rankings including the quotas obtained through the continental qualifiers and world qualification event. All other nations were allowed to qualify a maximum of two. Originally the top 39 eligible athletes from the Olympic Rankings qualified their nation to the Olympics, however, reallocations has increased that number. The Olympic Points List gave one quota to each of the five continents to athletes whose nations have yet to qualify in triathlon, provided that they met the minimum ranking of 140. For the tripartite commission, two men’s and two women’s quotas were available to athletes from nations whom have qualified an average of 8 or less athletes from individual events over the past two Olympics. They too had to meet the minimum ranking requirements. The Olympic Rankings and Olympic Points List were created using results from various events from May 15th 2014 to May 15th 2016.

In the men’s race a total of 23 nations qualified through the Olympic Rankings. They include Argentina (2), Australia (2), Azerbaijan, Belgium (2), Brazil, Canada (2), Costa Rica, Denmark, France (2), Germany (2), Great Britain (2), Hungary, Ireland, Italy (2), Mexico, Norway, New Zealand (2), Portugal (2), Russia (3), Slovakia, Spain (2), Switzerland and the United States (3). Since Brazil was among the qualified nations its host quota has been reallocated to Israel. Only one tripartite quota was awarded to Jordan which meant the other quota place was reallocated to Mexico. The Olympic Points List gave quotas to Austria, Barbados and China. Since there were no eligible nations in Africa and Oceania the quotas were reallocated to Hungary and Portugal.

In the women’s race a total of 25 nations qualified through the Olympic Rankings. They include Australia (2), Austria (2), Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada (2), Czech Republic, France, Germany (3), Great Britain, Hungary (2), Ireland, Italy (2), Japan (2), Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand (3), Poland, Russia (2), Slovenia, South Africa, Spain (3), Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States (2). Since Brazil was among the qualified nations its host quota has been reallocated to the Netherlands. No tripartite quota was awarded in the women’s race meaning the quotas have been reallocated to Belgium and Sweden. The Olympic Points List gave quotas to China, Ecuador, Estonia and Mauritius. Since there were no eligible nations in Oceania the quota was reallocated to Canada.

Overall the eight nations which will send three athletes in the men’s race are Australia, France, Great Britain, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the United States. For the women the nations are Australia, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Spain and the United States. As a reminder this is a provisional list and is subjected to the approval of nations so there is the potential for reallocation.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Canada – 5
• Germany – 5
• New Zealand – 5
• Russia – 5
• Spain – 5
• United States – 5
• Australia – 4
• Belgium – 4
• Hungary – 4
• Italy – 4
• Austria – 3
• France – 3
• Great Britain – 3
• Mexico – 3
• Portugal – 3
• Switzerland – 3
• Argentina – 2
• Brazil – 2
• China – 2
• Ireland – 2
• Japan – 2
• Netherlands – 2
• Azerbaijan – 1
• Barbados – 1
• Bermuda – 1
• Costa Rica – 1
• Czech Republic – 1
• Denmark – 1
• Ecuador – 1
• Estonia – 1
• Israel – 1
• Jordan – 1
• Mauritius – 1
• Norway – 1
• Poland – 1
• Slovakia – 1
• Slovenia – 1
• South Africa – 1
• Sweden – 1
• Ukraine – 1

 

References

• ITU. Rio 2016 Olympic Male Qualification. Access on May 18 2016.
• ITU. Rio 2016 Olympic Female Qualification. Access on May 18 2016.

Wrestling: Final Spots Given At 2nd Qualification Tournament

23 nations qualified athletes at the 2016 Second World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament. The top two athletes from each event qualified their nation to the Olympics. The Second World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament was held in Istanbul, Turkey from May 6th to May 8th 2016.

The men’s Greco-Roman events featured four withdrawals in the finals, mostly due to the perception that there was nothing left to fight for after qualifying to the Olympics. Turkey benefitted from this as they became the winners in the -75kg where Selcuk Cebi defeated Bulgaria’s Daniel Aleksandrov and in the -98kg where Cenk Ildem defeated Italy’s Daigoro Timoncini. Similarly Germany’s Denis Kudla had a walkover against Georgia’s Robert Kobliashvili in the -85kg and Sweden’s Johan Euren had a walkover against Georgia’s Iakob Kajaia. In the events where the final was actually played Azerbaijan’s Rasul Chunayev defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Ruslan Tsarev in the -66kg. Iran completed its Greco-Roman team with Iran’s Hamid Sourian defeating United States’ Jesse Thielke in the -59kg.

In the women’s freestyle Ukraine did well by winning two events. Yuliya Khavaldzhy defeated Turkey’s Bediha Gun in the -53kg while Alina Stadnyk had a walkover against Norway’s Signe Marie Store in the -69kg. Russia also had two gold medalists with Ekaterina Bukina defeating Germany’s Maria Selmaier in the -75kg and Valeria Koblova defeating India’s Sakshi Malik in the -58kg. India won a gold medal of its own in the -48kg where Vinesh Phogat defeated Poland’s Iwona Matkowska. In the -63kg Poland won the gold where Monika Michalik defeated Sweden’s Henna Johansson.

Uzbekistan won two quotas in the men’s freestyle events. Bekzod Abdurakhmanov won the -74kg in a walkover against Spain’s Taimuraz Friev while Abbos Rakhmonov lost in the final of the -57kg to Turkey’s Suleyman Atli. In the -65kg Bulgaria’s Borislav Novachkov won in a walkover against Canada’s Haislan Garcia. China’s Bi Shengfeng defeated South Korea’s Kim Gwan-Uk in the -86kg. The -97kg saw Romania’s Albert Saritov defeating Mongolia’s Dorjkhandyn Khüderbulga. The -125kg had Ukraine’s Oleksandr Khotsianivskyi defeating Belarus’ Ibrahim Saidau.

The men’s freestyle -125kg highlights a strange scenario as both Ukraine and Belarus qualified different athletes at the European qualifiers. This is due to those athletes failing a doping test. However, those athletes have not been formally suspended so depending on the hearings there will be reallocations of quotas one way or another.

Overall this was the final opportunity for athletes to qualify to the Olympics. In total before reallocation and tripartite quotas 59 nations qualified at least one athlete. Russia will compete in the most events, qualifying in 17 out of the 18 events, missing only the women’s freestyle -53kg.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Turkey – 4
• Ukraine – 3
• Bulgaria – 2
• Georgia – 2
• Germany – 2
• India – 2
• Poland – 2
• Russia – 2
• Sweden – 2
• Uzbekistan – 2
• Azerbaijan – 1
• Belarus – 1
• Canada – 1
• China – 1
• Iran – 1
• Italy – 1
• Kyrgyzstan – 1
• Mongolia – 1
• Norway – 1
• Romania – 1
• South Korea – 1
• Spain – 1
• United States – 1

 

References

• UWW. 2nd OG World Qualifying Tournament 2016. Access on May 8 2016.

Badminton: Olympic Qualification Rankings Released

With the final update of the Olympic Badminton Rankings the initial lists of qualified athletes have been announced. The Olympic Badminton Rankings included tournaments such as the World Championships, Continental Championships, Grand Prixes and others. The ranking period for the Olympic Badminton Rankings were from May 5th 2015 to May 1st 2016.

The top 34 athletes in the single rankings qualified to the Olympics. However, there is a maximum of two athletes per nation if both athletes are in the top 16 in the overall rankings. If not the maximum quota for each nation is one. Also all five continents must be represented with the highest ranking athlete from the continent automatically qualifying. The tripartite quotas also count towards the continental representation.

For the doubles rankings the top 16 teams qualified to the Olympics. Similarly, there is a maximum of two teams per nation if both teams are in the top 8 in the overall rankings. If not the maximum quota for each nation is one team. Also all continents that have at least one team in the top 50 will be granted a spot to the Olympics.

Overall China qualified the most quotas, winning the maximum of two entrants in all five events. In addition Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and the United States have at least one qualified entrant in all five events. In total, 41 nations have qualified at least one athlete.

There have been some reallocations due to the same athlete competing in two events. For the men China’s Zhang Nan, Germany’s Michael Fuchs and United States’ Phillip Chew have qualified in both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles. Brazil also qualified through the men’s singles releasing its host quota. These quotas will be reallocated to the men’s singles benefitting Portugal’s Pedro Martins, Austria’s David Obernorsterer, Canada’s Martin Giuffre and Czech Republic’s Petr Koukal.

Similarly China’s Zhao Yunlei, Denmark’s Christinna Pedersen and Netherlands’ Selena Piek qualified both in the women’s doubles and mixed doubles. These extra quotas will be reallocated to the women’s singles benefitting Switzerland’s Sabrina Jaquet, Ireland’s Chloe Magee and Portugal’s Telma Santos.

Also Australia will have to give up two of its continental quotas due to the rule allowing a nation to only benefit from a maximum of two continental quotas. The quotas will be reallocated to the next best eligible nation from Oceania first. If there are no eligible nations it will be reallocated to the next best ranked eligible nation regardless of continent.

Confirmation of quotas and tripartite invitations still remain so there will be a few changes between now and at the beginning of the Olympics, but for the most part the majority of athletes here will compete at the Olympics.

 

Quotas by Nations

• China – 10
• South Korea – 9
• Denmark – 6
• Indonesia – 6
• Japan – 6
• Germany – 5
• Great Britain – 5
• Hong Kong – 5
• India – 5
• Malaysia – 5
• Thailand – 5
• United States – 5
• Australia – 4
• Poland – 3
• Russia – 3
• Chinese Taipei – 3
• Austria – 2
• Belgium – 2
• Bulgaria – 2
• Canada – 2
• Czech Republic – 2
• France – 2
• Ireland – 2
• Netherlands – 2
• Portugal – 2
• Singapore – 2
• Spain – 2
• Ukraine – 2
• Vietnam – 2
• Cuba – 1
• Estonia – 1
• Finland – 1
• Guatemala – 1
• Israel – 1
• Italy – 1
• Mauritius – 1
• South Africa – 1
• Sweden – 1
• Switzerland – 1
• Turkey – 1

 

References

• BWF. Race to Rio – BWF Olympic Qualification. Access on May 7 2016.

Table Tennis: Olympic World Rankings Published

21 nations qualified through the Table Tennis Olympic World Rankings. The Olympic World Rankings consisted of tournaments such as the World Championship, Continental Championship and other World Events. Overall the top 22 eligible athletes of each gender qualified to the Olympics in the singles events. Any athlete which qualified through the continental events were not eligible while nations can only qualify a maximum of two athletes overall. Also the athletes had to have participated in their respective continental qualifier. The cut-off for the Olympic World Ranking was on May 1st 2016.

The athletes which qualified in the men’s singles include; Fan Zhendong (China), Jun Mizutani (Japan), Chuang Chih-Yuan (Chinese Taipei), Chun Ting Wong (Hong Kong), Vladimir Samsonov (Belarus), Peng Tang (Hong Kong), Lee Sangsu (South Korea), Maharu Yoshimura (Japan), Jung Youngsik (South Korea), Andrej Gacina (Croatia), Stefan Fegerl (Austria), Simon Gauzy (France), Kristian Karlsson (Sweden), Ning Gao (Singapore), Ahmet Li (Turkey), Robert Gardos (Austria), Zengyi Wang (Poland), Yang Wang (Slovakia), Liam Pitchford (Great Britain), Jakub Dyjas (Poland), Paul Drinkhall (Great Britain) and Ovidiu Ionescu (Romania).

The athletes which qualified in the women’s singles include; Liu Shiwen (China), Kasumi Ishikawa (Japan), Ai Fukuhara (Japan), Jeon Jihee (South Korea), Seo Hyowon (South Korea), Cheng I-Ching (Chinese Taipei), Menyu Yu (Singapore), Hoi Kem Doo (Hong Kong), Ho Ching Lee (Hong Kong), Chen Szu-Yu (Chinese Taipei), Elizabeta Samara (Romania), Georgina Pota (Hungary), Tetyana Bilenko (Ukraine), Yanfei Shen (Spain), Xue Li (France), Sofia Polcanova (Austria), Jieni Shao (Portugal), Daniela Monteiro Dodean (Romania), Viktoria Pavlovich (Belarus), Katarzyna Grzybowska (Poland), Iveta Vacenovska (Czech Republic), Barbora Balazova (Slovakia).

Once the nations confirm the selection the nations which qualified to the team events will be announced. Given the potential make-up of the teams it will be quite likely that there will be reallocations of quotas to the Olympic World Rankings. We will likely see seven more athletes (six extra athlete team quotas and the host quota) qualify through the rankings for each gender.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Hong Kong – 4
• Japan – 4
• South Korea – 4
• Austria – 3
• Chinese Taipei – 3
• Poland – 3
• Romania – 3
• Belarus – 2
• China – 2
• France – 2
• Great Britain – 2
• Singapore – 2
• Slovakia – 2
• Croatia – 1
• Czech Republic – 1
• Hungary – 1
• Portugal – 1
• Spain – 1
• Sweden – 1
• Turkey – 1
• Ukraine – 1

 

References

• ITTF. Players Qualified for Rio 2016 Olympics. Access on May 7 2016.

Rowing: Asian and Oceania Regatta Concludes However Reallocations Still Needed

Asian and Oceania nations had the opportunity to qualify boats at the 2016 Asian and Oceania Olympic Qualification Regatta. The top seven boats in the single sculls and the top three boats in the lightweight double sculls qualify their nation to the Olympics. In addition a nation can only qualify one boat per gender. The Asian and Oceania Olympic Qualification Regatta was held in Chungju, South Korea from April 22nd to April 25th 2016.

The top two in the four heats of the men’s single sculls advanced to the A/B semi-final while all other boats advanced to the repechage. The fastest boat was Indonesia’s Memo who won heat 3 with a time of 6:46.26. In the two repechages the top two advanced to the A/B semi-final. Uzbekistan’s Shakhnoz Kholmurzaev finished with the fastest time of 7:12.84 winning repechage 1. South Korea’s Kim Dong Yong won the first A/B semi-final with a time of 7:18.74 while Kazakhstan’s Vladislav Yakovlev won the second A/B semi-final with a time of 7:14.38. India, Indonesia, Iraq and Thailand also advanced to the A Final and thus became the first six boats to qualify to the Olympics. Kim would win the overall title with a time of 7:05.13. In the B final Uzbekistan’s Shakhnoz Kholmurzaev grabbed the final quota with a time of 7:13.83.

The top two in the three heats in the women’s single sculls advanced to the A/B semi-final while all other boats advanced to the repechage. The fastest boat was Chinese Taipei’s Wang Ming-Hui who won heat 1 and finished with a time of 7:31.15. In the two repechages the top three advanced to the A/B semi-final. Singapore’s Saiyidah Mohamed Rafa’ee finished with the fasted time of 8:06.23, winning repechage 2. Wang had another good performance in the A/B semi-final as she won the first race with a time of 8:01.86. South Korea’s Kim Yeji won the second A/B semi-final with a time of 7:57.64. Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan and Vietnam also advanced to the A final and thus became the first six boats to qualify to the Olympics. Kim would win the overall title with a time of 7:44.52. In the B final Singapore’s Saiyidah Mohamed Rafa’ee grabbed the final quota with a time of 7:53.13.

The top ranked boat in the two heats of the men’s lightweight double sculls advanced to the A final while all other boats advanced to the repechage. The first heat was won by Japan whom finished with a time of 6:20.70 while the second heat was won by India whom finished with a time of 6:22.75. In the two repechages the top two advanced to the A final. The repechages were won by China and Hong Kong with a time of 6:37.50 and 6:37.17 respectively. Also advancing to the A final were Indonesia and Uzbekistan. In the A final China won the event with a time of 6:24.70. Japan and Hong Kong won silver and bronze respectively and also qualified to the Olympics.

The top two ranked boats in the two heats of the women’s lightweight double sculls advanced to the A final while all other boats advanced to the repechage. Japan and South Korea won their heats with a time of 7:05.95 and 7:09.35 respectively. Also advancing to the A final were Hong Kong and Iran. In the single repechage the top two advanced to the A final. The repechage was won by Vietnam whom finished ahead of Kazakhstan to finish with a time of 7:23.05. In the A final Japan won the event with a time of 7:03.19. South Korea and Vietnam won silver and bronze respectively and also qualified to the Olympics.

Since a nation can only qualify one boat per gender there will be a couple of reallocations in the women events. South Korea and Vietnam must now choose which event they will compete in causing the other boat to be reallocated. Depending on the choice we could see Thailand and Qatar win a quota in the single sculls, Hong Kong and Thailand win a quota in the lightweight double sculls or a combination of Thailand and Hong Kong winning a quota in the single sculls and lightweight double sculls respectively.

 

Quotas by Nations

• South Korea – 3*
• Indonesia – 2
• Japan – 2
• Kazakhstan – 2
• Vietnam – 2*
• China – 1
• Hong Kong – 1
• India – 1
• Iran – 1
• Iraq – 1
• Singapore – 1
• Chinese Taipei – 1
• Thailand – 1
• Uzbekistan – 1

* Must choose boat

 

References

• World Rowing. 2016 FISA Asian and Oceania Olympic Qualification Regatta – Schedule and Results. Access on April 25 2016.