Tokyo 2020 Olympics: tennis, football, rugby sevens and more – live! | Sport

On the subject of quickfire gold medals, Joe Rodrigo suggests judo might theoretically be in with a shout. “Sharofiddin Boltabaev from Uzbekistan won by ippon in 2.88 seconds during a match of the IJF World Tour in Tashkent in 2019.”

Zverev breaks again! It’s all happening now. From 6-1, 3-3 Djokovic has lost seven games on the spin, and Zverev leads 4-0 in the final set!

GOAL! Team GB 0-1 Australia (Kennedy) Team GB had made most of the early running but failed to take the lead – and now Australia are ahead with their first shot on target. It’s Alanna Kennedy who heads home from a corner!

Djokovic had a host of break points in Zverev’s next service game, but couldn’t convert – and Zverev digs deep to hold and leads 1-6, 6-3, 2-0.

In the mixed doubles semi-final, Australia’s Ash Barty and John Peers have won the first set 7-5 against the ROC’s Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

An extraordinary war of words has broken out after the men’s 200m backstroke final. The ROC’s Evgeny Rylov won gold, with the USA’s Ryan Murphy second. After the race, Murphy said: “It is a huge mental drain to go through the year knowing that I’m swimming in a race that’s probably not clean, and that is what it is.”

At a tense press conference an hour later, Murphy insisted he was not accusing Rylov of anything, but added: “I don’t know if it was 100% clean and that’s because of things that have happened in the past.” Britain’s Luke Greenbank, who came third, was supportive of Murphy’s view. Barney Ronay reports:

Zverev strikes back! He breaks to take the second set 6-3, and breaks Djokovic again to start the decider! Is Novak’s “golden slam” bid under threat?

Canada and Brazil are still deadlocked at 0-0 in their quarter-final, although Vanessa Gilles has just hit the bar with a header for Canada. Team GB have struck the woodwork twice early on against Australia, where it’s also goalless.

Stuart Jenkinson suggests the shot put for the quickest way to win a medal:

“It’s basically only a few seconds per effort, so one good effort to qualify and then a really good first shot (put?) in the final. Sit back and let everyone else try to get close, spend six seconds in total actually taking part.”

Sean Ingle was at the Olympic Stadium to see the athletics action begin with an explosive set of women’s 100m heats, on what looks a very fast track.

“Six women crashed through the 11-second barrier. Another 22 set personal bests. And 10 national records fell. Sprint heats are usually about loosening limbs and conserving energy. This was a sustained assault on the senses – and the record books.”

Here’s Bryan Armen Graham with a nugget of tennis info. Sounds like a root-and-branch review of US tennis is urgently required:

With Austin Krajicek and Tennys Sandgren’s loss to Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus in the men’s doubles bronze medal match, US tennis players have failed to win a gold medal at an Olympics for the first time since 1920 (although tennis was not on the programme between 1924 and 1988).

Team GB and Australia have kicked off their quarter-final in Kashima. Follow it live with Emma Kemp here:

Zverev is making a much better go of things in the second set, where it’s on serve at 4-3 to the German. Djokovic won the first set 6-1.

Meanwhile, my colleague and golfing guru Dave Tindall informs me that Xander Schauffele has moved into the clubhouse lead on -11. Play has been suspended due to these pesky storms over Tokyo, with Hideki Matsuyama (-8) and Paul Casey (-7) yet to finish their second rounds.

One of my alternative heroes of the Games – this guy eats, sleeps, breathes volleyball. Sadly, he couldn’t inspire Argentina to victory over the ROC earlier today.

Here’s a quick Team GB boxing update from overnight:

Caroline Dubois is through to the quarter-finals in the women’s lightweight boxing after a points win over Rashida Ellis of the USA, while two medals have been guaranteed in the men’s events.

Pat McCormack will pick up at least a welterweight bronze after a victory over Bobo-Usmon Baturov, and Ben Whittaker will do likewise after his light-heavyweight win over Brazil’s Keno Machado.

In his jubilant post-fight interview, Whittaker also stated his ambition to become “the mayor of Wolverhampton”, with the promise of a grill and a chain for every citizen. He would get my vote.

The women’s rugby sevens quarter-finals are due to take place this morning, with New Zealand beating ROC 36-0. It sounds like a storm is brewing above Tokyo Stadium, however, so the remaining games may be delayed. Fiji v Australia is next, then Team GB v USA and France v China.

Craig McEwan has a very good question. “I was wondering about the time in competition needed to win a medal. Does anyone know (or care?!) which events need most and least time to win a medal?”

Off the top of my head, I’m thinking 100m sprinters and gymnasts in single-apparatus competitions would be among the quickest. The gold-winning golfer will be out on the course for maybe 20 hours, but there are probably athletes working longer shifts.

I’ll confess to having no real idea how long sailing takes, for example. Let me know your suggestions via the usual methods.

This is a great stat from Tom Waterhouse:

“Team GB may not be top of the medal table, but it’s worth pointing out that they have won medals in a remarkable 13 different disciplines – more than any other country. Of the teams above them in the table, China and the US have won in 12, Japan and the ROC in 10, and Australia in only five.”

Archery gold for South Korea! A dramatic finish in the women’s individual final, with An San fighting back to force a tie-break round against ROC’s Elena Osipova. An shoots first and hits the bullseye for 10 points, with Osipova unable to match it.

Victory means An has won three golds at these Games after helping her nation to women’s and mixed team’s events. South Korea have won five golds in Tokyo, and four of them have come in archery.

The second men’s tennis semi-final is following the script so far, with Novak Djokovic winning the first set 6-1 against Alexander Zverev. ROC’s Karen Khachanov awaits in the final.

The women’s football quarter-finals take place today, and the tireless Emma Kemp is on hand for coverage of Team GB v Australia. Canada v Brazil is goalless with 30 minutes played.

Team GB’s BMX bandits, Bethany Shriever of Leytonstone and Kye White of Peckham, have been speaking to Hazel Irvine on the BBC.

Shriever: “It feels amazing, everything was perfect for racing today. It’s our first Games and we’ve absolutely loved it. I could barely walk afterwards, I left it all on the track. It’s been a long, hard journey, I’ve had to rely a lot on my family, and the team for supporting me to become a full-time athlete.”

White: “It’s a crazy achievement. The track is simple but technical at the same time – I didn’t like it at first! My brothers were not selected, but they’ve taught me a lot, helped me get here and earn my medal.”

“Can we all take a moment to marvel at the Everest-like achievements of Beth Shriever and Kye Whyte,” says peterg2806 in the Readers’ Village below the line. “BMXing has had zero funding since Rio – they’ve literally funded this through crowdfunding and Shriever working as a part time teaching assistant. Absolutely stupendous!”

Here’s a quick roundup of some Team GB efforts so far today, with Bryony Page taking bronze on the trampoline. China’s Zhu Xueying and Liu Lingling took gold and silver.

They have indeed! They’re the first New Zealanders to win an Olympic tennis medal since Anthony Wilding, who represented Australasia way back in 1912.

Here’s a report from the women’s basketball, where the USA pulled off a dominant win over Japan – their 51st straight Olympic victory. I’m going to stick my neck out and back the Americans for gold.

Here are the big stories so far from Tokyo:

• There was dramatic double medal joy for Team GB in the BMX racing. Beth Shriever won gold minutes after teammate Kye Whyte secured silver in the men’s event behind Dutchman Niek Kimmann
• US racer Connor Fields fell heavily in the men’s semi-finals and was taken to hospital. He is now awake. Australia’s Saya Sakakibara also crashed in the women’s semis and gave an emotional in a post-race interview
• Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith finished second in her 100m heat behind America’s Teahna Danielsm, but her time of 11.07 was only 11th fastest across the eight heats. Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou (10.78) was quickest with Jamaican pair Elaine Thompson Herah (10.82) and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (10.84) second and third
• Tatjana Schoenmaker upstaged American Lilly King and set a new world record (2:18.95) in the women’s 200m breaststroke
• Duncan Scott picked up his third swimming medal with silver in the 200m medley final
• Russian Evgeny Rylov beat American Ryan Murphy and GB’s Luke Greenbank to the men’s 200m backstroke gold. More on the fallout from that to come shortly …
• Emma McKeon won her eighth Olympic medal with gold in women’s 100m freestyle
• Rowing concluded with bronze for Team GB in the men’s eight, but the inquest has already started after an Olympic campaign without a gold medal

The women’s individual archery final is under way, with ROC’s Elena Osipova up against South Korea’s An San, the winner of two team golds in Tokyo already. Osipova defeated GB’s Bryony Pitman 6-0 on her way to the final. In the bronze medal match, Italy’s Lucilla Boari beat the USA’s Mackenzie Brown 7-1.

A diplomatic incident is developing after Iran’s Javad Foroughi won a shooting gold medal. Foroughi is a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, labelled a terrorist organisation by the US in 2019.

The men’s golf has been ticking along overnight as they approach the halfway mark at the Kasumigaseki country club – and it’s been a big day for the pair representing Ireland, Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy. Lowry shot six-under-par, McIlroy five-under to leave both on -7, three shots off the leader, Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz.

Mito Pereira, Alex Noren and Xander Schauffele are tied for second (-8); Schauffele is still out on the course. Home favourite Hideki Matsuyama is also seven-under and has five holes to play; Team GB’s Paul Casey is currently on six-under-par.

“If anyone else was wondering, according to Wikipedia Tennys Sandgren was named after his Swedish great-grandfather,” tweets LillaMW.

Speaking of Sandgren, he’s going for bronze in the men’s doubles tennys – but alongside fellow American, Austin Krajicek, he is 7-6, 3-1 down to NZ pair Michael Venus and Marcus Daniell.

France’s Boris Neveu can only finish sixth, so it’s down to the world No 1, Jiri Prskavec. The Czech shrugs off an early mistake to lead at the first split and storms down the rest of the way. It’s gold for Prskavec (Czech Republic), silver for Grigar (Slovakia) and bronze for Aigner (Germany). Team GB’s Bradley Forbes-Cryans has to settle for sixth.

Slovakia’s Jakub Grigar finishes three seconds ahead of Aigner and takes up the gold medal position, ending Forbes-Cryans’ medal hopes as he does so. Next up is USA’s Michael Smolen, who can only finish fourth. Grigar is guaranteed a medal with two left to go …

Bradley Forbes-Cryans is off – but a decent start stalls as he goes wide at Gate 5! He’s still ahead of the leader, Germany’s Hannes Aigner, at the first split – but a two-second penalty leaves him three seconds behind Aigner and in the bronze medal position with Austria’s Felix Oschmautz second. Four more contenders to go, and he’ll struggle to hold on for a medal.

The Russian Olympic Committee will almost certainly have another medal to celebrate in tennis, where Karen Khachanov is one game from victory over Spain’s Pablo Carreño Busta. He leads 6-3, 5-2. The second semi-final will feature Novak Djokovic and Sacha Zverev.