Tennis olympics

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by Walter Edey

In 2016, the International Olympic Committee approved five new sports. The additions, which included skateboarding, added eighteen events and four hundred and seventy-four athletes to the Tokyo Summer Games.

Skateboarding began as “sidewalk surfing” in California in the 1950s. Surfers wanted something to do when the tides and waves were low and flat.

These innovators made skateboards from wooden crates and roller skate wheels; and surfed the sidewalks. Seventy-two – two years later, Sidewalk Surfing is part of the Olympics, just like Skateboarding – surfing in skate parks, not waves. (a skate park is a set of indoor or outdoor plywood or concrete ramps that mimic the curves and slopes of waves.

Barbados road tennis is an older sport than skateboarding and with a similar informal start. In the 1930s, a group of Barbadians wanted to play lawn tennis, but it was an expensive sport. Like surfers, they made snowshoes and nets with wood; searched for used turf tennis balls; and turned the roads into tennis courts.

The organization of the game and expectations are changing. In a 2020 media article, Dale Clarke, CEO of the Professional Tennis Association, shared a holistic view of road tennis as a sport and industry. Among other things, he said: “Progress has been swift and satisfactory as not only in Barbados the level has increased, but the support has extended beyond our shores.

Filipinos play road tennis, there are countries in Europe, Central America where people play.

Speaking about future changes, he said: “We have to be creative and try to form new alliances and get new sponsors.”

So are the new alliances that Clarke talked about enough? What about a brand name? Can it survive on its own as a competitive community sport? Or should it become an integrated sport for the rich and the poor, and blacks, whites and others? The master plan of skateboarding is common knowledge. It reads like a story and a storybook; and a business or entertainment relationship. Hear parts of the story:

1. Larry Stevenson invented the skateboard. Rodney Mullen added new maneuvers, styles and designs. Tony Hawk, born May 12, 1968, was one of the first professional skaters, the first to land a 900.
2. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, skateboarders were: punk rockers; had jargon and music; according to some, lived a rebellious life; performed tricks on the stages; and used skateboarding as a means of transportation.

This combination of competition, culture and subculture has transformed informal activity into industry.

This form of recreational art, which in 2009 would have had an estimated market value of 4.8 billion dollars, and 11.08 million active skateboarders worldwide.

Barbados now has its history of road tennis in California.
PZ Road Tennis Store offers 8 sizes of child-adult racquets and road tennis apparel.

The Barbadian road tennis enthusiast has formed an alliance with educators. Road tennis is part of a physical education program; and a STEM-based project. Road tennis teaches students math and science.

Without a doubt, the potential of road tennis as an activity exists. But will Barbadians hang on to their creation and continue to develop it on their own as a competition rather than borrowing ideas and learning from the development of other informal sports.

The 2032 Olympics await road tennis. A road tennis roadshow is late: TUK rhythms, dancers on stilts and drummers for half-time shows. Road tennis in Barbados needs promotions: festivals, tournaments between park and village teams.

Students should be required to research and write sports history to earn school credits. Lest Barbados forget, Trinidad has failed to convert steel cookware into an industry.

It has remained a treasure trove of carnival competition for too long. Other countries now manufacture and sell electric and amplified steel pans. Barbados: hard ears you won’t hear, your way you feel. Meanwhile, the The 2032 Olympics await Banjo Tennis or Zipp Tennis.

Walter Edey is a retired math and science teacher.

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TOKYO (Reuters) – For Japan’s Naomi Osaka, the Tokyo Games were a chance https://www.reuters.com/article/olympics-2020-ten-idCNL8N2OZ06Q to organize a victorious return home after several weeks without them spotlight to focus on his sanity.

And for world number one Novak Djokovic, he was trying to achieve what no other man had done: win all four Grand Slam tournaments in one year plus Olympic gold.

The goals of the two biggest names in the Olympic tennis tournament seemed within reach at the start of the competition but none ultimately lived up to expectations.

Osaka fell https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/tennis-japans-osaka-out-tokyo-2020-third-round-2021-07-27 in the third round, while Serbian Djokovic was beaten twice: in the semi-finals of the future gold medalist https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/tennis-germanys-zverev-wins-tokyo-games-mens-singles-gold-2021-08 -01 Alexander Zverev of Germany, and a day later by Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta in the bronze medal match.

Osaka and Djokovic both admitted the pressure to play was too much to handle, joining a conversation https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/biles-spotlights-mental-health-tokyo-covid-cases-hang -over- games-2021-07-28 raised at the Olympics by American gymnast Simone Biles and others on mental loads borne by athletes.

“Pressure is a privilege https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/tennis-pressure-is-privilege-history-chasing-djokovic-2021-07-28”, Djokovic said before his loss to Zverev, ranked fifth in the world. He then told reporters that he was unable to increase his level of play due to physical and mental exhaustion, exiting https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/tennis-no -medal-djokovic-third-straight-games-2021-07 -31 without a medal for the third consecutive Olympic Games.

Osaka, who lit https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/slimmed-down-ceremony-open-pandemic-hit-tokyo-games-2021-07-23 the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony , said she couldn’t face the pressure of playing at home in her first Games.

Other contenders struggled in stifling conditions in Tokyo, with top ranked Australian Ashleigh Barty https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/tennis-australian-world-number-one-ash -barty-out-first- tour-2021-07-25 in his first game, while men’s No.2 Daniil Medvedev lost in the quarter-finals, one round after saying “I can die https: // jp. reuters.com/article/olympics-2020- ten-idCNL4N2P4143 “in the heat.

The organizers eventually postponed the matches https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/tennis-itf-accepts-players-requests-delay-start-due-heat-2021-07-28 until the end of the afternoon. The sport’s governing body has also said it will seek to extend the Olympic tournament https://jp.reuters.com/article/olympics-2020-ten-idCNL8N2P809K in the future to ensure adequate rest for players.

With the open women’s singles draw, Belinda Bencic triumphed https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/tennis-spains-carreno-busta-beats-listless-djokovic-bronze-2021-07-31 on Marketa Vondrousova from the Czech Republic becomes the first Swiss woman to win tennis gold. Newly married Ukrainian Elina Svitolina won bronze.

The Russian Olympic Committee won three tennis medals, the most of any nation, including a silver for men’s singles finalist Karen Khachanov.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)

For table tennis fans, there is good news that they are going to enjoy a match today. Hong Kong is ready to fight against Japan. The match will be played at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gym. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The players of both teams are ready to face each other solidly. Both teams are active so the game will be interesting to watch. It will be a semi-final.

Hong Kong, China-W vs Japan-W live score

Hong Kong, China-W 0-1 Japan-W

Hong Kong, China-F vs Japan-F Women’s Table Tennis Semi-Final Match Details

• Teams: “Hong Kong China (HLG)” vs. “Japan (JPN)”
• League: Tokyo Olympic Games 2020
• Date: August 3, 2021
• Time: 5:30 p.m.
• Day: Tuesday
• Location: Tokyo Metropolitan Gym

The match judges will be the referees of Team Germany (Gersdore A) and Team India (Mopkar M).

Hong Kong, China-W vs Japan-W Women’s Table Tennis Match Preview

“Hong Kong China (HLG)”

The Hong Kong China women were beaten against Brazil in winning the three-quarter-finals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games tournament on Sunday. The match was opened by player Minnie Soo Wai-Yam / Lee Ho-Ching. But Lee loses the match in Game 3. They even faced Romania on Monday.

“Japan (JPN)”

Japan faced Hungary and won the match by winning three matches. The match took place on Sunday. They even won the tournament openings.

Hong Kong, China-F vs Japan-F table tennis semi-final

“Japan (JPN)”

• HIRANO Miu
• ISHIKAWA Kasumi
• ITO Mima

Prediction of the women’s table tennis match Hong Kong, China-F vs Japan-F

It will be a semi-final between the teams “Hong Kong China (HLG)” against “Japan (JPN)”. We will see them playing the game with all the activity and effort. The game is going to be incredible and great. The taming will win in Japan. These are just predictions, so there could be a change in the real game.

TOKYO (Reuters) – German paddlers Shan Xiaona, Petrissa Solja and Han Ying, who won silver five years ago in Rio, aim for another team medal at the Tokyo Games after beating their South Korean opponents 3 -2 in the women’s team event on Tuesday.

Shan and Solja started strong in their first doubles match against Shin Yubin and Jeon Jihee, but eventually faltered to lose 2-3 to the South Korean duo.

The two teams battled in close matches in the following singles, leading to a tie at the end of Game 4.

But Shan regained control to seal the victory over Choi Hyojoo in the deciding fifth game. The 38-year-old paddler sighed in relief and wiped away tears with towels as her teammates rushed to kiss her.

“I’m so proud of my teammates,” Solja said, as Han quickly hugged her. “We kinda think we can surprise us. We won’t go to the game thinking we’re going to lose for sure.”

Shan, Solja and Han recorded the best all-time result for Germany in the women’s team event at the Rio 2016 Games and said they are now more confident than they were five years ago.

“We’ve won so many titles together over the past few years. We know we can achieve anything. We believe in each other even if one of us isn’t playing very well. We keep going and we want to win a more medal, ”said Solja.

In the men’s team event, Sweden fought hard but ultimately had to concede a 3-1 loss to the host country, which consisted of Rio 2016 team silver medalists Jun Mizutani and Koki Niwa as well as number four world Tomokazu Harimoto.

Niwa and Harimoto led Japan to a strong start, beating Kristian Karlsson and Anton Kaellberg 3-1.

But world number nine Mattias Falck managed to turn the tide by beating gold medalist Jun Mizutani in mixed doubles with his solid but steady backhand shots.

Harimoto made his way to defeat Kaellberg in Game 3. His teammate Niwa scored a 3-0 victory over Falck.

(Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

TOKYO (Reuters) – The Japanese men’s table tennis trio of Jun Mizutani, Koki Niwa and Tomokazu Harimoto won against Australians Hu Heming, Yan Xin and David Powell 3-0 in the first round of Monday’s team event , paving the way for the host country to advance to the quarter-finals.

Olympic mixed doubles gold medalist Mizutani and Niwa, 26, two of the trio that won silver at the Rio 2016 Games, took a solid lead in the doubles match even as Australian pair Hu and Yan was trying to catch up by alternating between short and long shots.

World number four Harimoto, who came out surprised at the start of the men’s singles event, made a comeback with a 3-0 victory over Powell in the second individual match.

“I took a day off after the singles, watching other Olympic sports on TV. It helped change my mind,” the Japanese paddler told reporters after winning the event by teams.

In the last game, Mizutani crushed his opponent Yan 3-0, taking a ten-point lead at the end of the second game.

“Being in the Tokyo Games is a highlight for me. I want to play every game like it’s my last, with no regrets,” Mizutani told reporters.

In the women’s squad, South Korean paddlers Choi Hyojoo and Shin Yubin were neck and neck with Polish duo Natalia Partyka and Natalia Bajor before securing a narrow 3-2 victory in the doubles match.

Jeon Jihee continued his streak in favor of South Korea, beating Polish opponent Li Qian in a 3-0 victory in Game 2.

In the final match, however, the two teams once again fought a close battle. South Korean teenager Shin, 17, battled 24-year-old Polish paddler Bajor, playing neck and neck most games before Shin took the lead in Game 7 to put him out of reach.

Elsewhere, the Singaporean trio of Lin Ye, Yu Mengyu and Feng Tianwei secured a spot in the women’s team semi-finals after winning 3-0 against their French rivals.

(Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Jun Mizutani, who has become a target of cyberbullying after winning Japan’s first Olympic gold in table tennis, said on Monday he would fight online abuse.

The 32-year-old paddler and Mima Ito wowed the world in an epic battle in the mixed doubles final last week, narrowly beating long-standing Chinese pair Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen.

Mingled with the flood of congratulatory comments on social media, however, Mizutani also received death threats and name-calling from those who believed that he and Ito had broken the rules and that he had not played. his best.

“I think I’m more immune to online abuse than others,” said Mizutani, who said on Monday he was called a “loudmouth” to the press after winning the men’s tag team match against Australia. “But this is something we absolutely should not allow to happen.”

In a now deleted tweet posted days after winning the gold medal, Mizutani wrote that he had received numerous direct messages on Twitter telling him to “drop dead”.

On Saturday, the paddler posted a video on Twitter of lengthy abusive direct messages sent to him from an anonymous account.

“I will contact all parties concerned to take the necessary action,” Mizutani wrote, adding that he had recorded screenshots of the malicious messages so that he could take action.

Twitter’s guidelines state that it does not tolerate content that calls for harming any person or group of people, and an account may be asked to remove content or be permanently suspended after review if it turns out that it does. he mainly engages in abusive behavior. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Japanese Olympic Committee has set up a special team to patrol the social media accounts of athletes participating in the Tokyo Games to report malicious online posts to authorities, local media reported in June. The committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Japan Metropolitan Police Department will take appropriate action if the athletes file a report, a spokesperson said.

“If I leave all the online abuse that I receive as is, the target will be shifted to other athletes, so I think I have to deal with it properly now,” Mizutani said on Monday.

“I am one of the oldest and have experience, so I want to be a leader in eliminating defamation online,” he added.

Other Olympians have been harassed on social media, including 19-year-old Japanese gymnast Daiki Hashimoto who won the all-around gymnastics crown, and 20-year-old South Korean archer An San, who became the target. hostility online https: / /www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/archery-south-koreas-an-brushes-off-hairstyle-critics-reach-final-2021-07-30 at home after cut her hair short.

(Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu; Editing by Karishma Singh)

TOKYO (Reuters) – The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is keen to expand the Olympic Games schedule from nine to 11 days to ensure adequate rest for players and handle the hot summer conditions for the Paris 2024 Games and beyond.

Organizers moved the start of matches later in the afternoon to the middle of the Games tournament in Tokyo last week after players complained about the sweltering weather conditions https://graphics.reuters.com/OLYMPICS- 2020 / SUMMER-HEAT / bdwvkogrzvm, with men’s world number two Daniil Medvedev warning officials that a player “can die” in the heat.

“The challenge is that we have nine days to play five events, and we have almost 200 players. The lineup for the first two days is 48 matches per day, 12 courts with four matches per day,” said the president of the ‘ITF, David Haggerty, to the press. Sunday.

“As you know it could be a long day, but what we really need is 11 days and more relaxed players.”

“It will require us to talk to our other stakeholders and take them on the journey, and the players have certainly told us that it is important for them to be able to train for two or three events.”

“So I think that’s really the driving force – the voice of the athletes and their willingness to compete.”

Kris Dent, ITF senior executive director of professional tennis, said the sport governing body has taken steps to ensure players are well rested and to deal with difficult weather conditions, such as reducing the number of sets played and the introduction of tie-breaks.

But organizers were unable to manage the busy schedule of the Games, with many players competing in both singles and doubles competitions.

“The key thing is really about resting the players… It’s definitely a priority for us, looking forward to Paris and Los Angeles (2028),” Dent said.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

TOKYO (Reuters) – World number one and 20-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic will leave the Olympics without a medal for the third consecutive Games after retiring from Saturday’s mixed doubles bronze medal match with an injury to his the shoulder.

The Serbian, who won a bronze in singles in Beijing in 2008 but failed to reach the podium in London, Rio and now Tokyo, withdrew from the mixed doubles minutes after losing to the Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta in the singles bronze medal match.

His withdrawal from the mixed doubles means Ash Barty and John Peers win a bronze medal for Australia.

Djokovic also lost to Germany’s Alexander Zverev on Friday in the singles semifinals, putting an end to his hopes of winning a “Golden Slam,” which is Olympic gold and all four Grand Slam tournaments over this year. a calendar year.

He has already won the Australian and French Open as well as Wimbledon with the US Open, the last of four major tournaments to come.

“I regret that I didn’t win a medal for my country and missed opportunities in mixed doubles and singles and, yes, I just didn’t deliver yesterday and today,” Djokovic told reporters.

“The level of tennis has also gone down due to exhaustion, you know, mentally and physically.”

Players struggled with the heat and humidity of Tokyo throughout the tournament, requiring cold showers, ice packs and other cooling fans.

“But I don’t regret coming to the Olympics at all,” he said. “Of course not. I think there is no such thing as a coincidence in life, everything happens for a reason and I have suffered heartbreaking losses in the Olympics and some big tournaments in my career.”

Djokovic, 34, has pledged to give the Olympics another chance in three years in Paris.

“I know I will bounce back. I will try to continue for the Paris Olympics. I will fight for my country to win medals. Sorry to disappoint a lot of sports fans in my country, but this is the sport.”

The Serbian can still win all four majors in a calendar year – won only in men by Don Budge and Rod Laver (twice) – when he competes in the US Open which begins on August 30.

“The physical consequences will hopefully not create a problem for me for (the) US Open. So that’s something I’m not sure about at the moment, but I don’t regret giving it my all. because at the end of the day when you play for a country, it’s necessary. “

“I know these losses generally made me stronger.”

(Written by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Ken Ferris)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Brazilians Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani saved four match points against Wimbledon finalists Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Vesnina to snatch Olympic bronze in women’s doubles on Saturday.

The Brazilians, with tears in their eyes at the end of the game, capped a stellar week, coming from a set down and leading 5-9 in the tie-break to earn six straight points and beat the pair from the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) 4- 6 6-4 11-9.

It was Brazil’s first Olympic tennis medal.

“We knew we gave our all and we have all this emotion now,” said Stefani, ranked 23rd in the world in doubles.

“From 0-0 in the tie-break to 9-5 behind, we thought we could do it all the time.”

“We’ve had that feeling of confidence all along and now there’s that feeling of pure happiness to have achieved a goal,” she said.

“This medal is historic for Brazil. It is also a responsibility but also a motivation for us.”

Vesnina, who aims to win her second Olympic medal after gold in women’s doubles in 2016, can redeem herself when she teams up with Aslan Karatsev against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev in a 100% ROC mixed doubles final on Sunday.

Russian athletes have been banned from using their flag or anthem due to the country’s doping scandals. They are identified as athletes of the Russian Olympic Committee.

(Report by Karolos Grohmann, edited by Ed Osmond)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Tennis governing bodies take mental health issues very seriously but recognize that more needs to be done to support players in this area, International Tennis Federation chief David told Reuters. Haggerty.

Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal from Roland Garros in May highlighted the issue of athlete welfare and after American gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from the squad and general events this week in an effort to protect her health mental, the subject returns to the foreground.

“Mental health is very, very important,” said Haggerty, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in an interview at the Games.

“In the normal course of business, we work together with the men’s and women’s tours to make sure that we are really there for the players, that they have the ability to speak to someone for help when they need it. need the right way.

“But we think we can still do better.”

When Osaka first declared that she would not speak to the media at Roland Garros to protect her sanity, the organizers of the clay-court grand slam fined her $ 15,000 after boycotting the conference. post-match press and they have also joined forces with the other three Grand Slam tournaments to threaten her with expulsion from Roland Garros and ban her from entering other major tournaments.

This forced Osaka to withdraw from Roland Garros and she also revealed how she struggled with depression for several years – and it was only then that tennis authorities admitted they needed to do more to help them. players.

Haggerty said the ITF’s Scientific and Medical Committee on Sport has started looking for new ways to tackle the problem, which he said has been made worse for some players by the global health crisis.

“We have also engaged with the IOC and other groups so that it becomes more than just tennis but that it is a sport at large,” he said.

“I think the athletes after 15 to 18 months of being locked out in sport it’s a tough time. We have to be there for the athletes and tennis certainly takes it very seriously.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a massive disruption to the global tennis calendar and left a big dent in the finances of the game.

As a result, the ITF joined with ATP, WTA and the four Grand Slam boards and formed a “T7 working group” to look at areas of collaboration like a unified timeline, offers shared commercials, sponsorship and television agreements.

“The pandemic has certainly intensified our discussions,” the 64-year-old said.

“Everyone wants to work together as best they can, they each have different stakeholders. But I think we have a good collaboration. What comes out of it? We should see.

“These things take time. I don’t want to build a big hope that the world will change with this. At the same time, I think we are moving forward and working together.”

(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Pritha Sarkar)