3:36 PM: AND THAT'S THE MATCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Chinese, somehow, wins by a score of 6-3, 5-7, 10-8!!! The crowd rises to its feet! This is only a Quarterfinal match!! Wow! What a match! What a day! See you in a couple hours!
3:34 PM: Nope...Safina with a nice backhand down the line. But the Chinese strike back..MATCH POINT #3!!!!
3:33 PM: Unable to salvage that last match point, we have MATCH POINT #2!!!!
3:31 PM: 30-30!!! Crucial point right here!!!! ...long!! SO IT'S MATCH POINT FOR CHINA!!!!!!
3:27 PM: THE RUSSIANS ARE BROKEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I jump off my chair! China up 9-8 and it's Zheng Jie's serve!! Here we go! Come on girls!! JIA YOU! JIA YOU!
3:26 PM: DOUBLE BREAK POINT FOR CHINA!!!!! 15-40, 8-8 third set! Listen to this crowd!
3:24 PM: Beautiful! The match drags on...8-8...at this pace, the fans can just stay for the next session.
3:19 PM: Russians hold. Pop music blares over the speakers. It's almost dawn in Beijing, but the fans are clapping loudly! 7-8, China serves. JIA YOU!!
3:17 PM: Safina completely swings through a ball. Chinese up 15-30. ...make that 30-30!
3:14 PM: With another combination of great volleys and shots down the line, the Chinese keep serve as well. 7-7!
3:09 PM: Zheng Jie's agressiveness at the net has paid off big time. But the Russians are able to salvage their serve. 6-7 China on service.
3:07 PM: And we're tied again!! 6-6 final set (no tiebreaks). Russians to serve.
3:06 PM: Using a combination of back hand down the line, volley at the net and crosscourt winner, China's up 40-0!!
3:03 PM: Russians finally wins the game. The score's 6-5 in favour of Safina/Kuznetsova. Come on China! This is our night on the court! JIA YOU!!!!
3:02 PM: Unable to convert the first one, China gets a second break point...but we're back to deuce.
3:01 PM: Break point China!!! This is crucial right here. 5-5 third set.
2:58 PM: Kuznetsova's getting frustrated with her mistakes. This is good news for China!
2:56 PM: GAME CHINA!!!!!!!!! 5-5!! This is quite epic! It's approaching 3 AM in Beijing.
2:55 PM: 40-0!!! That last volley almost hit Safina's head.
2:54 PM: Two beautiful points! 30-0 China serves.
2:53 PM: The crowd goes wild! Zhang and Yan are back in it with a break of serve! Russians only up 5-4 now! JIA YOU!
2:50 PM: Double break point for the Chinese! What a great and powerful rally that was! JIA YOU!!!
2:50 PM: Beautiful volley from the Chinese!!!!!!
2:49 PM: Beautiful backhand down the line from Yan Zi!
2:48 PM: Game China!!!!! YES!!! That was a great exchange of points. 5-3 Russians. Let's Go China!! JIA YOU!!
2:46 PM: The Chinese save a match point. Deuce!
2:45 PM: 30-30, third set. Russians up 5-2. This is great tennis.
2:36 PM: The indefatigable crowd continues to chant "JIA YOU! JIA YOU!" Let's go girls. This match is not lost yet. Down a break, 4-2, Russians lead in the third set!
2:25 PM: Zheng and Yan are down 3-0 in the third and final set. Come on girls!! Jia You!
2:05 PM: Safina and Kuznetsova with new life, capturing the second set, 7-5. But they're laboring. Here we go, deciding set. I love tennis in the wee hours of the night!
2:03 PM: Both Zheng and Yan are wearing mismatching shoes. With one being red and one being yellow. How bout that?
2:00 PM: It's 2 AM, but the crowd doesn't care. They chant "Jia You! Jia You!" in support of the Chinese. The Russians win back a game, but the Chinese are looking so much more confident than them!
1:57 PM: Yes!! Zheng and Yan win their serve. It's back to where we started in the second set: 5-5. Russians to serve.
1:53 PM: Zheng and Yan breaks the Russians serve.They looked to be out of this set, having been down 5-2, but they're right back in it, now down only 5-4 in the second, up one set.
1:40 PM: They play on. In the second set, Zheng Jie and Yan Zi aren't happy with the umpire's call. They argue. Zheng Jie speaks pretty good English!!
12:47 PM: Maybe I said good-bye a little prematurely. Turns out, Zheng Jie and Yan Zi are just beginning their doubles quarterfinals match against Safina and Kuznetsova of Russia. It's almost 1 AM in Beijing, but the crowd is still boisterously behind the Chinese pair. Jia You!! Jia You!!
12:37 PM: Another late finish to another day at the Olympics. Track and swimming going on side by side. Tomorrow's going to be a HUGE one with Phelps going for his 7th gold and the highly anticipated Men's 100 M Sprint Finals!!! That's it for now, join me at 6:30 PM at www.blogtalkradio.com/hdsports as I recap today and preview tomorrow's potential history!
12:33 PM: Rafael Nadal is through to the finals!!!! Watch out Fernando Gonzalez!!
12:12 PM: My goodness...huge upset on the tennis courts. Djokovic and Nadal are still battling. But the Bryan Brothers, gold medl favourites, have lost 7-6, 6-4 to the Suisse pair of Roger Federer/Stanislas Wawrinka. Federer, who was knocked out of the singles tournament yesterday, is guaranteed at least a silver. So he will get his first Olympic medal nonetheless.
12:03 PM: The Chinese women's volleyball team lost another 5 setter today, to Team USA. The deciding fifth set ended with a score of 15-11. Team USA's head coach is Lang Ping, who back in the 80's was a prolific volleyball player herself for the Chinese team. Still, Lang Ping is a very popular icon in China.
11:59 AM: The Djoker fights back. 3-3 in the third and deciding set!
11:55 AM: Rafael Nadal up 3-2 in the third set. The crowd is really into this game. It's almost midnight in Beijing.
11:42 AM: Ace from Nadal. He's leading 30-15 in the third game of the third set. This is an exciting match and the crowd knows it.
11:41 AM: Are you serious?? CBC now runs the Women's 10000 M final. Thank you very much, but that happened about half an hour ago. Show some live tennis.
11:34 AM: Rafael Nadal in another late match against Novak Djokovic. Whoever wins will go on to face Fernando Gonzalez in the finals. Right now, they're tied at 1 set each, with Nadal up 1-0 in the third.
11:19 AM: It's a new Olympic record in the Women's 10000 M race!! Get the party started in Addis Ababa...Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba wins gold in that 30 minute long event!
10:56 AM: For some reason, I find the women's 10000 M race very entertaining. Four years earlier, I watched it in its entirety. I guess it's the amount of action that's involved and the unpredictability of the result (since it's so long).
10:46 AM: Jessica Zelinka finishes day 1 of the heptathlon in 6th place. Not bad, put let's make a push for the medals, Jessica.
10:39 AM: Dylan Armstrong, who missed the shot put bronze by 1 cm, says he's proud of his accopmlishments and sets his sights on London 2012.
10:24 AM: Canada loses to the United States in women's soccer. The Olympic dream for these ladies is over with a 2-1 loss in extra time. It is an emotional night in Shanghai.
10:19 AM: Du Jing and Yu Ying wins the women's doubles gold medal in badminton!!
10:16 AM: Dylan Armstrong is in 4th place in the shotput final. And his last throw is not quite far enough. Dylan Armstrong is just 1 cm behind the bronze medal position. Again, Canadians so close again, but not far enough.
9:37 AM: The Canadian baseball team lost to Korea 1-0 today. They got shutout with a complete game from Korean pitcher Ruy Hyujin. Now 1-2, they have 4 more games to go. China beat Chinese Taipei in 12 innings yesterday. They were tied 3-3 after 9 and Chinese Taipei tapped 4 runs across the plate in top 12, but China struck back and won in walk-off style!
9:32 AM: Katie Hoff was like the Bode Miller of these Games. Hoff boasted that she could easily win 5 golds, but ended up with 1 silver and 2 bronze. Nonetheless, winning 3 medals is pretty darn good.
9:30 AM: The NBC Olympic intro music always reminds me of the Canadian national anthem.
9:13 AM: Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson win gold and silver in the Women's All-Around final. First time ever for the Americans. They dserved it, some of their routines were very impressive. In the meanwhile, why is CBC showing soccer when's there's track and volleyball and other stuff that's much more exciting than soccer? They seriously need some help with their broadcasting.
____________(Sleep)____________
12:05 AM: I'll be posting up an article I wrote earlier on the very young competitors of these Games. So for now, I'll stop the live updates. Enjoy that article and see you tomorrow morning! Watch this good gymnastic final if you can!!
11:55 PM: I give up on the CBC stream. The Americans are looking oh so good in women's all around. It's going to be a ferocious fight down to the finish line.
11:48 PM: CANADA WINS! Foul pop up is caught by the catcher near the dugout. That's the game. 1-0, exciting win. Canada improves to 3-0, and will resume their game against the United States up 1-0 in the 4th inning. Great coincidence with the score, this will help with Canada's momentum!
11:46 PM: Nubbler back to the pitcher...force out at the plate. Safe at first. So last chance for China. But the bases are still loaded.
11:44 PM: Bases loaded. One out. Bottom 7. Canada 1-0 China. 1-2 count! This is great softball!
11:40 PM: There is controversy on the softball field. Caught in a run down, the runner is totally tagged out, but the umpires rule interference. Somebody's just been tossed, but I don't know who. This CBC stream is hiccuping at a horribly wrong time. FIX IT NOW!!!!!
11:33 PM: Lauren Bay-Regula continues to dominate, throwing a one-hitter in the 7th. Oh wait...the Chinese with a lead off double threatens to tie and win.
11:20 PM: Canada's taking on China in softball. In the top of the 7th, Canada's up 1-0.
11:19 PM: China is facing Taiwan...oops...Chinese Taipei in baseball. Very symbolic for the two nations. Tied 0-0.
11:11 PM: What a race. Steffen from Germany claims the gold, Libby Trinckett who led for about 80 meters got outtouched by 4/100th of a second. So close!! Natalie Coughlin settles for bronze.
10:52 PM: ANOTHER WORLD RECORD AND ANOTHER GOLD MEDAL FOR MICHAEL PHELPS!!! That's WR # 26, tying him with Mark Spitz for most records broken. This is still unbelievable what he's doing. 6 golds, 12 career, he just blew away the field once again. I almost feel sorry for Laszlo Cseh who has to deal with Phelps event after event. Cseh is so good by any standard by the Phelps standard.
10:48 PM: Here come the IM guys. Ryan Lochte, who just racked up with an upset gold over Aaron Peirsol 25 minutes ago, will now have to battle the Baltimore Bullet. I just don't think he can do it. Lochte's dead tired and you can see it in this first 50.
10:47 PM: Michael Phelps has not lost the 200 M IM in 7 years. He is the perfect swimmer, with superior genes and incredible mentality. NBC explains why he's so good.
10:34 PM: Elizabether Beisel, a 15 year old who'll be having her sweet sixteen next Monday, qualifies second for the Women's 200 M Backstroke final. And once again, I feel underachieved.
10:32 PM: Kirsty Coventry tells the story of her huge reception when she went back to Zimbabwe after winning gold in Athens. She trains in the United States but her story of bringing people together in that chaotic nation by becoming Olympic champion was truly inspiring.
10:27 PM: CBC goes to a "news break" with swimming and track all going on live. This is an absolutely horrible decision. CBC has alot of improvements to make in their Olympic coverage.
10:26 PM: Pierre Browne of Canada, who is a 1998 graduate of my high school Victoria Park CI, runs a 10.22 in the first round, safely advancing to the next round.
10:21 PM: Upsets continue at the Cube. A world record time 1.53.94 for Ryan Lochte, defeating Aaron Peirsol. Russian youngster Arkady Vyatchanin almost stole the race having lead for about 175 of 200 meters.
10:14 PM: And the fast pool pays off again. Rebecca Soni claiming gold is a massive upset over Leisel (Lethal) Jones. The world record was broken once again. Canadian Annamay Pierse breaks a Canadian record, but finishes 6th, 0.01 back of 5th. But overall, a surprising race for Pierse and the future looks good for her.
10:09 PM: I love the 50 M Freestyle. Always a tight, stimulating and unpredictable race!
10:05 PM: Wow, Eamon Sullivan's girlfriend is Stephanie Rice (who has two golds at these games)?? That's one fast combination!
9:57 PM: Everybody's talking about this very fast surface at the Bird's Nest. Usain Bolt ran a 10.20, Asafa Powell with a 10.16. Beijing likes it fast-first the Water Cube, now the track!!
9:48 PM: The Lightning Bolt from Jamaica-Usain Bolt-nonchalantly cruises to a victory in round 1 of the 100 M Sprint. The time on that one is 10.20 with a slight headwind.
9:30 PM: Things are slow at the Bird's Nest. The heats of the women's heptathlon going on right now.
7:04 PM: Athletics are finally starting!!!!!! Yay!! And lots of other events on tap for today, from badminton to kayaking to judo...you name it! Michael Phelps continues his quest for 8, with the 6th final of Beijing coming in the 200 M IM. Women's All-Around Gymnastics-should be renamed the girls all-around contest-Shawn Johnson is the reigning world champion at age 16 and we all know the deal with the Chinese. Tennis semis also today, with Nadal facing Djokovic and Gonzalez facing Blake. We'll see what that late finish did to Nadal's energy level. All in all, a busy day in Beijing. The pace is picking up...track and field athletes are lined up and lots of sports are reaching their playoff rounds. Keep it here for more updates!
-D
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