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.

Golf: Olympic Rankings Published

The International Golf Federation has published the Olympic Golf Rankings. Over the past two years athletes gained points from select events which form the rankings. For athletes ranked in the top 15 a maximum of four athletes can represent one nation. However, for athletes ranked outside of the top 15 the maximum for one nation becomes two. In total sixty athletes will take part in each event. The ranking period lasted from July 14th 2014 to July 10th 2016.

While golf makes its return to the Olympics since 1904 it has been a bit of a bumpy ride for the men’s event. There have been multiple withdrawals, including the four highest ranked athletes in the rankings. Many of these golfers cited fear towards the Zika virus as the reason for their withdrawal. Overall only the United States will send the maximum of four athletes while other nations will send one or two athletes.

The women however have had much fewer withdrawals with everyone eligible in the top 15 so far committing to the games. South Korea will be the only nation sending four athletes while the United States will send three.

In total 40 nations will compete in golf’s return to the Olympics. Athletes and nations have one week to formally confirm their participation to the games so there may be a few more withdrawals before the games begin.

 

Quotas by Nations

• United States – 7
• South Korea – 6
• Australia – 4
• Canada – 4
• China – 4
• Chinese Taipei – 4
• Denmark – 4
• Finland – 4
• France – 4
• Germany – 4
• Great Britain – 4
• Italy – 4
• Japan – 4
• Malaysia – 4
• New Zealand – 4
• South Africa – 4
• Spain – 4
• Sweden – 4
• Thailand – 4
• Belgium – 3
• India – 3
• Ireland – 3
• Netherlands – 3
• Norway – 3
• Argentina – 2
• Austria – 2
• Brazil – 2
• Colombia – 2
• Mexico – 2
• Paraguay – 2
• Philippines – 2
• Switzerland – 2
• Bangladesh – 1
• Chile – 1
• Czech Republic – 1
• Hong Kong – 1
• Israel – 1
• Portugal – 1
• Russia – 1
• Venezuela – 1

 

References

• IGF. Men’s Olympic Golf Rankings. Access on July 11 2016.
• IGF. Women’s Olympic Golf Rankings. Access on July 11 2016.

Boxing: Professional Athletes Qualified at APB/WSB Qualifier

The final qualification quotas were decided at the 2016 APB/WSB Olympic Qualification Event. At this tournament boxers from AIBA Pro Boxing and World Series of Boxing are allowed to compete. In addition, with the late ruling allowing full professional boxers to compete this will be the only opportunity for them to qualify to the Olympics. In total the highest ranked boxers from the men’s heavyweight and super heavyweight qualified to the Olympics while for the other eight weight classes the top three athletes qualified to the Olympics. The APB/WSB Olympic Qualification Event was held in Vargas, Venezuela from July 3rd to July 8th 2016.

The late rule change to allow all professional boxers was met with some controversy with some nations declaring it was unfair to change the rules this late with some nations refusing to allow professionals to compete even if they had space on the team. Pro boxing organisations also threatened suspensions for athletes whom choose to compete in the Olympics. In the end only a small group of professionals actually competed. Two of the most prominent pros which qualified were Thailand’s Amnat Ruenroeng in the men’s lightweight (-60kg) and Cameroon’s Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam in the men’s light heavyweight (-81kg). Both actually lost their final match with Mexico’s Lindolfo Delgado defeating Ruenroeng and Colombia’s Juan Carlos Carrillo defeating N’Jikam. Also qualifying in those weights were Italy’s Carmine Tommasone (-60kg) and Ukraine’s Denys Soloneko (-81kg).

Mexico was the top performing nation, winning three gold medals. Along with Delgado, Joselito Velazquez defeated Ecuador’s Carlos Quipo in the men’s light flyweight (-49kg) and Juan Pablo Romero won in a walkover against Germany’s Arajik Marutjan in the men’s welterweight (-69kg). Also qualifying were Argentina’s Leandro Blanc in the light flyweight and Spain’s Youba Sissokho in the welterweight.

While Mexico won the most gold medals Venezuela qualified the most athletes, with four in total. Overall they won two events; Yoel Finol Rivas defeated Germany’s Hamza Touba in the men’s flyweight (-52kg), Colombia’s Ceiber Avila finished third and Edgar Munoz won the only available spot in the men’s super heavyweight (+91kg) with his win over Ukraine’s Rostyslav Arkhypenko. Also qualifying for Venezuela was Endry Jose Pinto whom lost to Ecuador’s Marlo Delgado in the men’s middleweight (-75kg), Turkey’s Onder Sipal won the third quota and Victor Rodriguez grabbed the third quota in the men’s bantamweight (-56kg). The winner of that event was Kenya’s Benson Gicharu whom won in a walkover against Dominican Republic’s Hector Garcia.

 

In the men’s light welterweight (-64kg) Armenia’s Hovhannes won in a technical knock-out over Qatar’s Thulasi Tharumalingam. The third quota for that event went to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Matviychuk whom won in a walk-over against Argentina’s Carlos Daniel Aquino. The lone quota in the men’s heavyweight (-91kg) went to Ecuador’s Julio Cesar Castillo whom defeated Croatia’s Marko Calic in the final.

 

This was the final opportunity for athletes to qualify in boxing. All that is remaining is for the nations to confirm the quotas and for the tripartite commission to announce the remaining tripartite quotas.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Venezuela – 4
• Ecuador – 3
• Mexico – 3
• Colombia – 2
• Germany – 2
• Ukraine – 2
• Argentina – 1
• Armenia – 1
• Cameroon – 1
• Dominican Republic – 1
• Italy – 1
• Kenya – 1
• Qatar – 1
• Spain – 1
• Thailand – 1
• Turkey – 1

 

References

• AIBA. APB/WSB Olympic Qualification Event. Access on July 8 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.

Rugby Sevens: Spain Wins Women’s Olympic Repechage Tournament

Spain went undefeated to win the 2016 Women’s Rugby Sevens Olympic Repechage Tournament. 16 nations were split into four groups of four with the top two advancing to the quarter-final. The winner of the tournament qualified as the final team to the Olympics. The Women’s Rugby Sevens Olympic Repechage Tournament was held in Dublin, Ireland from June 25th to June 26th 2016.

Pool A was dominated by Russia as they defeated all three of their opponents scoring more than 47 points each and conceding none. Second place of the group went to Samoa as they defeated Zimbabwe and Madagascar 57-5 and 22-10 respectively. Madagascar finished third by defeating Zimbabwe 19-17.

Pool B was similarly dominated by Spain whom defeated their opponents by a combined score of 121-0.  Tunisia also advanced to the quarter-final with 22-0 and 17-10 victories over Mexico and Venezuela respectively. Since Mexico and Venezuela tied 5-5 in their match third place was decided through point differential where Venezuela’s -52 prevailed over Mexico’s -60.

Pool C had China and Ireland score two victories over Portugal and Trinidad and Tobago to set up a deciding match between the two. Ireland would win the match and the group with a 12-0 victory over China. Portugal finished the group in third place with a 42-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago.

In Pool D Kazakhstan was the least dominant of the pool winners though finished with a +47 point differential. Argentina finished second in the group after narrow 17-12 and 17-15 victories against Cook Islands and Hong Kong respectively. For third place, since Cook Islands and Hong Kong tied 12-12 in their match third place was decided through point differential where Hong Kong’s -11 was just enough to finish ahead of Cook Islands’ -12.

The quarter-final had the group winners all come out victorious and without conceding a point as Russia defeated Argentina 34-0, Ireland defeated Tunisia 38-0, Kazakhstan defeated Samoa 26-0 and Spain defeated China 21-0. The semi-final between Russia and Ireland was close as Russia at times required to play defense, but were able to prevail with a 19-10 victory. Spain booked its spot to the final with a 28-0 victory over Kazakhstan. The final was also an even affair, but it was Spain whom did just enough to win the match and a spot at the Olympics via a 19-12 victory over Russia. Ireland finished third with a 17-5 victory over Kazakhstan.

This was the final opportunity for nations to qualify in rugby sevens. We now know the 12 men and 12 women teams which will compete when rugby sevens makes its debut at the Olympics.

 

Tournament Rankings

• 1. Spain
• 2. Russia
• 3. Ireland
• 4. Kazakhstan
• 5. China
• 6. Argentina
• 7. Samoa
• 7. Tunisia
• 9. Cook Islands
• 10. Hong Kong
• 11. Portugal
• 11. Venezuela
• 13. Madagascar
• 14. Zimbabwe
• 15. Mexico
• 15. Trinidad and Tobago

 

References

• WorldRugby. 2016 Olympic Repechage Women’s Results. Access on June 26 2016.

Boxing: 29 Nations Qualify After World Qualification Tournament

29 nations qualified at least one athlete after the 2016 Boxing World Olympic Qualification Tournament. One quota was available in the heavyweight and super heavyweight, two quotas were available in the men’s light flyweight and five quotas were available in the other seven events. In the events with five quotas the quarter-finalist whom lost to the eventual winner qualified as the fifth best athlete. The AIBA World Olympic Qualification Tournament was held in Baku, Azerbaijan from June 16th to June 25th 2016.

Overall nine nations won a gold medal among the ten events. The only nation which won two gold medals was Azerbaijan whom won gold in the light flyweight (-49kg) and light heavyweight (-81kg). In the light flyweight Rufat Huseynov defeated Spain’s Samuel Carmona in the final. In the light heavyweight 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Teymur Mammadov defeated Germany’s Serge Michel in the final. Also qualifying were Russia’s Petr Khamukov, Belarus’ Mikhail Dauhaliavets and Morocco’s Hassan Saada. Azerbaijan also qualified a third athlete in the middleweight (-75kg) where Kamran Shakhsuvarly lost to the eventual gold medalist Michael O’Reilly of Ireland whom defeated Turkmenistan’s Arslanbek Achilov in the final. Also qualifying in the middleweight are Iraq’s Waheed Abdul-Ridha and India’s Vikas Yadav.

The only other nation to have qualified three athletes from this event was France. Souleymane Cissokho defeated Hungary’s Imre Bacskai to win the welterweight (-69kg). Also qualifying were Belarus’ Pavel Kastramin, Great Britain’s Josh Kelly and Bulgaria’s Simeon Chamov. The other two French athletes which qualified were Elie Konki in the flyweight (-52kg) and Hassan Amzile in the light welterweight (-64kg). The flyweight was won by Bulgaria’s Daniel Asenov whom defeated United States’ Antonio Vargas. Also qualifying were Turkey’s Selcuk Eker and Mongolia’s Kharkhuugiin Enkh-Amar. The light welterweight was won by Great Britain’s Pat McCormack whom defeated Haiti’s Richardson Hitchins. Also qualifying were United States’ Gary Russell and India’s Monoj Kumar.

The bantamweight (-56kg) was won by 2013 World Championship bronze medalist Mykola Butsenko of Ukraine whom defeated Mongolia’s Erdenebatyn Tsendbaatar. Also qualifying were Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez, Japan’s Arashi Morisaka and Algeria’s Fahem Hammachi. Netherlands’ Enrico Lacruz defeated Tajikistan’s Anvar Yunusov in the final of the lightweight (-60kg) event. Also qualifying are China’s Shan Jun, Chinese Taipei’s Lai Chun-En and Qatar’s Hakan Erseker. The lone quotas for the heavyweight (-90kg) and super heavyweight (+90kg) went to Poland’s Igor Jakubowski and Italy’s Guido Vianello respectively.

There will be one more opportunity for male boxers to qualify to the Olympics, the APB and WSB qualifier which will allow professional boxers to qualify, provided a nation has not already qualified in that event.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Azerbaijan – 3
• France – 3
• Belarus – 2
• Bulgaria – 2
• Germany – 2
• India – 2
• Mongolia – 2
• United States – 2
• Algeria – 1
• China – 1
• Chinese Taipei – 1
• Cuba – 1
• Great Britain – 1
• Haiti – 1
• Hungary – 1
• Iraq – 1
• Ireland – 1
• Italy – 1
• Japan – 1
• Morocco – 1
• Netherlands – 1
• Poland – 1
• Qatar – 1
• Russia – 1
• Spain – 1
• Tajikistan – 1
• Turkey – 1
• Turkmenistan – 1
• Ukraine – 1

 

References

• AIBA. 2016 World Olympic Qualification Event. Access on June 25 2016.

Rugby Sevens: Spain Wins Repechage Tournament to Book its Spot to the Olympics

In a bit of an upset Spain grabbed the final quota place at the 2016 Men’s Rugby Sevens Final Olympic Qualification Tournament. The 16 team tournament contained four groups of four teams where the top two advanced to the quarter-final. The winner of the tournament qualified to the Olympics. The Men’s Rugby Sevens Final Olympic Qualification Tournament was held in Fontvieille, Monaco from June 18th to June 19th 2016.

Pool A was considered to be the group of death. Rugby Sevens World Series core team Samoa suffered a 27-21 upset against Ireland as the team went on to win all three games. Samoa would also qualify to the quarter-final as they defeated Tonga and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe finished third with a 21-14 victory over Tonga.

Pool B was dominated by Canada and Germany as the two teams easily dispatched Sri Lanka and Uruguay. It was thought Canada would safely win the group, but the core team suffered a shock 21-19 defeat to Germany in the final match of the group as both teams advanced to the quarter-final. Uruguay finished third with a 40-14 victory over Sri Lanka.

In Pool C World Series core member Russia struggled in their first two matches where they defeated Morocco and Tunisia 26-19 and 24-12 respectively. They would however, perform up to their ability against Chile in the final match of the group where they won 26-0. Chile also advanced to the quarter-final with victories over Morocco and Tunisia. Morocco would finish third in the group with a 19-14 victory over Tunisia.

Pool D saw Hong Kong and Spain win their first two matches against Mexico and South Korea. Hong Kong would end up winning the group in a 19-0 match as both teams advanced to the quarter-final. South Korea finished in third with a 42-12 victory over Mexico.

The quarter-final matches began with two close matches as both Spain and Russia narrowly defeated Ireland and Canada 12-7 and 14-12 respectively. Samoa was able to recover from its day 1 poor performance as it defeated Hong Kong 31-12 while Germany also advanced to the semi-final in a 26-0 win over Chile.

Spain was the first nation to book its spot to the final as they defeated Russia 17-12. Samoa also qualified to the final with a 26-14 victory over Germany. The final was a close affair with both teams looking like they could win, but it was Spain which did just enough to secure the 22-19 win and qualify to the Olympics.

This was the final opportunity for nations to qualify to the Olympics in the men’s tournament. This was a heart-break particularly for Samoa as rugby sevens was seen as their best opportunity to win their first Olympic medal.

 

Tournament Rankings

•  1. Spain
• 2. Samoa
• 3. Russia
• 4. Germany
• 5. Canada
• 6. Hong Kong
• 7. Chile
• 7. Ireland
• 9. Zimbabwe
• 10. Tonga
• 11. Morocco
• 11. Uruguay
• 13. South Korea
• 14.Sri Lanka
• 15. Mexico
• 15. Tunisia

 

References

• WorldRugby. 2016 Olympic Repechage Men’s Results. Access on June 19 2016.

Basketball: Women’s Line-Up Completed After Final Tournament

The final teams were decided at the 2016 Women’s Basketball World Olympic Qualifying Tournament. 12 teams were divided into four groups of three where a round robin was played where the top two advanced to the quarter-final. The four quarter-final winners qualified to the Olympics while the losers played for fifth place and the final spot. No semi-final or finals were played. The Women’s Basketball World Olympic Qualifying Tournament was held in Nantes, France from June 13th to June 19th 2016.

In the group stage France topped Group A with 83-67 and 70-52 wins over Cuba and New Zealand respectively. Cuba, after building a 50-29 lead at half-time was able to hold off a late surge from New Zealand to qualify to the quarter-final via a score of 64-62.

Group B was dominated by Turkey as they defeated Argentina and Cameroon 66-38 and 72-46 respectively. Argentina had a very strong performance against Cameroon as they led the team 43-23 by half-time and coasted to a 75-64 win.

Group C was the most thrilling group as Belarus won the first match against Nigeria 71-60. In the second match South Korea took an early 20-13 lead after the first quarter, but Nigeria stood defiant and spent the entire match trying to catch-up, only to take brief leads in the fourth. Going into the dying seconds South Korea led by 2, but a three-point basket in the final five seconds gave Nigeria the lead to win the game 70-69. Nigeria’s joy disappeared in the final match where South Korea did just enough to hold off Belarus to win the match 66-65. Since all three teams won and lost a game the tie-breaker went to point difference meaning Belarus finished first, South Korea in second while Nigeria was left out of the quarter-final.

Group D was won by Spain as the team set aside both China and Venezuela via a score of 77-43 and 83-55 respectively. China finished in second with their opening win against Venezuela where they won 77-59 in a relatively easy fashion.

The quarter-final matches saw the European nations performing well, particularly Spain, Turkey and France where they defeated South Korea, Cuba and Argentina 70-50, 71-45 and 90-53 respectively to qualify to the Olympics. The other match between Belarus and China was close with China taking a 32-28 lead at half-time. However, in the third quarter China blew up the game as they extended their lead to 19 and ultimately qualified to the Olympic with an 84-70 win.

The fight for the fifth and final Olympic quota saw South Korea defeat Cuba in an 81-62 match while Belarus demolished Argentina 84-44. The fifth place match was a very defensive affair though it was Belarus whom built up a 27-16 lead at half-time. South Korea tried to comeback in the third, but was unable to make any gains as Belarus went on to win the match and qualify to the Olympics with a score of 56-39.

With these five teams the women’s basketball line-up is now complete. Among the teams France will be attempting to defend its silver medal won in 2012 while Belarus and Spain will be making their return to the Olympics after missing out in 2012.

 

Qualified Nations (12 Athletes Each)

• Belarus
• China
• France
• Spain
• Turkey

 

References

• FIBA. Women’s Basketball Final Qualification Tournament Results. Access on June 19 2016.

Archery: Final Olympic Qualifiers Adds 6 Teams and 11 Individuals

The final Olympic quotas were decided at the 2016 Archery World Cup – Stage 3. A special Final Olympic Qualification Tournament was held during the World Cup event. The top three nations from the team event of the Olympic qualification tournament qualified to the Olympics. In the individual event, initially three spots were available to the highest ranked athletes with a maximum of one quota per nation per gender, but should a nation whom qualified in the team event, previously qualified an individual quota that quota will be reallocated to the next highest ranked eligible athlete at this individual event. The Archery World Cup – Stage 3 was held in Antalya, Turkey from June 12th to June 19th 2016.

In the women’s team recurve Germany was the top nation in the ranking round, finishing with a score of 1991. However, they suffered an early upset to Estonia in the first round where Estonia won in an upset. Estonia would continue its unlikely run by defeating Great Britain 6-0 in the quarter-final. In the semi-final they were stopped by fifth seed Ukraine whom won the match 5-3. The other half of the bracket was relatively tame as both the second and third seed Italy and Chinese Taipei respectively faced off in the semi-final. The match went to a tie-breaker where Italy advanced to the final. Ukraine would go on to win the event with a 5-1 win over Italy. For third place and the final Olympic quota Chinese Taipei easily dispatched Estonia to win the match 6-0. Since Chinese Taipei, Italy and the Ukraine all qualified athletes previously the total amount of quotas for the women’s individual qualifiers will be six.

The men’s team recurve saw many upsets. After winning the top seed in the ranking round with a score of 2008 India quickly felt the pressure as the required a tie-breaker to defeat Turkey and then were eliminated in the quarter-final after losing a tie-breaker to Malaysia. Second seed Mexico lost 6-0 in the first round to Canada while fourth seed Russia lost to 12th seed Indonesia 5-3 in the quarter-final. In total the semi-finals consisted of 8th seed Malaysia, 12th seed Indonesia, 3rd seed Germany and 10th seed France. Indonesia booked their spot to the Olympics with a 6-0 victory over Malaysia while France qualified by defeating Germany 5-1. Indonesia would go on to win the event 6-0. The final Olympic quota was decided in the third place match where Malaysia defeated Germany 6-2. Since Indonesia and Malaysia qualified athletes previously the total amount of quotas for the men’s individual qualifiers will be five.

While there were relatively few upsets in the women’s individual recurve none of the top four seeds reached the semi-final though three of them reached the quarter-final. The first semi-final was between Moldova’s Alexandra Mirca and Great Britain’s Naomi Folkard. Folkard won the match 7-3. The other semi-final match was between Estonia’s Laura Nurmsalu and Sweden’s Christine Bjerendal. Nurmsalu won the match 6-4. All four nations qualified a quota to the Olympics. The event was won by Nurmsalu whom defeated Folkard 6-0. The other two Olympic quotas went to Finland (Taru Kuoppa) and Spain (Adriana Martin).

One of the largest upsets in the entire qualifier came in the men’s individual recurve in the round of 32 where 80th seed Boris Balaz of Slovakia defeated top seed Bair Tsybekdorzhiev of Russia in a 6-4 match. Balaz was unable to reach the semi-final as he lost to Thailand’s Witthaya Thamwong 6-2 in the quarter-finals, however, it would be enough to grab one of the Olympics quotas. The final was between two Belarussians where Anton Prilepov and Pavel Dalidovich faced off against each other. Prilepov won the match 6-0. Since a nation can only qualify one athlete quota the five quotas went to Belarus (Anton Prilepov), Thailand (Witthaya Thamwong), Belgium (Robin Ramaekers), Norway (Baard Nesteng) and Slovakia (Boris Balaz).

This was the final opportunity for nations to qualify to the Olympics. All that is left is for the tripartite quotas to be announced and for nations to officially confirm their quotas.

 

Athletes by Nations

• Chinese Taipei – 3
• France – 3
• Indonesia – 3
• Italy – 3
• Malaysia – 3
• Ukraine – 3
• Belarus – 1
• Belgium – 1
• Estonia – 1
• Finland – 1
• Great Britain – 1
• Moldova – 1
• Norway – 1
• Slovakia – 1
• Spain – 1
• Sweden – 1
• Thailand – 1

 

References

• IANSEO. Archery World Cup 2016 – Stage 3 + Final Olympic Qualifier Results. Access on June 17 2016.

Beach Volleyball: Olympic Rankings Published

In total 15 nations qualified to the Olympics after the publication of the Beach Volleyball Olympic Rankings. The top 15 ranked eligible teams from the Olympic rankings qualified their nation a spot to the Olympics. Brazil has already qualified the maximum quotas through the host quota and winning the 2015 World Championship. Other nations can qualify a maximum of two teams per gender. Teams can earn points through their performances at eligible tournaments. The Beach Volleyball Olympic Rankings contained points earned from various events held from January 1st 2015 to June 12th 2016.

The men’s rankings were topped by Brazil’s Alison Cerutti and Bruno Schmidt. The 15 qualified teams were (in alphabetical order); Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy (2), Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands (2), Poland (2), Russia, Spain and the United States (2).

The women’s rankings were also topped by Brazil’s Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes. The 15 qualified teams were (in alphabetical order); Argentina, Australia, Canada (2), China, Germany (2), Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland (2) and the United States (2).

There are still two more opportunities for nations to qualify quotas. The first opportunity is the continental cup while the second will be the final qualification tournament.

 

Teams by Nations

• United States – 4
• Canada – 3
• Germany – 3
• Italy – 3
• Netherlands – 3
• Poland – 3
• Spain – 2
• Switzerland – 2
• Argentina – 1
• Australia – 1
• Austria – 1
• China – 1
• Latvia – 1
• Mexico – 1
• Russia – 1

 

References

• FIVB. Men Beach Volleyball Olympic Rankings. Access on June 13 2016.
• FIVB. Women Beach Volleyball Olympic Rankings. Access on June 13 2016.