Monthly Archives: April 2016

Boxing, World Series of Boxing

USA Knockouts Season Comes to an End as Mexico Grabs Last Playoff Spot

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The Mexico Guerreros needed a win at home against the unbeaten British Lionhearts and they got one 4-1 to move back in front of the United States and grab the second and final playoff spot from Group B. The 4-1 loss in Mexico by the US just over a week ago and the season opening 3-2 loss to the Lionhearts in mid-January ended up being the missed opportunities the US will wish they had back. That loss to the Lionhearts included a heavyweight bout between Cam Awesome and Lawrence Okolie that ended in a split decision loss for Awesome that did not featuring a single round where the three judges were in agreement. Just a single round score being flipped from Okolie to Awesome in that bout would have made the difference between the USA advancing to face Cuba and seeing their season end.

For those boxers from the USA Knockouts who won the US Olympic Trials and have a chance to compete in Rio but have not yet secured a place through international qualifying they will turn their focus back to trying to reach Rio. The major qualifying event looming is the AOB World Qualifier in Baku, Azerbaijan June 14-26.  The USA Knockouts will hopefully be in action again during a 7th season of the World Series of Boxing beginning in late 2016 or early 2017.

Judo, Judo Grand Slam and Grand Prix

No American Able to Reach Quarterfinals in Sansun Through Two Days of Judo Grand Prix Stop

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Day two for the US in Sansun went only slightly better than the first. Travis Stevens scored an ippon to defeat Hussein Al-Aameri of Iraq in the -81kg round of 32 before losing to a yuko by Robin Pacek of Sweden in the round of 16. In the -73kg division Nicholas Delpopolo dropped his round of 32 match to a yuko by Georgios Azoidis of Greece.

On the women’s side of things in the -63kg division two Americans took part but both were dispatched without a win. Leilani Akiyama lost to Ivana Komlosiova of Slovakia on a yuko while Hannah Martin’s match with Swede Mia Hermansson was scoreless and decided on penalties (three shidos to one favoring the Swede).

Things wrap up on Sunday with the Americans looking to have the first deep run of the tournament. Ajax Tadehara will take on Aydn Caliskan, competing in his home country of Turkey, in the -100kg round of 32. Finally Nina Cutro-Kelly will face an opponent as close to a countrywoman as it gets, Melissa Mojica of Puerto Rico, in the +78kg division. Cutro-Kelly is 3-2 against Mojica but this is the first time they will meet outside of Panamerican competitions. Tadehara and Caliskan are meeting for the first time.

The matches begin at 3 AM ET with the finals scheduled to begin at 10 AM ET. Free live streaming is available at ippon.tv.

Shooting

Five Olympic Shooting Spots to be Determined Over Next Week in Ft. Benning, Georgia

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While a few athletes having clinched spots during the last year of international competition, most the USA Shooting team is still yet to be selected. Starting Saturday in Ft. Benning, Georgia five more spots on the USA Shooting Oympic team will be determined. Competitions to determine the Olympian in the women’s three-position rifle, the men’s prone rifle, and the men’s free pistol will run from Saturday through Monday while competitions in the women’s sport pistol and the men’s rapid fire pistol run Wednesday through Friday. Each competition consists of three days of qualifying followed by daily finals competition with cumulative scores being used to decide the representative. Qualifying is at 9 AM ET daily with finals beginning at 1 PM ET.

The women’s three-position rifle competition is the most crowded with 16 competitors taking part. The men’s prone rifle follows closely with 15 competitors while the men’s free pistol competition has just nine.

Boxing, World Series of Boxing

USA Knockouts Sweep Morocco Atlas Lions, Pressure on Mexico to Grab Final Playoff Spot

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A dominant night for the USA Knockouts in Miami has set them up in good position to make the playoffs. The USA got knockouts from lightweight Carlos Balderas over Rabii Hamza in the second round, light heavyweight Jonathan Esquivel over Hassan Saada in the third round, and super heavyweight Marlo Moore over Ahmed Bourous in the first round. Antonio Vargas swept every round from Achraf Kharroubi in the flyweight division. The most surprising result of the night was Paul Kroll defeating defending welterweight champion Mohammed Rabii 48-46 on all three scorecards.

Because the USA swept the night they went back ahead of the Mexico Guerreros with ten points to Mexico’s nine and most importantly with 16 bouts won in the pool they will have the tiebreaker over Mexico if the Guerreros were to get a single point from a 3-2 loss at the British Lionhearts on Saturday. That means the only way Mexico can take the last playoff spot from Group B is by becoming the first team to defeat the Lionhearts this year.

If the Knockouts do make the playoffs they would take on the Cuba Domadores in a tantalizing ten-bout quarterfinal matchup in Cuba on April 22nd and 23rd.

Judo, Judo Grand Slam and Grand Prix

USA 0-2 on First Day of Judo Grand Prix in Samsun

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Two Americans took part in the first day of the Judo Grand Prix event in Samsun, both against home-country Turkish opposition, and neither were able to get a win. Angelica Delgado lost to Irem Korkmaz in the -52kg division with the only scoring a waza-ari for Korkmaz. In the -60kg division Aaron Kunihiro didn’t last very long with his match over within a minute as eventual champion Bekir Ozlu scored an early ippon.

Saturday’s competition will see four more Americans take to the mat. In the -73kg division Nicholas Delpopolo will be starting off in the round of 32 against Georgios Azoidis of Greece while in the -81kg division Travis Stevens, who finished second earlier in the year in Havana, will start in the round of 32 against yet to be determined opposition. Delpopolo has beaten Azoidis in all three previous meetings.

Two US Women will be competing in the -63kg division, both starting in the round of 32. Hannah Martin will take on Swede Mia Hermansson while Leilani Akiyama, who reached the round of 16 in both Dusseldorf and Tbilisi earlier this year, takes on Ivana Komlosiova of Slovakia. Martin has met Hermansson on four occasions, losing all four, including a round of 32 matchup in Samsun last year.

The matches begin at 3 AM ET with the finals scheduled to begin at 10 AM ET. Free live streaming is available at ippon.tv.

Boxing, Judo, Judo Grand Slam and Grand Prix, World Series of Boxing

The Melting Pot: USA Knockouts in Action Tonight in Miami

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USA Knockouts vs. Morocco Atlas Lions

The USA Knockouts had a chance to lock up a spot in the playoffs last week when they faced the Mexico Guerreros in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Things did not go according to plan and after losing four of the five bouts the USA now needs to get a win against Morocco on Friday and help from group winners the British Lionhearts who are facing the Guerreros in Mexico on Saturday. If the USA wins and Mexico loses 4-1 or 5-0 the USA advances. If Mexico loses 3-2 and the USA wins 4-1 or 5-0 that would also be enough for the USA to advance. If Mexico loses 3-2 while the USA wins 3-2 that’s when things get complicated and the tiebreaker would take a bit of work to sort out.

Friday’s matchup is using the C2 weight classes (Flyweight, Lightweight, Welterweight, Light Heavyweight, and Super Heavyweight) where the USA split their two previous matches this year and the ten combined bouts. Morocco is winless this year but only lost 3-2 in both of the C2 matchups.

Friday’s matchups are… (season records in parentheses)
Flyweight – Antonio Vargas (1-0) vs. Achraf Kharroubi
Lightweight – Carlos Balderas (1-0) vs. Hamza Rabii
Welterweight – Paul Kroll (0-1) vs. Mohammed Rabii (1-0)
Light Heavyweight – Jonathan Esquivel (1-0) vs. Hassan Saada (1-0)
Super Heavyweight – Marlo Moore vs. Ahmed Bourous (0-1)

There is a free live stream of the match at http://www.dailymotion.com/worldseriesboxing with the action set to being at 8:30 PM ET. There is also a good preview of the bouts on the World Series of Boxing website.

Judo Grand Prix – Samsun

The Judo Grand Prix hits the Turkish town of Samsun this weekend and four American men and four American women will be taking part. On day one Angelica Delgado will be looking to advance past the Round of 32 in the -52kg division for the first time in 2016 while Aaron Kunihiro will try to do the same in the men’s -60kg division.

Later in the weekend the American lineup contains Travis Stevens, who finished second in Havana, competing on Saturday. Additionally Nina Cutro-Kelly, who was seventh in Havana, will compete on Sunday.