Monthly Archives: May 2016

Canoeing, Olympic Trials, Rio 2016 Olympic Trials

Two Olympic Spots up for Grabs at Second Round of US Slalom Canoe Olympic Trials

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With Casey Eichfeld and Michal Smolen locking up Olympic berths in the first round of the Slalom Olympic Trials last month the only spots remaining to be decided on the team are the women’s K1 spot and whether Eichfeld and his teammate Devin McEwan or Smolen and teammate Zachary Lokken will compete in the C2. In the K1 Ashley Nee has the edge over Dana Mann coming into this round while in the C2 it’s Eicheld and McEwan that are in the lead.

Previous Slalom Canoe Olympic Trials Coverage:
Round One Recap

Modern Pentathlon, UIPM World Cup

Isabella Isaksen Finishes 12th at UIPM World Cup Final

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Despite starting the day with a 26th place finish in the swimming competition Isabella Isaksen came on strong with 10th place finishes in both the riding and combined events to rise up to a 12th place finish. Samantha Achterberg had a little more to overcome after 25th and 15th place finishes in the swimming and riding competitions. She posted the sixth best time in the combined event but ended five seconds behind Isaksen. The final US competitor, Margaux Isaksen, had posted 15th and 12th place finishes in the swimming and riding events and was actually the top US competitor going into the combined portion. She was 21st in that event though and fell to 16th overall.

The rest of the men’s event is Saturday.

Previous UIPM World Cup Final Coverage:
Preview
Day 1 Update

Judo, Judo Grand Slam and Grand Prix

No US Competitors Past Round of 32 on First Day of Judo Grand Slam Event in Baku

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The US competitors on the first day of the Judo grand slam event in Baku went 1-3 with no one advancing past the round of 32. Angelica Delgado lost in the first round of the women’s -52kg competition on penalties to Mi-Ri Kim of South Korea while Aaron Kunihiro lost his opening match to Kin Ting Yu of Hong Kong on an ippon. Adonis Diaz was able to win his opening match via ippon over Eisa Majrashi of Saudi Arabia. Diaz didn’t last long though as he lost in the second round to Arif Bagirov of Belarus by an ippon.

Saturday’s competition will involve both Leilani Akiyama and Hannah Martin in the women’s -63kg division and Nicholas Delpopolo in the men’s -73kg division.

Previous Judo Grand Prix Coverage:
Baku Preview

BMX, Cycling, UCI BMX Supercross World Cup

Thirteen Americans Will Compete in BMX Supercross World Cup in Papendal

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The BMX Supercross World Cup will reach the halfway point after stopping in Papendal, Netherlands this weekend. Thirteen Americans are set to participate this weekend with top contenders on both the men’s and women’s side. While Connor Fields is still out on the men’s side after injuring his wrist before the stop in Manchester but Santiago winner Corben Sharrah gives the US a threat to win it all. Sharrah will be looking to rebound after finishing last in the final in Manchester. Sharrah and Nicholas Long, in the final in both of the first two stops but yet to medal, are guaranteed spots in the 1/8 finals and will be seeded based on Saturday’s time trials while the other eight Americans, including Santiago semifinalist Jeffrey Upshaw, will compete in qualifying for one of the 48 other spots in the 1/8 finals.

The two top threats on the women’s side are Brooke Crain and Alise Post, both of whom have made the final in the first two events. Post is yet to medal but Crain grabbed the bronze in Manchester. Crain and Post both are in the time trials and guaranteed quarterfinal spots while Shealen Reno, in her first appearance of the year, will be in qualifying.

Previous BMX Supercross World Cup:
Manchester Recap

Wrestling

Jesse Thielke Grabs Olympic Spot

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The two Americans who had been most impressive at the first Olympic qualifying tournament fell short on Friday as Jesse Thielke became the only one of the three Greco-Roman competitors still looking for a ticket to Rio to find it.

Thielke, competing in the 59kg division, was strong to start the day winning 8-0 and 13-6 to open. He then recorded a fall in the quarterfinals setting up an Olympics-or-bust matchup with Donior Islamov of Modolva. Thielke seized the moment and in a high scoring match secured his Olympic spot with a 17-8 victory. Thielke was shutout in the final 8-0 but his mission to reach Rio was complete.

For RaVaughn Perkins in the 66kg division things started off well with 11-2 and 9-4 victories to reach the quarterfinals. There he ran into Ruslan Tsarev of Kyrgzstan, some real tough competition. Tsarev won the Asian Championship in this weight division two years ago and has been a medalist the last two years in heavier weight classes. Tsarev did not compete in the first Olympic qualifying tournament but got the better of Perkins in this match 4-3 to move into the semifinals. Tsarev was a 10-0 winner in the semifinals, meaning it sure seems he and Perkins were wrestling for an Olympic spot in their quarterfinal match.

The final US competitor, Joe Rau in the 98kg division, advanced in his opening match 9-0 but was shutout 8-0 by Kevin Castillo of Honduras in the next round. Castillo is a perennial World Championship competitor and one of the better wrestlers in his weight class in the Americas.

The two US women looking for a spot will compete on Saturday. Kelsey Campbell is competing for a spot at 58kg while Tamyra Mensah goes for a spot at 69kg. Mensah finished third in her weight class in the first qualifier while Campbell lost a tight early match on a tiebreaker.

Previous Wrestling Coverage:
Preview

Futsal, Soccer

Canada Defeats US, No CONCACAF Futsal Championship for Americans This Cycle

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The damage done over the final ten minutes of leg one continued over the first half hour of leg two as Canada scored three times in the first ten minutes after the half to lead 5-1 with ten minutes left. Tony Donatelli and Daniel Mattos both added late goals but it wasn’t enough and the US was eliminated after a 9-7 loss on aggregate. Adriano Dos Santos had scored for the US in the first half. It’ll be a long four years until the US gets another shot to reach the 2020 CONCACAF Futsal Championship.

Previous CONCACAF Futsal Championship Coverage:
Preview
Day 1 Update

ATP Tour, Tennis, WTA Tour

Louisa Chirico, From Qualifying to a Semifinalist in Madrid

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The magic ride in Madrid got even more stunning on Thursday as Louisa Chirico swept Daria Gavrilova of Australia in the quarterfinals 7-6, 6-2. The 19-year-old who is having a career best tournament will now face Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in the semifinals on Friday. She couldn’t be having this boost of confidence at a better time with the French Open at the end of the month where she will probably need to battle through the qualifiers to take part in the main event.

On the men’s side Sam Querrey was eliminated by #5 Rafael Nadal of Spain 6-4, 6-2, no real surprise there, while Jack Sock lost to Joao Sousa of Portugal 1-6, 7-6, 2-6. Both men’s doubles teams won in tiebreakers. #5 Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan defeated the Polish team of Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski 7-5, 2-6, 10-8. #8 Sock/Vasek Pospisil (Canada) defeated Treat Huey of the Philipines and Max Mirnyi of Belarus with a little less stress in the tiebreaker, 4-6, 7-6, 10-4.

The women’s doubles team of Vania King/Alla Kudryavtseva (Russia) reached the semifinals after a 2-6, 6-4, 11-9 win over #4 Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan of Chinese Taipei. They will face #1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Sania Mirza of India in the semifinals on Friday.

In addition to the two women’s semifinals the Bryan brothers will take on #1 French duo Pierre-Hughes Herbert and Nicolas Mahut while Sock/Pospisil (Canada) take on #4 Ivan Dodig (Croatia) and Marcelo Melo (Brazil).

Previous Mutua Madrid Open Coverage:
Preview
Day 1 Update
Day 2 Update
Day 3 Update
Day 4 Update
Day 5 Update

Cycling, UCI Men's World Tour

Six Americans Will Take Part in the Giro d’Italia

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One of the three grand tours of the UCI season starts Friday, the Giro d’Italia. Featuring 21 stages and over 2,000 miles of riding this is a big one. Only six Americans are entered in the field and while none of them have a top 25 finish this year Nathan Brown has come the closest with his 29th place finish in the recently completed Tour de Romandie. Joe Dombrowski and Larry Warbasse both have top 40 finishes from when the finished 37th and 38th in the Volta a Cataluyna earlier this season. The other three in the field are Chad Haga, a season high 69th in the Tour de Romandie, and Ian Boswell and Joey Rosskopf. Boswell has not raced on the tour since he did not finish the Volta a Cataluyna. Things start off in the Netherlands (where else did you expect it to start?) on Friday with a 6 mile time trial.

Previous UCI World Tour Coverage:
Tour de Romandie Recap

Cycling, UCI Women's WorldTour

Two Americans to Compete in Tour of Chongming Island

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Only two Americans will be taking part in the Tour of Chongming Island in China this weekend. The three day event held in Shanghai on, you guessed it, Chongming Island will feature three stages. Alison Tetrick and Erica Zaveta will be in the field for the US. Zaveta will be in her first Women’s World Tour event of the year while Tetrick has a season best finish of 66th in the Tour of Flanders. 

Previous UCI Women’s World Tour Coverage:
La Fleche Wallonne Recap

Modern Pentathlon, UIPM World Cup

Lucas Schrimsher Top American After Fencing at UIPM World Cup Final

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Thursday was the fencing competition at the UIPM World Cup Final in Sarasota and Lucas Schrimsher was the best of the Americans competing. Schrimsher won 19 of his 35 matches to place tenth. His brother Nathan Schrimsher placed 28th winning 15 matches. As you can tell there were a lot of competitors right around .500 with 23 of the 35 competitors scoring between 15 and 20 wins. On the women’s side Margaux Isaksen was the top American with a 17th place finish and 17 wins while her sister Isabella Isaksen was 19th with 17 wins as well. Samantha Achterberg had 14 wins and placed 30th.

The rest of the women’s event will be Friday while the men’s event is Saturday.

Previous UIPM World Cup Final Coverage:
Preview