Monthly Archives: May 2016

Arena Pro Swim Series, Swimming

Ashley Twichell and Connor Jaeger Win on First Day of Arena Pro Swim Series

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On the first night of the Charlotte Arena Pro Swim Series event Americans won both of the events contested. In the opening women’s 1500m freestyle it was Ashley Twichell holding off Chilean Kristel Kobrich to win with Gillian Ryan in third. Americans went 1-2 in the men’s 800m with Connor Jaeger about 2.5 seconds ahead of Zane Grothe.

Five events will be held on Friday with men’s and women’s versions of each event. The 200m freestyle will feature Connor Dwyer, three for three in going for gold in that event this year. The women’s 100m breaststroke has several Americans who have had success this year, Katie Meili victorious twice in two tries and Andee Cottrell who was third in the season opening Minneapolis event. The men’s side is set to feature Sam Tierney and Cody Miller, the duo that went 1-2 in Minneapolis. Tierney was also third in Austin. The 50m backstroke is being held for the first time this year.

The 100m butterfly featuring an interesting battle between Kelsi Worrell and Dana Vollmer. They have gone head-to-head twice so far this season and each won one and finished runner-up in the other. Vollmer also raced one other time and finished second in Austin. The men’s race will feature Tom Phillips, third place in Austin, and none of the winners of the first four races this season. Finally in the 400m individual medley Cammile Adams had a second place finish in Mesa and a big name is on the men’s side, Ryan Lochte who won in his only entry in Austin.

Previous Charlotte Arena Pro Swim Series Coverage:
Preview

 

Men's World League, Water Polo

USA as Good as Qualified for Water Polo World League After Defeating Kazakhstan

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The US men, now 3-0 in qualifying for the Water Polo World League, are as good as qualified from the six team intercontinental tournament. A 19-7 win over Kazakhstan makes the US 3-0 with an uncompetitive China team still to come. Bret Bonanni was the offensive star scoring nine goals in the game. John Mann and Alex Roelse each had three goals. McQuin Barron had a team-high five saves in.

The US will face 2-1 Brazil on Friday. Brazil has qualified for the last four World Leagues and finished third last year, defeating the US in the bronze medal game on penalties.

Previous FINA Intercontinental Qualification Tournament Coverage:
Preview
Australia Recap
Japan Recap

ATP Tour, Tennis, WTA Tour

Serena Williams and Madison Keys Both in Quarterfinals at Italian Open

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Madison Keys and #1 Serena Williams both needed just two sets to reach the quarterfinals on Thursday. Keys needed a tiebreaker to take the first set from Timea Babos of Hungary but pulled away in the second for a 7-6(2), 6-3 win. Williams took a similar path in defeating fellow American Christina McHale, who had advanced to the third round all the way from qualifying. Williams won her match 7-6(7), 6-1 and now faces #9 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia on Friday evening. Keys will take on Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic on Friday afternoon. The two are on opposite sides of the bracket so they would not meet until the final if they keep winning.

In women’s doubles action Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears got their second win of the tournament when they beat #8 Julia Goerges of Germany and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-3. They’ll play again on Friday when they face #1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Sania Mirza of India. The other American left in doubles, Bethanie Mattek-Sands lost her opener as the #2 seed with Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 3-6, 4-6 to Andreja Klepac and Katrina Srebotnik of Slovenia.

In men’s doubles #5 Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan will face #4 Jamie Murray of Great Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil on Friday while #8 Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil of Canada face Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and Marcel Granollers of Spain.

Previous Italian Open Coverage:
Preview
Sunday Update
Monday Update
Tuesday Update
Wednesday Update

Archery, Archery World Cup

Four Americans Reach Finals at Archery World Cup in Medellin

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Three Americans reached individual finals as the knockout rounds progressed on Thursday at the Archery World Cup in Medellin, Colombia and the US also got a pair into a mixed team final. The US qualified one finalist in each of the individual competitions except for the women’s recurve. There was only one American left, #43 Lauren Clamon and she lost her opening match of the day to #11 Hui Cao of China 7-3.

#2 Brady Ellison is the banner carrier for the US men in the recurve competition after advancing to the gold medal final. Ellison won his first two matches 7-1 before a hotly contested quarterfinal matchup with fellow American #7 Jake Kaminski. Ellison won 6-4 to set up a big time showdown in the semifinals with #3 Bonchan Ku of Korea. The matchup was as tight as expected with Ellison needing a tiebreaker upset to defeat Ku 6-5. Ellison will face #9 Miguel Alvarino Garcia of Spain in the final on Sunday. #29 Colin Klimitchek advanced twice on 6-2 wins, including one over #4 Seungyun Lee of Korea, before being eliminated by #5 Hideki Kikuchi of Japan 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

Ellison and Erin Mickelberry needed a tiebreaker to advance 5-4 in the first round over Cuba and were shutout 6-0 by #1 seed Korea in the quarterfinals of the mixed recurve event. Things went a little better in the mixed compound competition where the #1 seeded pair of Crystal Gauvin and Alex Wifler won 155-150 to reach the semifinals where they nearly took out the #4 Italian team but were defeated on a tiebreaker after scoring 154-154. They will face #7 France for Bronze on Saturday.

Gauvin will be busy on Saturday as she’ll also be competing for the gold in the individual compound final. #2 Gauvin wasn’t pushed until the quarterfinals where she pulled out a 140-138 win over #10 Alejandra Usquiano of Colombia. It was even tighter when she faced #3 Sarah Sonnichsen of Denmark in the semifinals but she posted the highest score by anyone in the knockout rounds and reached the final after a narrow 147-146 win. Gauvin took out fellow American Emily Bee in the second round 145-141 while in opening round matches Dhalia Crook lost to Irene Franchini of Italy 142-140 and Lexi Keller lost to #8 Toja Cerne of Slovenia 144-141. Gauvin’s opponent in the final will be #1 Sara Lopez of Colombia.

On the men’s side it was a change of fortune from the qualifying as lowest seeded American, but #18 overall, Reo Wilde went on a run to the gold medal final. Wilde pulled upsets by seed in every round to reach the final. In the round of 16 that was a tiebreak winning 147-147 match against #2 Stephan Hansen of Denmark. The exact same thing with the exact same score happened in the quarterfinals, but this time the victim was #7 seed and fellow American Steve Anderson. In the semifinals Wilde rose up to a 148 and won 148-147 over #3 Mike Schloesser of the Netherlands. The top American qualifiers had some disappointment in their matches. #6 Braden Gellenthien suffered an upset when he lost 146-145 to Delobelle Fabien of France and #1 Wifler was knocked out in the round of 16 by #16 Sergio Pagni of Italy on a tiebreaker after a 148-148 match. Pagni will face Wilde in the final.

Friday is the last day of non-finals as the men’s and women’s team events narrow down to the finalists.

Previous Archery World Cup Coverage:
Medellin Preview
Wednesday Recap

ATP Tour, Tennis, WTA Tour

Madison Keys and Christina McHale Pull Upsets to Reach Third Round at Italian Open

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Madison Keys has been good all year but after missing out on a seed in Rome and drawing #5 Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the second round there was certainly potential for an early exit. Instead Keys swept Kvitova 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday and now has no more seeded players in her path to the semifinals after a couple of other upsets. Keys next opponent will be Timea Babos of Hungary after Babos upset #12 Venus Williams 6(5)-7, 7-5, 6-4 on Wednesday. Also pulling an upset but lacking the good draw from here is Christina McHale. McHale needed to battle back after dropping a first-set tiebreaker to #13 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia but pulled off the upset 6(3)-7, 6-4, 6-1. The reward for McHale is a matchup with #1 Serena Williams on Thursday, and of course Williams has had a day off.

In women’s doubles action Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears defeated the Chinese team of Chen Liang and Yafan Wang 6-2, 6-3 and now will face #8 Julia Goerges of Germany and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. Another American, Bethanie Mattek-Sands begins doubles play as the #2 seed with Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic as they take on Andreja Klepac and Katrina Srebotnik of Slovenia. The Slovenians knocked out the Williams sisters in the first round.

Over in men’s doubles #5 Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan just barely found separation against Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey as the matchup was eventually decided in a match tiebreak that ended 13-11 to the Bryan brothers. Johnson/Querrey had taken set one 6-4 but lost the second 6-3. Also advancing was Jack Sock who won two tiebreakers with Vasek Pospisil of Canada as the #8 seeds defeated Treat Huey of the Philippines and Max Mirnyi of Belarus 7-6(4), 7-6(2). Both men’s doubles teams will be off on Thursday before playing in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Previous Italian Open Coverage:
Preview
Sunday Update
Monday Update
Tuesday Update

Wrestling

Days After Disappointment Frank Molinaro Gets a Second Chance and a Spot in Rio

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US wrestler Frank Molinaro thought his Olympic dreams were dead on Sunday after he lost in the quarterfinals of the final Olympic qualifying tournament. With no spot left to battle for Molinaro fought hard the rest of the way to finish third and finish with his head held high. Three days later Molinaro got amazing news that after failed doping tests in some previous European and Asian competitions the United World Wrestling had redistributed some of the Olympic qualifying spots and one of those was being awarded to Molinaro.

Molinaro’s inclusion gives the US 14 athletes in Rio and competitors in all six of the men’s freestyle events. While the 14 is still a setback after having 17 in London it’s tied for second behind Russia for Rio.

USA Wrestling Announcement

Fencing, Fencing World Cup

22 US Fencers to Compete in World Cup Competition in Madrid, Foshan, and St. Petersburg

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Fencing World Cup events begin Friday in Madrid, Spain, Foshan, China, and St. Petersburg, Russia with 22 Americans among those set to compete. Madrid will be the site for the men’s sabre athletes who are competing, 12 of whom are Americans. St. Petersburg competition will be of the men’s foil discipline and has four Americans competing. Six women’s sabre athletes from the US are competing in Foshan. These are the first three of six world cup events this month, one for each discipline and gender.

In Madrid two of the Americans, Daryl Homer and Eli Dershwitz, are straight into the table of 64 while the other 10 will have to compete in pool play to advance to the 156-man knockout competition. In St. Petersburg all four of the Americans competing, Alexander Massialas, Gerek Meinhardt, Race Imboden, and Miles Chamley-Watson, are going straight into the table of 64 and won’t start competing until Saturday. In Foshan Ibtihaj Muhammad and Mariel Zagunis have spots in the table of 64.

Previous Fencing World Cup Coverage:
Rio Grand Prix Recap

Judo, Judo Grand Slam and Grand Prix

Eight Americans Compete in Judo Grand Prix Event in Almaty

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After disappointing results in Baku in the judo grand slam event last weekend the Americans will be hoping to find more success this weekend. No US women will compete on Friday but Aaron Kunihiro will be competing in the men’s -60kg division. Kunihiro is yet to advance past the round of 32 in his three grand prix competitions so far this season.

Previous Judo Grand Prix Coverage:
Baku Recap

Arena Pro Swim Series, Swimming

Four Day Arena Pro Swim Series Event Begins in Charlotte Thursday

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The fifth Arena Pro Swim Series event is this weekend in Charlotte. There will be a couple of events getting things underway on Thursday before the main competition begins Friday. The women have a 1500m freestyle race while the men have an 800m freestyle race. These races have not been held at other events so this is the first time we’ll see it this year.

Previous Arena Pro Swim Series Coverage:
Mesa Recap

 

Cycling, UCI Men's World Tour

Joey Rosskopf Top American but 88th in Stage Five of Giro d’Italia

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The top finishes are fading for the Americans as on Wednesday in stage five the best American was Joey Rosskopf who finished 88th and 58 seconds back. The only other one to finish in the top 100 was Nathan Brown who was 1:48 back in 99th. Despite failing to place in the top 100 on Wednesday Ian Boswell is still the top American overall in 68th, 6:26 behind the leader, while Brown is still in the top 100 at 95th overall, 9:57 back.

Thursday is back to a medium-mountain stage, though only a 98 mile one.

Previous UCI World Tour Coverage:
Giro d’Italia Preview
Day 1 Update
Day 2 Update
Day 3 Update
Day 4 Update