Brisbane’s best on show in Rio as curtain lifts on Day 4 of competition
IF you are loving the Rio Olympics, there will certainly be plenty to keep you glued to the screen tonight and tomorrow morning with Brisbane athletes vying for honours in a host of sports. Read our Day 4 preview.
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SHOOTING — Monday August 8 10pm
Marksman Dane Sampson will use the disappointment of his Olympic debut in London to spur him on when he kicks off his Rio campaign on August 8.
Sampson was a shattered man four years ago when he finished 42nd in the 10m air rifle, 48th in the 50m prone and 37th in the 50m three-position.
Sampson, who lived at Arana Hills for a decade before moving to South Australia three years ago, will compete in his first event — the 10m air rifle — on August 8 at 10pm.
Sampson will follow that up with the 50m rifle prone event on August 12 at 10pm; and the 50m rifle three-position on August 14 at 10pm.
“I would like to make a final (top eight) and of course, in achieving that, get a medal,” Sampson said.
HOCKEY — Monday August 8 11pm
THE Hockeyroos will be hoping to bring a much-needed victory to the Australian Olympic hockey camp when they play USA tonight.
Neither side has set the world alight so far, with the gold-medal favourite Kookaburras, featuring Brisbane products Daniel Beale, Matthew Swann, Jake Whetton, Jamie Dwyer and Mark Knowles, suffering one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history today, losing 1-0 to the 11th ranked Spain.
Australia fell behind after six minutes and were unable to break though Spain’s defensive tactics for the remainder of the game.
The loss leaves them with a win and a loss, after they scraped home 2-1 against New Zealand in their opening game.
Their next game is against Belgium on Wednesday.
The Hockeyroos made a disastrous start to their Olympic campaign when they lost 2-1 to Great Britain.
An Australian side featuring former Commercial stars Madonna Blyth, Jodie Kenny and Gabi Nance, as well as Arana Ascot junior Karri McMahon, looked like salvaging a point against Great Britain when Georgina Morgan netted a second-half equaliser.
However, another Great Britain goal after the break handed the Hockeyroos a first-up loss for the second Games in succession.
USA beat Argentina 2-1 in its opening fixture.
AUSTRALIA BOOMERS versus SERBIA — Tuesday 3.15am
ON the back of winning their first opening game at an Olympics in 20 years on Sunday, the Boomers will face another European powerhouse in Serbia tomorrow morning.
Australia beat a star-studded France team 87-66 in a dominant performance in game one but must beat a Serbian team, who made it all the way to the final of the 2014 World Cup, to have any chance of finishing in the top two of their pool.
The Boomers put on a clinical display of ball movement and tenacious defence against France with NBA superstar Andrew Bogut playing a leading role. But Australia’s defence will have their work cut out for them against Serbian point guard Milos Teodosic.
The Australian team includes Runcorn products Cameron bairstow and Brock Motum as well as Southern Districts Spartans junior Chris Goulding.
SAILING — Tuesday morning
Murrumba Downs sailor Ashley Stoddart will get her Olympic career underway with the first two races of her laser radial competition on Tuesday morning.
The Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron member starts her regatta with mixed results at international events over the past year but her best performances include a ninth in France and victory at a World Cup race in Melbourne last year.
The 23-year-old’s regatta runs for six days with the medal race next Monday.
WATER POLO — Tuesday 2am
THE Aussie men’s water polo team will look to bounce back from defeat to hosts Brazil in their opening match as they take on Hungary early Tuesday morning.
The Aussies battled hard against the Brazilians but the hosts kept Australia at arms length with a two goal margin for much of the second half before winning 8-7.
Brisbane Barracudas and Sharks captain Rhys Howden questioned his side’s physicality after the match and implored them to bring more physicality for the clash with the Hungarians.
The fixture begins at 2am AEST.
TENNIS — Tuesday 5.45am
AUSTRALIA’S John Millman will be flying the flag for Australia on the tennis court on Tuesday morning (local time), with an Olympic record to his name after his first round match.
Millman, 27, became the first men’s singles tennis player to win 6-0, 6-0 at an Olympic Games when he sailed through his round one match against Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis.
A graduate of Anglican Church Grammar School at East Brisbane, Millman will now face a tougher opponent when he comes up against fourth seed Kei Nishikori at 5.45am (local time) on Tuesday.
Japan’s Nishikori won his first round match against Spain’s Albery Ramos-Vinolas 6-2, 6-4.
Nishikori dropped his racquet midpoint during the match, but regather to win the point.
Nishikori made it to the quarterfinal at the 2012 London Olympic Games and finished fifth, having played some of the world’s best tennis stars, while it is the Aussie’s Olympic debut.
SWIMMING — Tuesday from 2.22am
All eyes will be on Emily Seebohm and Madison Wilson as they line up in the final of the women’s 100m backstroke at 11.30am on Tuesday.
Seebohm, a former student at Bracken Ridge’s Saint John Fisher Girls College, and St Peters Western Swim Club young gun Wilson finished third and first respectively in semi final 1.
The seventh-fast qualifier, Seebohm will start from lane 8, while Wilson will line up in lane 6 after qualifying fourth-fastest.
With the third-quickest semi-final time, St Peters Western’s Mitch Larkin will enter the 100m backstroke final at 11.38am as a strong medal contender.
Emma McKeon’s busy Rio schedule will continue as she lines up in the heats of the women’s 200m freestyle at 2.22am.
The 22-year-old, who won 4x100m freestyle relay gold on Sunday before finishing seventh in the 100m butterfly the following day, will be joined in the heats by St Peters Western teammate Bronte Barratt.
St Peters clubmate Grant Irvine will swim in heat 3 of the 200m butterfly at 2.44am, while Alicia Coutts, a former student at Chisholm Catholic College Cornubia, is in heat 3 of the women’s 200m IM at 3.06am.
ROWING — Tuesday 10.40am
Australia’s quadruple sculls women’s crew will get a second shot at Thursday’s final when it takes part in the repechage at 10.40am on Tuesday.
Led by Corinda product Jessica Hall and former Payne Road State School student Maddie Edmunds, the Australians finished second to Ukraine in heat 1 to miss direct qualification for the final.
The crew, which also includes Kerry Hore and Jennifer Cleary, must now take on the Netherlands, Poland, USA and China in the repechage.
The final is on 12.34pm on Thursday.
RUGBY 7S — Tuesday from 3.30am
A GOLD medal game against either New Zealand or Great Britain will await the Australian women’s rugby 7s team if they can down Canada in the semi finals on Tuesday morning.
After winning their opening two games against Colombia and Fiji on Sunday morning, the World Series leading Australians were held to a 12-all draw in their final group game before clicking into gear with a 24-0 victory over Spain in the semi finals.
Former Brisbane State High School student and Corinda resident Charlotte Caslick continued her outstanding Olympic form against Spain as she bagged another two tries and looms as the one to watch against Canada.
Gumdale resident Shannon Perry and former Deception Bay resident Evania Pelite are also set to feature in the match against the World Series number three Canada, which will kick off at 3.30am AEST Tuesday morning before the bronze medal (7.30am AEST) and gold medal (8am AEST) games kick-off later.
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