Beijing Olympic Games

Updated: 2008-07-03

(BEIJING, July 3) — Canada rolled to their second big win at the Jack Donohue International Classic on Tuesday against a beleaguered New Zealand Tall Blacks.

The team from the FIBA Americas started slow but ended up claiming a decisive 90-63 victory.

Rowan Barrett led the Canadians in scoring for the second consecutive game, making five of eight shots from long range on his way to 19 points, while Olu Famutimi, the high-flying dunking artist who plays professionally in Ukraine and took part in the EuroCup All Star Game this year, had 13 points and five rebounds

Levon Kendall also buried eight of his 10 attempts from the floor in a 16-point effort.

Canada led by as many as 32 and sent the Tall Blacks to a third successive loss after their two friendly defeats to Australia.

“We’re not trying to get used to losing,” Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic said.

“But I must say today’s performance was a much better performance, although the score doesn’t show that. It was a much better performance in terms of execution. The shots didn’t drop for us, we lost our confidence a little bit, and they were able to run away in the fourth and make it a 27-point game.

“Canada are a good team and they’re tough to beat at home, even if you are shooting the ball well.”

Kirk Penney, one of the Tall Black veterans who missed the two games against Australia and has just joined the side, had a game-high 26 points but he was also guilty of turning the ball over five times.

New Zealand had 19 turnovers in the game.

New Zealand were seven of 21 (33.3%) from behind the arc, compared to Canada’s 11 of 26 (42%).

Both Canada and New Zealand are warming up for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens, which tips off on July 14.

The Canadians are in Group C with Slovenia and Republic of Korea while New Zealand are in Group B with Germany and Cape Verde.

Vucinic’s team takes on Lebanon on Wednesday, the other side playing in the Donohue event.

Lebanon, who are in Group A of the qualifying event in Athens with Greece and Brazil, were blown out by Canada on Monday.

“They’re an international team,” Vucinic said.

“We have a chance but it will be tough with this inexperienced team. I expect a tight game and a tough game and I’m glad we get another game straight away.”

(Credit: FIBA. Click here for further information.)

Updated: 2008-06-17

(BEIJING, June 17) — China face Canada, while defending champions Cuba meet Japan in the opening games of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Baseball tournament.

The International Baseball Federation (IBF) and BOCOG released the schedule for the Olympic Games in August. Eight national teams will contest the competition which will consist of a round robin format in which each team will play against each seven other teams.

The USA, Cuba, Netherlands, Japan, Republic of Korea, Canada and Chinese Taipei have been selected from competition, and join China which, as the Olympic Games host nation, gains automatic qualification.

However, the runners-up of the 2004 Athens Olympics, Australia, have failed to qualify. The top four sides in the preliminary competition will move into the semifinals, with the country ranked No 1 playing the team ranked No 4, and No 2 playing the third-placed team. The winning semifinalists will contest the final, and the gold and silver medals.

This will be the first time that a Chinese baseball team has taken part in Olympic Games, and it could be the last time - baseball has not been included in the London 2012 Olympic Games roster.

The Olympic baseball tournament will be staged from August 13 – 23 at the Beijing Wukesong Baseball Field. The semifinals will be held on August 22, with the final on August 23.

GAMES OF THE XXIX OLYMPIAD, BEIJING 2008OLYMPIC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT OFFICIAL SCHEDULE APPROVED BY THE INTERNATIONAL BASEBALL FEDERATION PRELIMINARY ROUNDDATEGAMETIMEFIELDGAMEWednesay, August 13110:30WKB Field 2Chinese Taipei - Netherlands211:30WKB Main FieldChina - Canada318:00WKB Field 2Republic of Korea - USA419:00WKB Main FieldCuba - JapanThursday, August 14 510:30WKB Field 2Netherlands - USA611:30WKB Main FieldRepublic of Korea- China 718:00WKB Field 2Cuba - Canada819:00WKB Main FieldChinese Taipei - Japan　910:30WKB Field 2China - Chinese Taipei　1011:30WKB Main FieldUSA - Cuba　1118:00WKB Field 2Canada - Republic of Korea 　1219:00WKB Main FieldJapan - Netherlands　1310:30WKB Field 2USA - Canada 　1411:30WKB Main FieldCuba - Chinese Taipei　1518:00WKB Field 2China - Netherlands 　1619:00WKB Main FieldJapan - Republic of KoreaSunday, August 17REST DAYMonday, August 18 1710:30WKB Field 2Canada - Japan 1811:30WKB Main FieldChinese Taipei - Republic of Korea1918:00WKB Field 2Netherlands - Cuba2019:00WKB Main FieldUSA - ChinaTuesday, August 182110:30WKB Field 2Netherlands - Canada2211:30WKB Main FieldRepublic of Korea- Cuba2318:00WKB Field 2Japan - China 2419:00WKB Main FieldUSA - Chinese TaipeiWednesay, August 202510:30WKB Field 2Cuba - China 2611:30WKB Main FieldNetherlands - Republic of Korea 2718:00WKB Field 2Canada - Chinese Taipei 2819:00WKB Main FieldJapan - USA Thursday, August 21 REST DAY　　　　　FINAL ROUND 　　　　DATE GAMETIMEFIELDGAMEFriday, August 222910:30WKB Main FieldSEMIFINAL Game: 1st-4th3018:00WKB Main FieldSEMIFINAL Game: 2nd - 3rdSaturday, August 233110:30WKB Main FieldBRONZE MEDAL Game: Loser 29 - Loser 30(*)3218:00WKB Main FieldGOLD MEDAL Game: Winner 29 - Winner 30(*)　　21:25WKB Main FieldMedal ceremony

Updated: 2008-02-20
2008 IBAF FINAL OLYMPIC QUALIFICATIOIN TOURNAMENT GAME SCHEDUELDATETIMEGAMESTADIUM3/7 (Fri)12:30G1South AfricaVS.Republic of KoreaIntercontinental12:30G2MexicoVS.CanadaTou-Liou18:30Opening CeremonyIntercontinental19:00G3Chinese TaipeiVS.SpainIntercontinental18:30G4GermanyVS.AustraliaTou-Liou3/8 (Sat)12:30G5CanadaVS.South AfricaIntercontinental12:30G6MexicoVS.Chinese TaipeiTou-Liou18:30G7Republic of KoreaVS.AustraliaIntercontinental18:30G8SpainVS.GermanyTou-Liou3/9 (Sun)12:30G9GermanyVS.Chinese TaipeiIntercontinental12:30G10AustraliaVS.CanadaTou-Liou18:30G11South AfricaVS.SpainIntercontinental18:30G12Republic of KoreaVS.MexicoTou-Liou3/10 (Mon)12:30G13GermanyVS.South AfricaIntercontinental12:30G14SpainVS.Republic of KoreaTou-Liou18:30G15Chinese TaipeiVS.CanadaIntercontinental18:30G16AustraliaVS.MexicoTou-Liou3/11 (Tue)Day Off 3/12 (Wed)12:30G17Republic of KoreaVS.GermanyIntercontinental12:30G18CanadaVS.SpainTou-Liou18:30G19MexicoVS.South AfricaIntercontinental18:30G20Chinese TaipeiVS.AustraliaTou-Liou3/13 (Thu)12:30G21AustraliaVS.SpainIntercontinental12:30G22GermanyVS.MexicoTou-Liou18:30G23CanadaVS.Republic of KoreaIntercontinental18:30G24South AfricaVS.Chinese TaipeiTou-Liou3/14 (Fri)12:30G25SpainVS.MexicoIntercontinental12:30G26South AfricaVS.AustraliaTou-Liou18:30G27Chinese TaipeiVS.Republic of KoreaIntercontinental18:30G28CanadaVS.GermanyTou-Liou21:30Closing CeremonyIntercontinental

Updated: 2008-02-19

The Australian Baseball Team will play hosts to the Canadian National side in a four-game showdown as both countries prepare for the final Olympic Qualifying tournament next month.

The series, to be held in Brisbane and the Gold Coast from February 28 - March 2, will double as the Australian Team’s final stage of selection trials and has been targeted to help the Aussies peak ahead of their must win tournament in Taichung.

Australian Head Coach, Jon Deeble, is excited about playing the Canadians on home soil – especially as he puts some of the National squad’s youngest talent through the rigors of the two-week selection camp.

“For the first time in a number of years there are several spots in the team that are wide open (for selection) — I’m really looking forward to letting these guys go at it,” Deeble said.

“In terms of our preparation, we have had the benefit of the recent Claxton Shield season to identify some emerging talent and will now we get the chance to see how they perform against Canada — one of the World’s top sides,

“Truth be told, nobody is guaranteed a ticket to the qualifiers, so I am going to take whoever’s “hot” at the time,” he said.

The Games against Canada will mark the first time the National Team has hosted the North American powerhouses on home soil in well over a decade, and promises to deliver a thrilling showcase between two evenly matched teams.

When the two sides locked horns at the Baseball World Cup last November, Australia came away with a nail-biting 7-6 victory that eliminated Canada from the finals — a result that the Canadians will be eager to avenge next month as they battle the Aussies for one of the final three Olympic berths in the eight-nation tournament.

Canada, who finished 4th in Athens, remain one of the biggest threats for the Aussies’ and will join Republic of Korea, Mexico, Chinese Taipei, Germany, Spain and South Africa as they vie for their own piece of Olympic history.

Although Australia will enter the Qualifying Tournament as reigning Silver Medallists, they clearly face an uphill battle on their road to Beijing, placing even greater emphasis on their preparation in the upcoming games against the touring Canadians.

The four-game series will follow closely on the heels of a two-game exhibition schedule in Sydney that sees the Australian squad match up against the NSW Patriots at Blacktown Olympic Park on February 22 & 23.

(Credit: IBAF. Click here for further information.)

Updated: 2008-01-10

(BEIJING, Jan. 10) — Japan became the fifth team to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games after they defeated Chinese Taipei 10-2 in the Asian Baseball Championships last week.

Japan piled on six runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 7-2 lead and added three more runs in the ninth inning.

Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish limited Chinese Taipei to two runs on three hits in seven innings to pick up the win.

The United States and Cuba, qualified for the Olympics in September of 2006 at the Americas Qualifying Tournament, will be joined by the Netherlands, which won the European championship last September, and China, which gets an automatic bid as the host nation.

In March, South Africa, undefeated at the African Continental Qualifying Championships in Johannesburg in December, will join Australia, Canada, England, Mexico, Spain, Republic of Korea and Chinese Taipei at the second-chance tournament. The top three teams will earn the final three berths for the 2008 Olympics.

Updated: 2008-07-06

(BEIJING, July 6) — Athletics Canada aims to earn two medals at the Beijing Olympics, according to head coach Les Gramantik.

While two medals might sound like a low target, achieving the goal would give Canada two more medals than they earned in the last two Olympics combined.

Canada also faces more competition in Beijing. “But now there are 200 countries taking part in athletics,” said Gramantik in Windsor, Ontario, home of the 2008 Canadian Track and Field Olympic Trials, where 600 able-bodied athletes and 88 athletes with a disability are competing through Sunday to qualify for the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic teams.

Among Canada’s Olympic hopefuls are hurdler Perdita Felicien, Tyler Christopher in the 400 m and 800-metre star Gary Reed.

Canada’s Olympic roster will be released on July 22.

Updated: 2007-10-15

At the Continental Qualifier for the Americas in El Salvador the dices have been thrown. For the women’s event it is be two Mexican and one US athletes while in the men’s event it is one Mexican, one Cuban and one Brazilian to win new Olympic places for their countries.

Women’s Event

Janeth Garcia (MEX) beat Karen Scavotto (USA) 109-107 to win the first place in the women’s category. Another Mexican, Aida Roman, won the third position after beating Venezuela’s Leydis Brito 108-95. Venezuela had the first standby position in Leipzig, Germany and is now suffering the same ordeal.

Men’s Event

Juan Rene Serrano, the second qualified archer for Dubai, shot very solidly all along the tournament, and gave Mexico their third Olympic spot of the day. He defeated Cuban veteran Juan Carlos Stevens 110-109 for the first place. Brazil won the remaining Olympic spot by means of Luiz Trainini, winner of his third place match versus Mexico’s Jorge Pablo Chapoy.

17 athletes from the Americas have obtained places for Beijing: United States (3 Men, 2 Women), Mexico (2 men, 2 women), Canada (3 men), Colombia (3 women), Cuba (1 man) and Brazil (1 man).

There are still two possibilities left for the countries that have not obtained places. One is by obtaining an invitation place from the IOC and the second by obtaining a place at the final world qualifier in Boé, France in June next year.

(Credit: ITA. Click here for further information.)