Tennis: ITF Updates Qualified List Again

With several late withdrawals in tennis the list of qualified athletes has changed again. In total 56 nations will send at least one athlete. As a reminder mixed doubles will be made up of athletes which have qualified in other events.

 

Athletes by Nations

• United States – 11
• France – 9
• Spain – 9
• Germany – 8
• Russia – 8
• Australia – 7
• Brazil – 7
• Czech Republic – 7
• Great Britain – 7
• Italy – 7
• Poland – 7
• Ukraine – 7
• Argentina – 6
• Japan – 6
• Romania – 6
• Serbia – 6
• China – 5
• Chinese Taipei – 5
• Canada – 4
• Croatia – 4
• India – 4
• Slovakia – 4
• Belgium – 3
• Colombia – 3
• Netherlands – 3
• Switzerland – 3
• Austria – 2
• Belarus – 2
• Bosnia and Herzegovina – 2
• Bulgaria – 2
• Chile – 2
• Hungary – 2
• Kazakhstan – 2
• Mexico – 2
• New Zealand – 2
• Portugal – 2
• Thailand – 2
• Tunisia – 2
• Barbados – 1
• Denmark – 1
• Dominican Republic – 1
• Georgia – 1
• Israel – 1
• Latvia – 1
• Liechtenstein – 1
• Lithuania – 1
• Luxembourg – 1
• Moldova – 1
• Montenegro – 1
• Paraguay – 1
• Puerto Rico – 1
• Slovenia – 1
• Sweden – 1
• Turkey – 1
• Uruguay – 1
• Uzbekistan – 1

 

Reference

• ITF. Rio 2016 Olympic Tennis Event entries. Access on July 31 2016.

Judo: IJF Reveals Olympic Competitors

The International Judo Federation has released the list of athletes which will compete in judo. The list also reveals the athletes selected through the tripartite commission and revealed two declined quotas. In total 20 quotas were made available to nations which qualified an average of less than eight athletes from individual events over the past two Olympics.

The tripartite quotas went to Afghanistan (men’s -100kg), Andorra (women’s -63kg), Belize (men’s -90kg), Burundi (women’s -52kg), Djibouti (men’s -66kg), Laos (men’s -60kg), Macedonia (women’s -63kg), Monaco (men’s -60kg), Montenegro (men’s -81kg), Nepal (women’s -63kg), Palestine (men’s -60kg), San Marino (men’s -100kg), Sri Lanka (men’s -73kg), Sudan (men’s -90kg), Suriname (men’s -66kg), Syria (men’s -73kg), Tanzania (men’s -73kg) and Yemen (men’s -73kg). The other two quotas were given to athletes competing in the Refugee Olympic Team (men’s -90kg and women’s -70kg).

Two nations also declined their continental quotas; Palau declined its women’s -63kg quota and South Africa declined its men’s -66kg quota. The quotas were reallocated to the next highest ranked nation from their respective continents. South Africa’s quota was reallocated to Congo DR (men’s -66kg) while for Palau no other eligible Oceania athletes remained so the quota was reallocated to the highest ranked eligible athlete, specifically Italy (women’s -48kg).

Provided that there isn’t any last minute injuries this should be the final list of athletes which will compete in the 2016 Olympics.

 

Net Quotas by Nations

• Refugee Olympic Team – 2
• Afghanistan – 1
• Andorra – 1
• Belize – 1
• Burundi – 1
• Congo DR – 1
• Djibouti – 1
• Italy – 1
• Laos – 1
• Macedonia – 1
• Monaco – 1
• Montenegro – 1
• Nepal – 1
• Palestine – 1
• San Marino – 1
• Sri Lanka – 1
• Sudan – 1
• Suriname – 1
• Syria – 1
• Tanzania – 1
• Yemen – 1
• Palau – -1
• South Africa – -1

 

References

• IJF. Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro 2016 – Participating Nations. Access on July 6 2016.

Tennis: Qualified Athlete List Released

The International Tennis Federation has announced the full list of qualified athletes based on the ATP and WTA rankings. A nation can only qualify a maximum of six athletes for each gender. The ATP and WTA rankings contain various events throughout the year, specifically events taking place from June 8th 2015 to June 5th 2016.

For the singles the top 56 eligible athletes in the men’s ATP and women’s WTA rankings are qualified to the Olympics. A nation can only qualify a maximum of four athletes in each singles event and the athlete must fulfill their requirements to the Davis and Fed Cup or get special permission. Six quotas are classified as ITF places which are allocated to the (if unqualified) host nation, continental representation (must be in top 300) and former Olympic gold medalists or Grand Slam champions (must be in top 200). Should those quotas not be filled the next highest ranked eligible athlete will qualify. Also two tripartite quotas were allocated to each of the singles events.

For the doubles athletes in the top 10 of the men’s ATP and women’s WTA are qualified. Similarly they must fulfill the Davis and Fed Cup requirements. The athletes can partner with any eligible player from their nation provided that they do not exceed the maximum of two doubles teams in an event. 14 spots go to the teams with the highest combined rankings (singles or doubles). 8 spots are classified as ITF places which are allocated to the (if unqualified) host nation (must have combined ranking of less than 500) and continental representation (must have combined ranking of less than 300). Should those quotas not be filled the next highest ranked doubles will qualify.

The men’s singles list contains a few missing top athletes with the 4 in the top 20 missing. Reasons for not competing ranged from not fulfilling the Davis Cup requirements (South Africa’s Kevin Anderson), issues with their NOC (Australia’s Nick Kyrigos) and wanting to focus on the ATP season (Austria’s Dominic Thiem and United States’ John Isner). Of the four Thiem was the highest ranked athlete at the time of the Olympic rankings publication at seventh.

One of the interesting developments on the men’s side is that the ITF has provisionally included some athletes provided that they compete at the July Davis Cup or have an appeal. This was reserved for athletes who have not completed their Davis Cup requirements; the most notable athlete subjected to this is Spain’s Rafael Nadal. In the men’s singles seven athletes qualified through protected rankings, usually reserved from athletes returning from long term injury. Athletes which qualified through the injury list include. Argentina’s Juan Monaco and Juan Martin del Potro, Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis, Chinese Taipei’s Lu Yen-Hsun, Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz and United States’ Brian Baker. Overall the ITF Places were reallocated to the next best ranked athletes while the tripartite commission selected Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Damir Dzumhur and Barabdos’ Darian King to compete at the Olympics.

The women’s singles on the other hand had relatively few missing top athletes. Out of the top 40 only two are missing, recently retired Flavia Pennetta of Italy and Russia’s Maria Sharapova whom is serving a doping ban. Three athletes also used their protected rankings as a way to qualify to the Olympics; China’s Peng Shuai, Italy’s Karin Knapp and Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva. Also three athletes qualified through the intended use of the ITF Places; Brazil’s Teliana Pereira qualified by being from the host nation, Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur qualified by being the highest ranked athlete from Africa and Italy’s Francesca Schiavone qualified by being a former Grand Slam champion. The other three quotas were reallocated to the next highest ranked eligible athletes. The tripartite commission selected Paraguay’s Veronica Cepede Royg and Liechtenstein’s Stephanie Vogt to compete at the Olympics.

Unlike during the ATP and WTA tour doubles pairs must be from the same nation. This has caused many pairs to break-up and compete with someone else for one tournament. In the men’s doubles brother Mike and Bob Bryan of the United States will attempt to depend their gold medal. Overall six athletes will compete with someone else in the top 10 meaning three quotas are reallocated to the combined ranking list. Like with the men’s singles some athletes are provisionally chosen with the expectation that they will compete in July’s Davis Cup competition or submit an appeal. None of the ITF Places were used as intended and were reallocated to the highest combined ranked pairs which applied.

The women’s doubles will have the United States’ Serena and Venus Williams defending their Olympic gold medal. Four athletes will compete with someone else in the top 10 meaning two quotas are reallocated to the combined ranking list. One ITF Place was given to Brazil’s Teliana Pereira and Paula Cristina Goncalves so that the host nation will have participation. The other seven places were reallocated to the highest combined ranked pairs which applied.

The mixed doubles pairs won’t actually be announced until after the Olympics begin. Only players which have already qualified in other events can participate. A total of 16 pairs will compete, with 4 ITF Places included.

 

Athletes by Nations

• United States – 12
• Czech Republic – 10
• France – 9
• Germany – 9
• Spain – 9
• Russia – 8
• Brazil – 7
• Great Britain – 7
• Italy – 7
• Serbia – 7
• Ukraine – 7
• Argentina – 6
• Australia – 6
• Switzerland – 6
• Chinese Taipei – 5
• Romania – 5
• Canada – 4
• China – 4
• India – 4
• Japan – 4
• Kazakhstan – 4
• Poland – 4
• Slovakia – 4
• Belarus – 3
• Belgium – 3
• Croatia – 3
• Netherlands – 3
• Austria – 2
• Bulgaria – 2
• Chile – 2
• Colombia – 2
• Hungary – 2
• Latvia – 2
• New Zealand – 2
• Portugal – 2
• Tunisia – 2
• Barbados – 1
• Bosnia and Herzegovina – 1
• Cyprus – 1
• Denmark – 1
• Dominican Republic – 1
• Israel – 1
• Liechtenstein – 1
• Lithuania – 1
• Luxembourg – 1
• Montenegro – 1
• Paraguay – 1
• Puerto Rico – 1
• Sweden – 1
• Uruguay – 1
• Uzbekistan – 1

 

References

• ITF. Rio 2016 Olympic Tennis Event entries. Access on June 30 2016.

Handball: Women’s Teams Finalised After Final Qualification Tournaments

The final six teams for the women’s handball teams were decided over three Olympic qualification tournaments. Each of the three tournaments contained four teams where a round robin tournament was played. The top two teams from each tournament qualified to the Olympics. The three tournaments were held from March 18th to March 20th 2016 in Metz, France, Aarhus, Denmark and Astrakhan, Russia.

The first tournament began with Japan powering through Tunisia 37-20 while the Netherlands used a strong second half to defeat France 24-17. The Netherlands would again use a strong second half to go from 15-16 to 33-15 against Japan and qualified to the Olympics. France defeated Tunisia 33-15 to set up a match against Japan for the second Olympic quota. Netherlands finished top of the group with 37-20 win over Tunisia. France began strong against Japan and never gave the nation a chance to catch-up. In the end France qualified to the Olympics after a 25-17 win over Japan.

The second tournament began with Montenegro defeating Uruguay and Romania defeating Denmark 34-19 and 32-25 respectively. Romania continued its winning ways and defeated Uruguay 36-19. In the other match Montenegro held Denmark off and qualified both itself and Romania to the Olympics with a 26-22 win. With Olympic qualification already booked for both nations Romania went on a seven goal streak to take the lead against Montenegro 15-11 going into the half. Montenegro would respond in the second half with a six goal streak and scored the final goal right at the end of the match to tie 23-23. Romania would win the tournament due to the better goal differential. Denmark would take a consolation third place by defeating Uruguay 38-17.

The first match of the third tournament between Poland and Russia ended up being quite the thriller. Russia scored three unanswered goals in the final three minutes to win the match 27-25. Meanwhile Sweden defeated Mexico 41-20. Sweden would end up eliminating Poland by defeating the team 30-24. Russia joined Sweden to the Olympics after their comprehensive 37-17 win over Mexico. With Olympic qualification for both nations Russia would begin the match 5-0 against Sweden and would never relinquish the lead as they went on to win the tournament 37-29. Poland would take a consolation third place by defeating Mexico 36-14.

With these tournaments over the participating nations for the women’s handball tournament have been finalised. The men’s tournament will be finalised with their own final qualification tournaments to be held over the coming weeks.

 

Tournament 1 Rankings

1. Netherlands
2. France
3. Japan
4. Tunisia

 

Tournament 2 Rankings

1. Romania
2. Montenegro
3. Denmark
4. Uruguay

 

Tournament 3 Rankings

1. Russia
2. Sweden
3. Poland
4. Mexico

 

References

• IHF. 2016 Women’s Olympic Games Qualification Tournament 1 Results. Access on March 20 2016.
• IHF. 2016 Women’s Olympic Games Qualification Tournament 2 Results. Access on March 20 2016.
• IHF. 2016 Women’s Olympic Games Qualification Tournament 3 Results. Access on March 20 2016.

Water Polo: Serbia Continues Dominant Streak By Winning European Champs

Serbia continues its dominant streak at the 2016 Men’s European Water Polo Championship by winning its third title in a row. The 16-team tournament was split into four groups of four teams. This round was used to determine the seeding for the teams as everyone advanced to the knock-out stage. The highest ranked not yet qualified nation qualified to the Olympics. The Men’s European Water Polo Championship was held in Belgrade, Serbia from January 10th to January 23rd 2016.

Montenegro and Spain were the expected leaders of Group A. On their encounter no team had much of a lead as the match ended tied 8-8. Spain would go on to win the group due to a better goal difference. The Netherlands finished third in the group with a narrow 6-5 win over Slovakia.

Serbia would go undefeated in Group B which included a match against rival Croatia. The match wouldn’t live up to the hype as Serbia went up 7-3 by half-time and won the match 13-6. France would take third in the group as they defeated Malta 17-7.

Italy was the clear top team in Group C as they won all of their matches with relative ease. Georgia almost caused an upset against Germany as they took an early lead in the match. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter where Germany was able to put the match away to win 11-9. The fight for second place of the group was the final match in the group between Germany and Romania. The teams were essentially equal throughout the match. A 3-2 win for Romania in the second quarter ended up being the difference maker as Romania would take second in the group with a 14-13 win over Germany.

Group D had three teams that could potentially win the group. The group began with an 8-8 draw between Hungary and Greece as both teams were essentially equal throughout the match. While Russia took an early 4-1 lead over Hungary in the first quarter the rest of the match belonged to Hungary as Russia only scored two more goals while Hungary scored eleven to win the match 12-6. The final match of the group between Greece and Russia began with both teams going even. Greece took an 8-6 lead going into the final quarter, but a 3-0 performance by Russia gave it a 9-8 win. This would mean Hungary won the group, Russia finished second and Greece would advance as the third place team.

The round of 16 was rather uneventful as almost all of the higher seeded nations won their match. The only seeding upset was Greece’s 15-9 win over Romania though on paper Greece was easily the favourite to win that match.

In the quarterfinals Greece did just enough to extend its lead to defeat Spain 6-2 while Serbia scored the blowout of the round, easily taking out Russia 15-5. Both Montenegro and Hungary were able to stay one step ahead of Italy and Croatia respectively to advance to the semifinals with a score of 10-7 and 8-5 respectively.

The semi-finals had Serbia power through Greece in a 13-7 win as the nation reached its fifth European Championship final since it became an independent nation. The other semi-final match had big implication for the Olympics as the winner of the match would also book their spot to the Olympics. Montenegro would grab a narrow lead, winning 4-3 at half-time. Hungary was able to keep the match close until the final quarter where Montenegro was able to extend its lead and book a spot to the Olympics as they won the match 8-5.

The final would see Montenegro take an early lead though Serbia made sure to never let Montenegro gain too large of a lead. Going into the final quarter the match was tied 6-6. In the final quarter Serbia would score three unanswered goals though Montenegro would answer back by cutting the lead by two. With 26 seconds remaining Serbia would score another goal to put the match out of reach, winning the championship 10-8. Hungary won the bronze medal by navigating a 13-10 win over Greece.

Serbia is currently on a 30-0 winning streak across all major competitions, the last time they lost was back in the 2013 World Aquatic Championships. No doubt Serbia will be the heavy favourite going into the Olympics. This will be Montenegro’s third Olympics in a row as an independent nation. They will be looking to win their first medal after finishing fourth over the past two Olympics.

As for the other European nations many of them will get a second opportunity to qualify at the final Olympic qualification tournament. Initially only the top four not yet qualified nations plus hosts Italy would qualify, namely Hungary, Spain, Russia and France, however, withdrawals from other continents have given more spots to Europe. While not officially confirmed it is likely we will see Romania, Germany, Netherlands and Slovakia compete in the final qualification tournament.

 

Tournament Rankings

1. Serbia
2. Montenegro
3. Hungary
4. Greece
5. Spain
6. Italy
7. Croatia
8. Russia
9. France
10. Romania
11. Germany
12. Netherlands
13. Slovakia
14. Georgia
15. Malta
16. Turkey

 

References

• LEN. 2016 Men’s European Water Polo Championship. Access on January 23 2016.

Sailing: Nick Thompson Wins Men’s Laser World Championships

Great Britain’s Nick Thompson dominated the entire field with nine top 10 finishes at the 2015 Men’s Laser World Championships. The championship was held in Kingston, Canada from July 2nd to July 8th 2015. Overall 13 races were held, 7 qualifying and 6 final where the two worst scores were discarded. In total 9 spots were up for grabs for Olympic qualification to nations which have not qualified a boat in this event.

In the qualifying round seven races were held as races were cancelled on the third day due to low winds. By the end of the seventh race Germany’s Phillip Buhl and Great Britain’s Nick Thompson were tied for first with 21 points while Guatemala’s Juan Ignacio Maegli was in third with 26 points. At this point the 158 competitors were split into three equal fleets; gold, silver and bronze based on their ranking. This meant that eight out of the nine quotas were filled due to the virtue of qualifying to the gold fleet. The qualified nations were Peru, Argentina, Estonia, Montenegro, Chile, South Africa, South Korea and Hungary. This was a special moment for Peru as this is the first time they have qualified to the Olympics in sailing. As for the nations in the silver fleet, 16 were fighting for one lone spot.

The first day for the final races were also cancelled due to lack of wind, but when the races began on the next day it put sailors to quite the test. By the end of the day Nick Thompson had built up a 20 point lead from his three impressive races. He was able to extend his lead on the final day winning the event with 67 points. Silver went to Germany’s Phillip Buhl while bronze went to Australia’s Tom Burton. The race for the final Olympic spot in the silver fleet went to Spain’s Joaquin Blanco who finished third in the silver fleet (56th overall).

All is not over for the other nations as for the first time continental qualifiers will be used to determine some of the competitors. In fact the first qualifier will be the Pan American Games which will begin at the end of this week.

Quotas by Nation

• Argentina – 1
• Chile – 1
• Estonia – 1
• Hungary – 1
• South Korea – 1
• Montenegro – 1
• Peru – 1
• South Africa – 1
• Spain – 1

References

SailWave. 2015 Laser Standard Men – World Championship. Access on July 8 2015.