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.

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.

Swimming: China Tops Marathon Swimming Olympic Qualifiers

China won gold in both events at the 2016 Marathon Swimming Olympic Qualifier. In each event the top 10 highest ranked athletes, with a maximum of one athlete per nation qualified to the Olympics. Similarly the highest ranked eligible athlete from each continent also qualified to the Olympics. The Marathon Swimming Olympic Qualifier was held in Setubal, Portugal from June 11th to June 12th 2016.

In the women’s 10km race it was China’s Yan Siyu whom led the pack for the first two laps. She would go on to lose the lead with Poland’s Joanna Zachoszcz leading at the end of the third lap and her compatriot Xin Xin leading in the fourth and fifth laps, but she remained within the lead group. Going into the sixth and final lap the lead group was numbered at about 10. During the final lap three swimmers; Xin Xin, Great Britain’s Keri-Anne Payne and Ecuador’s Samantha Arevalo broke away and had a sprint swim towards the finish line where Xin finished ahead of Payne with a time of 1:55:12.1, just 0.8 seconds ahead. Arevalo won the bronze medal.

The top 10 eligible swimmers which qualified to the Olympics were;  Xin Xin (China), Keri-Anne Payne (Great Britain), Samantha Arevalo (Ecuador), Chelsea Gubecka (Australia), Yumi Kida (Japan), Michelle Weber (South Africa), Joanna Zachoszcz (Poland), Paola Perez (Venezuela), Spela Perse (Slovenia) and Jana Pechanova (Czech Republic). The five continental qualifiers were Erika Villaecija (Spain), Stephanie Horner (Canada), Heidi Gan (Malaysia), Charlotte Webby (New Zealand) and Reem Kaseem (Egypt).

The men’s 10km race saw multiple lead changes and had a lead group of about 20 athletes going into the final lap. As the final lap progressed the number of athletes in the lead group dwindled, until only China’s Zu Lijun remained as he won the race with a time of 1:52:18.2. 2.2 second later Germany’s Christian Reichert won the silver while Ecuador’s Ivan Enderica Ochoa won the bronze.

The top 10 eligible swimmers which qualified to the Olympics were; Zu Lijun (China), Christian Reichert (Germany), Ivan Enderica Ochoa (Ecuador), Evgenii Drattcev (Russia), Ous Mellouli (Tunisia), Richard Nagy (Slovakia), Jarrod Poort (Australia), Yasunari Hirai (Japan), Chad Ho (South Africa) and Ventsislav Aydarski (Bulgaria). The five continental qualifiers were Mark Papp (Hungary), Erwin Maldonado (Venezuela), Kane Radford (New Zealand), Vitaliy Khudyakov (Kazakhstan) and Marwan Elamrawy (Egypt).

This was the final opportunity to qualify in marathon swimming. Swimmers can still attempt to qualify to the pool events by reaching the qualification times.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Australia – 2
• China – 2
• Ecuador – 2
• Egypt – 2
• Japan – 2
• New Zealand – 2
• South Africa – 2
• Venezuela – 2
• Bulgaria – 1
• Canada – 1
• Czech Republic – 1
• Germany – 1
• Great Britain – 1
• Hungary – 1
• Kazakhstan – 1
• Malaysia – 1
• Poland – 1
• Russia – 1
• Slovakia – 1
• Slovenia – 1
• Spain – 1
• Tunisia – 1

 

References

• OmegaTiming. Marathon Swimming Olympic Games Qualification Tournament Results. Access on June 12 2016.

Judo: Olympic Rankings Published 113 Nations Qualify

113 nations qualified through the Judo Olympic Rankings. Athletes earned points through various world and continental events over a two year period. There were two methods of qualifying. First the top 22 men and top 14 women qualify with a maximum of one NOC per weight class. Second are the continental qualifiers. The highest ranked, not yet qualified athletes across all events can qualify. Each continent has a set amount of quotas; Africa 24 (14 men, 10 women), Europe 25 (14 men, 11 women), Asia 20 (12 men, 8 women), Oceania 10 (7 men, 3 women), and Pan America 21 (13 men, 8 women). A nation can only earn one spot across all events through this and a single continent can qualify a maximum of two athletes in a single event. The qualification period lasted from May 30th 2014 to May 29th 2016.

In total 113 nations have qualified with France and Japan joining hosts Brazil as being the only nation to have qualified a full team of men and women. Also qualifying a full men’s team are Georgia, Germany, Mongolia, Russia, South Korea and Uzbekistan. Overall 53 nations only qualified through the continental rankings while 14 nations did not receive a continental quota. Oceania did not allocate all 10 of its continental quotas thus the unused quota was reallocated to the athlete with the most points and is not yet qualified among all events, specifically Uzbekistan’s Soyib Kurbonov in the men’s -100kg.

The quotas are tied to the athletes by name with the exception of where multiple athletes from the same nation finished in the top 22 for men and top 14 for women where the nation can choose from among them. All that is left to determine in judo is the tripartite quotas.

 

Quotas by Nations

• France – 14
• Japan – 14
• Germany – 13
• Mongolia – 13
• South Korea – 12
• Netherlands – 11
• Russia – 11
• Cuba – 9
• Canada – 8
• China – 8
• Georgia – 8
• Hungary – 8
• Uzbekistan – 8
• Australia – 7
• Great Britain – 7
• Israel – 7
• Ukraine – 7
• Azerbaijan – 6
• Portugal – 6
• United States – 6
• Algeria – 5
• Austria – 5
• Belgium – 5
• Egypt – 5
• Italy – 5
• Kazakhstan – 5
• Slovenia – 5
• Spain – 5
• Poland – 4
• Romania – 4
• Sweden – 4
• Tunisia – 4
• Turkey – 4
• Czech Republic – 3
• Ecuador – 3
• Iran – 3
• Morocco – 3
• North Korea – 3
• Switzerland – 3
• United Arab Emirates – 3
• Argentina – 2
• Belarus – 2
• Bulgaria – 2
• Chinese Taipei – 2
• Colombia – 2
• Gabon – 2
• Greece – 2
• Kosovo – 2
• Kyrgyzstan – 2
• Latvia – 2
• Mexico – 2
• Puerto Rico – 2
• South Africa – 2
• Tajikistan – 2
• Turkmenistan – 2
• American Samoa – 1
• Angola – 1
• Armenia – 1
• Aruba – 1
• Benin – 1
• Bolivia – 1
• Bosnia and Herzegovina – 1
• Burkina Faso – 1
• Cameroon – 1
• Chile – 1
• Congo – 1
• Costa Rica – 1
• Côte d’Ivoire – 1
• Croatia – 1
• Dominican Republic – 1
• El Salvador – 1
• Estonia – 1
• Fiji – 1
• Finland – 1
• Gambia – 1
• Ghana – 1
• Guatemala – 1
• Guinea-Bissau – 1
• Haiti – 1
• Honduras – 1
• Iceland – 1
• India – 1
• Iraq – 1
• Jordan – 1
• Kenya – 1
• Lebanon – 1
• Libya – 1
• Lithuania – 1
• Madagascar – 1
• Mali – 1
• Mauritius – 1
• Moldova – 1
• Mozambique – 1
• Nauru – 1
• New Zealand – 1
• Niger – 1
• Pakistan – 1
• Palau – 1
• Papua New Guinea – 1
• Peru – 1
• Qatar – 1
• Samoa – 1
• Saudi Arabia – 1
• Senegal – 1
• Serbia – 1
• Seychelles – 1
• Thailand – 1
• Trinidad and Tobago – 1
• Uruguay – 1
• Vanuatu – 1
• Venezuela – 1
• Vietnam – 1
• Zambia – 1

 

References

• IJF. Judo Base Olympic Quotas by Nations. Access on June 4 2016.
• IJF. Judo Base Men’s Olympic Rankings. Access on June 4 2016.
• IJF. Judo Base Women’s Olympic Rankings. Access on June 4 2016.

Weightlifting: African Nations Qualify After Continental Championship

African nations booked their spot to the Olympics with the conclusion of the 2016 African Weightlifting Championship. The six highest ranking men and the four highest ranking women from nations not yet qualified earned points towards their nation’s ranking. The top five nations in the men and the top four nations in the women in the rankings qualified one athlete to the Olympics. The African Weightlifting Championship was held in Yaounde, Cameroon from May 7th to May 13th 2016.

In the women’s events it was Nigeria which showed its strength by winning four gold medals in the -58kg, -63kg, -75kg and +75kg events to finish with a maximum total of 112 points. Tunisia followed in second place with a gold medal in the -53kg and multiple silver medals, ending with a total of 103 points. Cameroon finished in third with 94 points while Algeria rounded out the quotas in fourth place with 93 points.

Several registered athletes and even nations failed to appear in the men’s events leading to only five nations sending at least six athletes meaning should they all finish with a lift they were all guaranteed an Olympic quota. The event was topped by Algeria and Tunisia whom both finished with 159 points as they both finished on top in the list of eligible nations in three events and runner-up in three others. A strong performance by Cameroon had the team finish with 144 points while Morocco and Ghana rounded out the top five with 133 and 122 points respectively.

Unqualified nations could still potentially qualify to the Olympics through the individual world rankings through currently no one is in the top 15 for men or 10 for women in the rankings, a prerequisite for qualifying to the Olympics. Two more continental qualifiers remain with Oceania scheduled for the end of this month.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Algeria – 2
• Cameroon – 2
• Tunisia – 2
• Ghana – 1
• Morocco – 1
• Nigeria – 1

 

References

• IWF. 2016 African Weightlifting Championship – Results. Access on May 13 2016.

Beach Volleyball: Tunisia Wins Men’s African Continental Cup

Tunisia claimed the gold medal at the African Men’s Beach Volleyball Continental Cup Final. The continental features nations with two teams each facing off against each other. In total 11 teams were split into two groups where a round robin was played. The top two nations advanced to the semi-final with the winner qualifying to the Olympics. The African Men’s Beach Volleyball Continental Cup Final was held in Kelibia, Tunisia from May 3rd to May 9th 2016.

Details about the African continental cup are scarce, but Group A was topped by Tunisia whom finished with a perfect record, finishing second was Sierra Leone whom also advanced to the semi-final. Similarly Morocco topped Group B with a perfect record with Angola also advancing to the semi-final after finishing second in the group.

Both Tunisia and Morocco won their respective semi-final matches to advance to the finals. The final saw Tunisia 1 and Morocco 1 defeating their opponent’s second team setting a final match with the Olympics on the line. Tunisia 1 won the first set 26-24 while Morocco won the second set 23-21. The third a final set was yet another close affair with Tunisia winning 18-16 to qualify to the Olympics. Angola won the bronze medal with a 2-0 series win over Sierra Leone.

All is not over for Morocco and Angola as they will get a second opportunity to qualify to the Olympics through the World Continental Cup to be held in July.

 

Tournament Rankings

1. Tunisia
2. Morocco
3. Angola
4. Sierra Leone
5. Rwanda
6. Ghana
7. Mozambique
8. Gambia
9. Burundi
10. Egypt
11. Cote d’Ivoire

 

References

• FIVB. Tunisia and Morocco lead pool play at Men’s Continental Cup. Access on May 9 2016.
• FIVB. Tunisia, Morocco, Angola, Sierra Leone to fight for Rio ticket at Men’s Continental Cup. Access on May 9 2016.
• FIVB. Tunisia beat Morocco to book Rio tickets. Access on May 9 2016.

Boxing: AIBA Confirms Continental Qualifiers

AIBA has provided an update of athletes qualified via the continental qualifiers. Overall two changes have been made. In the men’s -56kg Morocco has not accepted the quota won by Mohamed Hamout thus the quota has been reallocated to fourth place finisher Abdul Omar of Ghana. Similarly in the men’s +91kg Tunisia has not accepted the quota won by Aymen Trabelsi thus the quota has been reallocated to fourth place finisher Davilson Morais of Cape Verde.

 

References

• AIBA. 135 quota places for Rio 2016 booked through the four AIBA Continental Olympic Qualification Tournaments. Access on April 25 2016.

Handball: Final Men’s Teams Decided at Final Olympic Tournaments

The final men’s handball teams were decided at one of three 2016 Men’s Handball Final Olympic Qualification Tournaments. Three tournaments with four nations each were held concurrently where a round robin was held. The top two teams in each tournament qualified to the Olympics. The Men’s Handball Final Olympic Tournaments were held from April 8th to April 10th 2016 in Sopot, Poland, Malmo, Sweden and Herning, Denmark respectively.

Tunisia grabbed the first victory over Chile in the first tournament, winning 35-29. Likewise Poland defeated Macedonia 25-20. In the second group of matches Tunisia went up 17-10 by half-time against Macedonia and was able to win the match 32-26. With Poland’s 35-27 victory over Chile both nations qualified to the Olympics with a game to spare. Poland would go on to win the tournament by defeating Tunisia 28-24. Macedonia finished in third by defeating Chile 30-27.

In the second tournament Spain began well against Slovenia, taking a 16-12 lead going into the second half. However, a collapse gave Slovenia a 12-5 run and the 24-21 victory. Sweden won its first match against Iran, defeating them 34-19. Spain didn’t repeat the same mistake in the second match as they decisively defeated Iran 37-23. In the other match Sweden took a narrow lead over Slovenia and while Slovenia caught up to Sweden many times they were unable to take the lead. A final minute goal gave Sweden the narrow 24-23 victory over Slovenia. The final match between Sweden and Spain was close with neither team holding more than a 4 goal lead. Spain ended up winning the match 25-23, but the final minute goal for Sweden would go on to prove to be a difference maker. Slovenia won its match against Iran 33-17 setting up a three-way tie between Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. The tie-breaker was the goal difference between the teams in question meaning Slovenia won the tournament with a +2 goal differential. However, Spain and Sweden were still tied at -1 goal difference. The next criteria was the number of goals scored between the tied teams meaning Sweden finished in second due to scoring 47 goals to Spain’s 46.

The third tournament had Norway finding it difficult separating itself from Bahrain. The second half proved to be much better for Norway as they pulled away to win 35-29. The match between Denmark and Croatia was fairly close and it included a four goal comeback attempt by Croatia late in the second half. Denmark was able to prevent the comeback and placed some distance between the two teams winning the match 28-24. Similarly to Norway Croatia also struggled to pull away from Bahrain as the match was tied 14-14 by the end of the first half. Likewise the second half opened up as Croatia would go on to win relatively easily 33-22. The match between Denmark and Norway was fairly close with neither team getting a lead of more than 4. In a tense final minute no team was able to score as the two teams ended in a 25-25 draw. A strong first half for Croatia in the final match was all that was needed to defeat Norway 27-21 to book its spot to the Olympics. Denmark grabbed the second quota in a narrow26-24 win over Bahrain as they won the overall tournament.

This was the final opportunity for nations to qualify in what will be a very competitive tournament of handball.

 

Tournament 1 Rankings

1. Poland
2. Tunisia
3. Macedonia
4. Chile

 

Tournament 2 Rankings

1. Slovenia
2. Sweden
3. Spain
4. Iran

 

Tournament 3 Rankings

1. Denmark
2. Croatia
3. Norway
4. Bahrain

 

References

• IHF. Men’s Olympic Games Qualification Tournament 2016, POL. Access on April 10 2016.
• IHF. Men’s Olympic Games Qualification Tournament 2016, SWE. Access on April 10 2016.
• IHF. Men’s Olympic Games Qualification Tournament 2016, DEN. Access on April 10 2016.

Fencing: Adjusted Official Rankings and Olympic Quotas Published

33 nations have qualified at least one fencer after the publication of the 2015-16 Fencing Adjusted Official Rankings. For weapons with a team event (men’s epee, men’s foil, women’s epee and women’s sabre) the highest four ranked teams qualified three athletes along with the top ranked team from each continent provided that they are ranked from 5th to 16th in the world. Furthermore, seven athletes (2 from Europe, 2 from Asia-Oceania, 2 from Americas and 1 from Africa) from nations not qualified in the team events will be given a spot to compete with a maximum of one per nation. For the weapons without a team event (men’s sabre and women’s foil) the top 14 ranked athletes, with a maximum of two per nation qualify to the Olympics along with eight, two per continent highest ranked athletes with a maximum of one per nation. The rolling rankings included points awarded to athletes based on the various results such as World Cup, Grand Prix, World Championship and Continental Championships held between April 3rd 2015 and April 4th 2016.

France topped the men’s epee team ranking with Ukraine, Italy and Switzerland making up the top four. Russia, South Korea and Venezuela made up the continental teams. Egypt failed to finish in the top 16 thus Africa’s spot went to the next highest ranked nation, Hungary. Three athletes from the mentioned teams will compete in the individual epee along with Bas Verwijlen (Netherlands), Jiao Yunlong (China), Nikolai Novosjolv (Estonia), Alexandre Bouzaid (Senegal), Jason Pryor (United States) and Maxime Brinck-Croteau (Canada).

In the women’s epee team ranking the list was topped by Romania with China, Russia and Estonia making up the top four. South Korea, United States and Ukraine made up the continental teams. South Africa failed to finish in the top 16 thus Africa’s spot went to the next highest ranked nation, France. Three athletes from the mentioned teams will compete in the individual epee along with Rossella Fiamingo (Italy), Sarra Besbes (Tunisia), Emese Szasz (Hungary), Nathalie Moellhausen (Brazil), Nozomi Sato (Japan), Vivian Kong (Hong Kong) and Leonora MacKinnon (Canada).

The men’s foil team rankings were topped by Russia with Italy, France and the United States rounding up the top four. China, Great Britain, Egypt and Brazil made up the continental teams. Three athletes from the mention teams will compete in the individual foil along with Yuki Ota (Japan), Heo Jun (South Korea), Peter Joppich (Germany), Alexander Choupenitch (Czech Republics), Mohamed Ferjani (Tunisia), Maximilien van Haaster (Canada) and Daniel Gomez (Mexico).

The top 14 women in the individual foil with a maximum of two athletes per nation were as follows; Arianna Errigo (Italy), Inna Deriglazova (Russia), Elisa Di Francisca (Italy), Lee Kiefer (United States), Aida Shanaeva (Russia), Ysaora Thibus (France), Ines Boubakri (Tunisia), Nzingha Prescod (United States), Jeon Hee Sook (South Korea), Nam Hyunhee (South Korea), Astrid Guyart (France), Aida Mohamed (Hungary), Le Huilin (China) and Carolin Golubytskyi (Germany). The athletes which qualified as the two best from their continents were as follows; Edina Knapek (Hungary), Eleanor Harvey (Canada), Saskia van Erven Garcia (Colombia), Noura Mohamed (Egypt), Anissa Khelfaoui (Algeria) and Mona Shaito (Lebanon).

The top 14 men in the individual sabre with a maximum of two athletes per nation were as follows; Alexey Yakimenko (Russia), Gu Bongil (South Korea), Aron Szilagyi (Hungary), Tiberiu Dolniceanu (Romania), Kim Junghwan (South Korea), Max Hartung (Germany), Aldo Montano (Italy), Eli Dershwitz (United States), Nikolay Kovalev (Russia), Daryl Homer (United States), Mojtaba Abedini (Iran), Diego Occhiuzzi (Italy), Matyas Szabo (Germany) and Aliaksandr Buikevich (Belarus). The athletes which qualified as the two best from their continents were as follows; Vincent Anstett (France), Renzo Agresta (Brazil), Joseph Polossifakis (Canada), Tamas Decsi (Hungary), Ali Pakdaman (Iran), Mohamed Amer (Egypt), Yemi Apithy (Benin) and Sun Wei (China).

The women’s sabre team rankings were topped by Russia with Ukraine, France and the United States making up the top four. South Korea, Italy and Mexico made up the continental teams. Tunisia failed to finish in the top 16 thus Africa’s spot went to the next highest ranked nation, Poland. Three athletes from the mention teams will compete in the individual sabre along with Shen Chen (China), Anna Marton (Hungary), Vassiliki Vougiouka (Greece), Azza Besbes (Tunisia), Chika Aoki (Japan), Alejandra Benitez Romero (Venezuela) and Maria Perez Maurice (Argentina).

Overall Russia will be sending a full team while France will be competing in all of the events. China, Italy, South Korea and the United States will be competing in at least all of the individual events. The zonal tournaments which will be held in the coming weeks will decide the final athletes to compete in fencing at the Olympics.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Russia – 16
• France – 15
• Italy – 14
• South Korea – 14
• United States – 14
• China – 11
• Hungary – 9
• Ukraine – 9
• Brazil – 5
• Canada – 5
• Egypt – 5
• Estonia – 4
• Germany – 4
• Japan – 4
• Mexico – 4
• Poland – 4
• Romania – 4
• Tunisia – 4
• Venezuela – 4
• Great Britain – 3
• Switzerland – 3
• Iran – 2
• Algeria – 1
• Argentina – 1
• Belarus – 1
• Benin – 1
• Colombia – 1
• Czech Republic – 1
• Greece – 1
• Hong Kong – 1
• Lebanon – 1
• Netherlands – 1
• Senegal – 1

 

References

• FIE. Fencing Olympic Qualification Overview. Access on April 4 2016.

Wrestling: African/Oceania Tournament Concludes With 9 Qualified Nations

Nine nations qualified to the Olympics after the 2016 African and Oceania Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament. The top two nations from each event were given a spot to compete at the Olympics. The African and Oceania Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament was held in Algiers, Algeria from April 1st to April 3rd 2016.

Egypt was the top nation in the Greco-Roman events as they qualified in all six events, winning in five. The only blemish from their record was Morocco’s Zied Ait Ouagram’s victory over Egypt’s Mahmoud Sebie. Morocco also qualified a second athlete in the -59kg via El Mahadi Messaoudi. Second place finishes in the -85kg and -98kg events will assure Algeria two quotas while second place finishes in the -66kg and -130kg from Australia will ensure Oceania will have some representation in wrestling.

In the women’s freestyle events it was Nigeria which came away with the most quotas, winning four. The team will be made up of 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medalist Aminat Adeniyi in the -58kg, 2015 All-African Games gold medalists Mercy Genesis in the -48kg and Blessing Oborududu in the -63kg and 2015 All-African Games silver medalist Hannah Rueben in the -69kg. Cameroon qualified three athletes, headlined by 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medalist Annabelle Ali who will compete in her third Olympics. She will be joined by 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Rebecca Muambo in the -48kg and Joseph Essombe in the -53kg. Tunisia qualified two athletes in the -58kg and -63kg while Egypt qualified two athletes in the -69kg and -75kg. Senegal’s Isabelle Sambou rounds out the field by qualifying in the -53kg.

In the men’s freestyle events Egypt and Nigeria won two gold medals each. Egypt’s Mohamed Zaghloul defeated Tunisia’s Mohamed Saadaoui in the -86kg and his compatriot, Diaaeldin Kamal defeated Tunisia’s SlimTrabelsi in the -125kg. Nigeria’s Amas Daniel defeated Australia’s Sahit Prizreni in the -65kg and his compatriot, Soso Tamarau defeated Egypt’s Aly Hamdy Amin in the -97kg. In the other events Senegal’s Adama Diatta defeated Morocco’s Chakir Ansari in the -57kg and Guinea-Bissau’s Augusto Midina defeated Australia’s Talgat Ilyasov in the -74kg.

Athletes from Africa and Oceania not yet qualified will have two more opportunities to qualify to the Olympics at the final Olympic qualification tournaments.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Egypt – 11
• Nigeria – 6
• Australia – 4
• Tunisia – 4
• Cameroon – 3
• Morocco – 3
• Algeria – 2
• Senegal – 2
• Guinea-Bissau – 1

 

References

• UWW. 2016 Africa/Oceania OG Qualifying Tournament Results. Access on April 3 2016.