Tag: Table Tennis

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Barber outlasts fellow Aussie to win as HUGE line-up of events loom: Comm Games LIVE

Barber outlasts fellow Aussie to win as HUGE line-up of events loom: Comm Games LIVE

Australia took home a stunning nine gold medals on Saturday and there are plenty more chances to add to the tally on Day 10 of the Commonwealth Games.

Foxsports.com.au has you covered with live updates from all the key events, which you can follow below!

DAY 9 WRAP: Aussies claim nine gold in staggering Commonwealth Games blitz

MEDAL TALLY: Aussies’ gold rush after Poms turn up heat in Comm Games race

JAMAICAN STAR KEEPS AUSSIES OFF PODIUM

Australia was a whisker away of earning a podium finish in the women’s 4 x 100m women’s relay, but it sadly wasn’t to be.

Ella Connolly ran a blistering opening leg and the Aussies were in the lead at the halfway mark, but sadly fell away as Jamaica crept ahead on the final stretch thanks to a blistering leg from Elaine Thompson-Herah.

The race was won by Nigeria.

BARBER SURVIVES AUSSIE’S ONSLAUGHT IN THRILLING JAVELIN FINAL

Despite throwing two personal bests, Mackenzie Little could not dethrone Kelsey-Lee Barber as she secured her first Commonwealth Games gold medal.

Barber took the lead with her first throw of 63.52m, but Little quickly surged ahead and set a new personal best of 64.03m.

Little then extended the gap at the top even more with a throw of 64.27m as she smashed her personal best yet again.

But under enormous pressue, Barber pulled out a throw of 64.43m to oust Little and win the gold.

AUSSIE STAR CRUELLY ROBBED OF GOLD

Callum Peters can count himself extremely unlucky as he lost the gold medal fight in the men’s middleweight to Scotland’s Sam Hickey.

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TINGAY OUSTED IN GRUELLING RACE

Australia’s Declan Tingay led for most of the men’s 10km walk but was unfortunately pipped to the gold medal as Canada’s Evan Dunfee won the event.

NO LUCK FOR SCOTT IN BOXING BATTLE

Kaye Scott’s tilt at a gold medal has unfortunately ended at the hands of Wales’ Rosie Eccles.

Eccles outclassed Scott throughout the fight as both women showed they were willing to trade early in the first round.

But it was the Welsh star who got the better of the exchanges and forced the referee into a standing count for Scott with a minute left in the first round.

Scott survived and finished with flurries of punches, but was almost certainly behind on the judges’ scorecards.

The tough times continued into the second round, as Scott faced a standing count with two minutes to go before a third and final standing count arrived with 90 seconds remaining.

Despite the unfortunate ending, it is an improvement on Scott’s previous Commonwealth Games performance in which she won the bronze medal.

BAKER WINS GOLD!

Georgia Baker has won Australia’s first gold medal of the day after taking out the women’s road race in the cycling.

It was a gruelling race that pushed the six-strong Australian contingent to the brink, but Baker finished first over the line in what was her third gold medal in Birmingham.

Baker is joined on the podium by fellow Aussie Sarah Roy, who came third.

Georgia Baker wins the gold medal. Picture: Channel 7
Georgia Baker wins the gold medal. Picture: Channel 7Source: Supplied

AUSSIE WINS SILVER IN FIRST-EVER GAMES

In his first Commonwealth Games, Lin Ma has secured a silver medal for Australia in the men’s table tennis singles Classes 8-10.

Ma sadly lost to Wales’ Joshua Stacey, who won by three sets to two.

JUMPING JENNEKE JUST SHY OF PB IN HURDLES FINAL

Michelle Jenneke was unfortunately outclassed in the women’s 100m hurdles final, as Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan took home the gold medal.

Jenneke was right in the mix at the very start, but the heavy hitters eventually pulled away.

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HEARTBREAK AS AUSSIE STAR HOSPITALISED

Australian cycling star Rohan Dennis has unfortunately been forced to withdraw from the men’s road race, joining Caleb Ewan on the sidelines.

An Aus Cycling statement read: “Rohan Dennis will take no further part in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games following medical advice.

Dennis, who took gold in the Men’s Individual Time Trial on Thursday, woke up on Saturday morning in discomfort and was taken to a local hospital to undergo tests and observations.

As a precaution, Dennis was advised to withdraw from today’s road race, but remains comfortable and under observation.”

Australia’s six-man team for the event is now down to four, with Luke Durbridge, Luke Plapp, Miles Scotson and Sam Fox set to compete.

Australian Michelle Jenneke came fifth in the 100m hurdles final. Picture: Michael KleinSource: News Corp Australia

ATHLETICS

All eyes will no doubt be on Peter Bol, who is competing in the men’s 800m final at around 4.35am.

Jessica Hull is also a strong chance at a medal when she competes in the women’s 1500m final alongside fellow Australians Abbey Caldwell and Linden Hall.

Caldwell and Hall progressed to the final after finishing inside the top four of their race with times of 4:13.59 and 4:14.08 respectively while Hull had a time of 4:16.13.

CRICKET

Australia won a thriller in the opening pool game against India but will they be able to get past their fierce rivals when it matters most?

The two will face off for the gold medal in the T20 final, with that game scheduled for around 2am.

Hot favourites Australia toppled New Zealand by five wickets in their semi-final while India edged England by four runs in a thrilling contest.

Ash Gardner was the hero when these two sides met in the pool stages, striking an unbeaten 52 from 35 balls to help the gold medal favourites chase down a 155-run target.

Australia struggled early in that game, with Indian seamer Renuka Singh recording 4-18 in just four overs as the top-order fell apart before Gardner’s heroics saved the day.

NETBALL

It all comes down to this for our Aussie Diamonds, who will take on Jamaica in the gold medal match at 5.30am.

Australia gave up a six-goal lead in a stunning 57-55 loss to Jamaica in the pool stages, with international superstar Jhaniele Fowler starring in the upset win.

The West Coast Fever sensation scored 47 goals and backed it up with a perfect 54 from just as many attempts as a perfect shooting night saw Jamaica take down the Silver Ferns in the semis.

Australia booked its spot in the final with a 60-51 win over England in a spiteful game in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Gretel Bueta was the standout in that victory, with 43 goals at 98 per cent accuracy.

Gretel Bueta in action. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

HOCKEYROOS

And as if the cricket and netball finals were not enough, the Hockeyroos will also be in action against England in the women’s gold medal match.

That final is scheduled for midnight, with Australia booking its spot in the decider after defeating New Zealand and India.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

There are two chances for Australia to claim gold in beach volleyball, with the first final at 1am as Paul Burnett and Chris McHugh take on Canada.

Later in the early hours of the morning, attention will turn towards the women’s doubles final. Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy took home silver for Australia at Tokyo and will be looking to make it gold at Birmingham when they face defending champions Canada at 6am.

CYCLING

Four men will be representing Australia in the men’s road race at 9:30pm.

BADMINTON & TABLE TENNIS

Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen and Gronya Somerville will be looking to progress through to the gold medal match when they play England in the women’s doubles semi-final.

Meanwhile, Yangzi Liu will be going for bronze in the women’s singles table tennis at 8.05pm before Finn Luu and Nicholas Lum do the same in the men’s doubles event at 10.05pm.

Gronya Somerville of Team Australia celebrates winning a point. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

DIVING

14-year-old starlet Charli Petrov and veteran Melissa Wu took gold in the women’s 10m synchronised dive and there are more opportunities for medals on Sunday.

All eyes will be on Brittany O’Brien, Maddison Keeney and Georgia Sheehan as they compete for a medal in the women’s 3m springboard prelims at 8.44pm.

Follow all the action live below! Can’t see the updates? Click here!

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Aussies claim double podium sweep in sizzling swim bonanza: Oz Comm Games LIVE

Aussies claim double podium sweep in sizzling swim bonanza: Oz Comm Games LIVE

Australia is enjoying a superb start to the Commonwealth Games, highlighted by sweeping all three medals in two swimming events on the first night in the pool.

The Aussies won five out of seven gold medals on offer in the opening night of swimming action, plus three gold medals on the cycling track.

Follow all the action in our LIVE BLOG below!

Ariarne Titmus won gold in the women’s 200m freestyle with a time of 1:53.089, also setting a Commonwealth Games record. 18-year-old Aussie Mollie O’Callaghan (1:54.01) claimed silver in an unbelievable late charge, ahead of Madison Wilson (1:56.17) in bronze. All three won their respective heats.

RUTHLESS: Diamonds fall just short of triple figures in ‘redemption campaign’

DISAPPOINTMENT: Cody Simpson and Kyle Chalmers crash out of 50m butterfly

‘INSANITY’: 15yo swim freak ‘detonates’ field, breaks Games record

That came afterElijah Winnington won gold in the men’s 400m freestyle with a time of 3:43.06 in the final, ahead of fellow Aussies Sam Short (3:45.07) in silver and Mack Horton (3:46.49) for the bronze.

Horton had enjoyed the second-fastest time of the heats – quicker than his fellow Aussies – but could not convert that into gold.

Also in the pool, Zac Stubblety-Cook won gold in the men’s 200m breastroke in 2:08.07s, adding to his gold medals in both the Olympics and World Championships.

Kiah Melverton won her second ever Commonwealth Games medal with a superb silver in the women’s 400m Individual Medley, coming home in 4:36.78s, but was soundly beaten by Canada’s unbelievable teen sensation Summer McIntosh with a Commonwealth Record 4:29.01s. McIntosh is just 15 years old.

In the final race of the night, Australia won gold in the mixed 4x100m relay, with William Yang, Kyle Chalmers, Mollie O’Callaghan and Emma McKeon coming home in 3:21.18s, just ahead of England in 3:22.45s. Australia had used an entirely different team in the heats, showing the incredible depth of the team.

There was disappointment for Kyle Chalmers, Matt Temple, and Cody Simpson – with none of the three making the finals of the men’s 50m butterfly. All three reached the semi-finals but were unable to reach the final.

Simpson’s girlfriend Emma McKeon also enjoyed a sizzling performance in the women’s 100m butterfly heat and clocked in with a time of 57:34, the fastest of anyone in the heats.

In the para-swimming events, Tim Hodge won his first Commonwealth Games gold with a Games record 1:01.88. in the men’s S9 100m backstroke, ahead of Harrison Vig in fourth and Brenden Hall in 5th.

Emily Beecroft won silver in the Women’s 100m Freestyle S9, while Australia’s most decorated female Paralympian Ellie Cole came fifth in her final Games.

10 AUSSIES TO WATCH: Swim star to smash record; new wave to set track alight

MORE: Full 2022 sport-by-sport Comm Games schedule with Australian start times

Barber tests positive ahead of Com Games | 00:47

CYCLING SENSATIONS

Australia’s Jessica Gallagher and pilot Caitlin Ward won gold medals in the Women’s Tandem B Sprint track cycling, Australia’s first gold of the Games, winning both races in the final over Scotland.

Gallagher is an all-time great of Australian sport, becoming the first ever Australian to win a medal at the winter and summer Paralympics, in skiing and cycling respectively.

She has also competed at the Paralympics in athletics and attempting to compete in rowing.

They were followed by Georgia Baker, Sophie Edwards, Chloe Moran and Maeve Plouffe, who won the Women’s 4000m Team Pursuit, having earlier set a Commonwealth Games record of 4:14:605 in the heats.

Then Leigh Hoffman, Matthew Richardson and Matthew Glaetzer won gold in the men’s team sprint final ahead of England in a Commonwealth Games record.

The night comes to a close with another shot at a medal, this time it is Sophie Linn, Charlotte McShane and Natalie von Coevorden in the Women’s Sprint Distance Final.

AUSTRALIA’S FIRST MEDAL!

Matthew Hauser won Australia’s first medal of the Games with bronze in the triathlon sprint distance final.

Hauser nailed the Sutton Park course in 50:50, behind England’s Alex Yee (50:34) and New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde (50:47).

Two more Aussies in Jacob Birtwhistle and Brandon Copeland finished fourth and 22nd.

AUSSIES REBOUND FROM TOUGH T20 START

Despite losing four wickets in the first five overs, Australia somehow turned it around to beat India by three wickets with Ash Gardner producing a superb knock of 51 from 34 deliveries.

Alyssa Healy departed for a duck on the second ball of the innings and was quickly followed by skipper Meg Lanning (8), Beth Mooney (10) and Tahlia McGrath (14).

Whle the flow of wickets began to slow, they were still being lost at a worrying rate.

However, Gardner and Alana King steadied the ship and ensured Australia got their T20 campaign off to a winning start.

Commonwealth Games kick off in style | 00:34

OTHER RESULTS

The Australian Diamonds have thrashed Barbados in their opening match of the Games, dominating the underdogs 95-18 to get their gold medal chase off to the best possible start.

Boxing star Billy Polkinghorn got off to a flyer as the referee stepped in to end his contest after just 30 seconds of action when a looping overhand right caught his opponent clean and turned his legs into jelly.

The Australian men’s Rugby Sevens decimated Jamaica 62-0, with Wallabies star Samu Kerevi bagging a first-half hat-trick.

The men’s stunning show came hot on the heels of the women’s Rugby Sevens, as they defeated South Africa 38-0 with Charlotte Caslick and Maddison Levi both bagging two-try hauls each.

It was also a blistering start for the women’s table tennis team, as six-time Games competitor Jian Fang Lay led a 3-0 win over Malaysia after winning her singles in straight sets and the doubles.

OPENING CEREMONY: Music legends, giant bull steal the show

Follow all the action below! Can’t see the live blog? Click here!

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Manika Batra vs TTFI: Timeline of events after Delhi High Court suspends board

Manika Batra vs TTFI: Timeline of events after Delhi High Court suspends board

In a landslide victory for Indian table tennis star Manika Batra, the Delhi High Court on Friday suspended the Table Tennis Federation of India’s (TTFI) executive committee and ordered the appointment of an administrator to run its affairs.

Referring to it as a “sorry state of affairs”, the court noted that it was “appalled” by some of the observations of the three-member enquiry committee (constituted in November) regarding the manner in which TTFI and coach Soumyadeep Roy have been functioning. “After having perused the report in case an administrator is not appointed to run the federation by suspending the executive body the court will be failing in its duties towards sportspersons and the general public,” the court said.

It further observed that the Committee concluded a clear conflict of interest in Roy running a private academy despite being national coach.

Following the ruling, Manika said in a statement that she was “forced to approach the court” after being left with no other choice because she was “subjected to undue pressure and ill treatment” which put her into “huge mental agony”.

The Manika vs TTFI case has run for six months, with plenty of twists and rulings. Here’s a brief timeline of the events:

August 4: TTFI decides to issue a show-cause notice to Manika for refusing Roy’s assistance for her singles matches at the Tokyo Olympics. After her personal coach Sanmay Paranjape wasn’t allowed Field of Play (FOP) access at the Games venue, Manika turned down the prospect of Roy being present in her corner for singles matches. She played all her singles matches without a coach by her side and lost in the third round. For her mixed doubles matches along with Sharath Kamal, however, Roy was present.

August 26: In her response to TTFI’s show-cause notice, Manika alleges that she felt it was better to have “no coach at all” than to be “demoralized” by the presence of one who had asked her to “fix a match in favor of his student” fellow Indian player Sutirtha Mukherjee at the Olympic qualifiers in March 2021. She mentioned having then “promptly reported the matter to a TTFI official” and also claims to be in possession of evidence to corroborate her charges.

September 11: To examine the charges, TTFI sets up a five-member enquiry panel. Three of the five are Executive Committee members and it’s headed by the federation’s vice-president Chiranjib Chaudhari.

September 17: TTFI leaves out Manika from the Asian Championships squad on grounds of skipping the mandatory national camp in Sonepat.

September 19: Manika moves Delhi High Court questioning the federation’s rule that stipulates national camp attendance as a prerequisite for tournament selection. In her plea she alleges that the federation was carrying out selections in an unfair manner and targeting certain individuals. She also accuses Roy of pressuring her to concede her match against Sutirtha so “his student” could qualify for the Olympics.

September 20: HC seeks the Centre’s stand on Manika’s plea and asks the sports ministry to inquire into the management of the federation. Justice Rekha Palli gives the government counsel two days to respond to the petition. On the same day, TTFI reconstitutes its enquiry panel, this time with just three members in all, comprising law expert Parth Goswami, TTFI CEO Dhanraj Chaudhary and headed by retired Justice Kailash Gambhir.

September 23: The Court stays TTFI’s rule on mandatory national camp attendance for international tournament selection. Gives Centre four weeks to conduct an enquiry into the match-fixing allegations raised by the player and submit its report. The court also expresses its anguish at the hurried chop and change by TTFI of its enquiry panel within ten days of constituting it. “They are overreaching the court. I will issue a notice of contempt. I pass an order and you appoint a new person? This is shocking,” Justice Palli said.

In late October, news of the Integrity Unit of sport’s apex body, ITTF looking into Manika’s match-fixing allegations emerged. The Hindu reported on October 27 that among the evidence submitted by TTFI to the world body was a text dated March 19, by Manika’s coach Sanmay to a former player. According to the text reproduced in the report, the coach mentioned “what she (Manika) did for Sutirtha” and that she chose “to help”. It further mentioned a statement from an ITTF Blue Badge Umpire who officiated the Olympic qualifying tournament in Doha and testified that his conversations with Sanmay on the morning of the match between Manika and Sutirtha indicated a foreknowledge that both players would qualify. Had Sutirtha lost that match, her qualification on ranking alone would have been doubtful. Manika went on to lose the match and the result had confirmed Sutirtha’s Tokyo berth.

November 17: Delhi HC directs constitution of a three-member enquiry committee to look into match-fixing allegations leveled by Manika. The three members are — two former Supreme Court judges, Justice Vikramjit Sen and Justice AK Sikri and former athlete Gurbachan Singh Radhawa. The court indicates that based on the committee’s report it would consider appointing an administrator to run the federation. TTFI counsel informs the court that the federation had decided to recall its show-cause notice to Manika along with calling off any further action against her.

February 11: The Court suspends TTFI’s executive committee and orders appointment of administrator stating that TTFI’s conduct “prima facie” appears to be blameworthy as per the report in which the three-member committee observed that the federation has “only been safeguarding the interest of its officials”. “The fact that the court has appointed an administrator and called into question the clear conflict of interest by the coach in question, it’s without doubt that Manika’s plea has been upheld and merit has been found in her allegations,” Manika’s lawyer Akshay Amritanshu said. The court directed the administrator to send a copy of the Committee’s report to the ITTF “so that appropriate action can be taken”.