Egypt and Ivory Coast both reached the quarter-finals of men’s football tournament on day five of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Two more African boxers moved one fight away from at least a bronze medal with wins their last 16 bouts.
South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker set her second Olympic record of the Games after the earlier disappointment for her compatriot Chad le Clos as he finished fifth in the 200m butterfly final.
Nigeria men’s basketball suffered their second loss in Tokyo at the hands of Germany but there is victory for Egypt in the men’s handball as they boost their chances of reaching the last eight.
Football
Egypt and Ivory Coast both reached the quarter-finals of the men’s tournament on Wednesday but South Africa crashed out as they lost their third straight game at Tokyo 2020.
The Egyptians progressed with a 2-0 win over Australia to finish as Group C runners-up ahead of Argentina on goal difference, as both teams finished on four points.
Ahmed Rayan scored for Egypt from close range just before half time after he was set up by some great individual work from Ramadan Sobhi.
They made sure of the win with five minutes remaining as Ammar Hamdy scored following a fumble from the Australian keeper Tom Glover as he failed to gather a shot from Nasser Mansi.
Egypt will face the gold medal holders Brazil, who won Group D ahead of the Ivorians, in their last eight match on Saturday.
Spain, who drew their final pool game 1-1 with Argentina, win the group and will now face Ivory Coast on Saturday in the quarter-finals.
Ivory Coast qualified thanks to a 1-1 draw with Germany to ensure they ended as runners up from Group D as their opponents crashed out of the tournament.
The Ivorians took the lead when Benjamin Henrichs deflected the ball into his own net in the 67th minute as he was put under pressure by Youssouf Dao.
A superb free kick from substitute Eduard Lowen from the edge of the area saw the Germans draw level just six minutes later but it was not enough for his side.
While the Ivorians can call on the experience of the likes AC Milan’s Franck Kessie, Turkey-based Max Gradel and Manchester United’s Eric Bailly the Spanish boast several players who played for the senior team at the recent Euros.
It was an Olympics that South Africa’s football team will want to forget as they lost 3-0 to Mexico to follow their defeats by Japan (1-0) and France (4-3), as they ended bottom of Group A.
Swimming
South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker set her second Olympic record of Tokyo 2020 as she qualified fastest from the heats for Thursday’s semi-finals of the women’s 200m breaststroke.
The 24-year-old set a new Games best in the heats for 100m breaststroke on her way to winning silver.
Earlier in the day her compatriot Chad le Clos could only finish fifth in the men’s 200m butterfly final as he failed in his bid to win a second Olympic gold medal in the event that he won at London 2012.
The gold went to Kristof Milak of Hungary ahead of Japan’s Tomoru Honda with Frederico Burdisso of Italy winning bronze.
Le Clos rose to fame when he won his first at the London 2012 Games by beating the great Michael Phelps.
The 29-year-old has another chance to win a medal in Tokyo when he races in the heats of the 100m butterfly on Thursday.
He has won silver in the event at the last two Olympics. Le Clos is aiming to win a fifth Olympic medal overall in his bid to become South Africa’s most decorated Olympian.
Basketball
Nigeria’s men lost 99-92 to Germany in their second Group B Game to follow their loss on Sunday 84-67 at the hands of Australia.
Jordan Nwora, who plays for NBA champions the Milwaukee Bucks, was the top scorer for Nigeria with 33 points
D’Tigers, who had high hopes going into the Games after wins over the USA and Argentina in their warm-up games, have one final group game on Saturday against Italy.
Handball
Egypt’s men beat hosts Japan 33-29 to record their second win at Tokyo 2020 and moved into third place in Group B.
Next up for Egypt are Sweden, who have won all their matches at the Olympics so far, on Friday before their final encounter with Bahrain on Sunday.
Wednesday’s victory have given the Egyptians a good chance of finishing in the top four of the six-team group and so progress to the Olympic quarter-finals.
Boxing
Ghana’s Samuel Takyi is one win away from winning at least a bronze medal as he reached the quarter-finals of the men’s featherweight with a 5-0 points win over Ecuador’s Jean Caicedo
Next up for Takyi will be Colombia’s Ceibar Avila, who beat Zambia’s Everisto Mulenga in the last 16, on Sunday when a win will guarantee he wins at least a bronze medal.
Mozambique’s Rady Garmane is in a similar position in the women’s middleweight division as she beat Ecuador’s Jurado Pachito 4-1 on points in the last 16.
She takes on Zemfira Magomedalieva from the Russian Olympic Committee team in Saturday’s quarter-finals.
Two other Africans are already one win away from a guaranteed medal after reaching Friday’s quarter-finals in the welterweight divisions earlier this week.
Mauritius’s Merven Clair fights Ireland’s Aidan Walsh men’s event while Acinda Panguana of Mozambique faces China’s Gu Hong in the women’s category.
If Panguana was to win that fight she would become just the second Mozambican athlete to ever win and Olympic medal after 800m great Maria Mutoal won gold in Sydney 2000 after claiming bronze four years earlier in Atlanta.
(NB in Olympic boxing both losing semi-finalists are awarded bronze medals.)
Canoe Slalom
Morocco’s Mathis Soudi will start seventh in the Friday’s semi-final of the kayak event after his two runs at the Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre today.
He will have to finish in the top ten of the twenty competitors if he is to compete in the final run, which is also on Friday.
Hockey
South Africa’s women lost their third straight game at the Games going down 5-0 to Rio silver medallists the Netherlands.
The loss leaves the South Africans bottom of their six-team group behind India on goal difference with two matches left to play.
On Friday South Africa face Germany, who are unbeaten in Tokyo, and finally India a day later.
Rugby Sevens
South Africa and Kenya’s men managed to finish their campaigns with wins.
Rio bronze medallists South Africa beat Australia 22-19 and then USA 28-7 to finish fifth overall in Tokyo.
Kenya were ninth of the 12 sides at the Games thanks to a 22-0 win over Ireland on Wednsday.
Africa’s only representatives in the women’s event are Kenya, who being their campaign on Thursday with games against New Zealand and the Russian Olympic Committee.
Water Polo
South Africa’s women were thrashed 21-1 by Canada to follow their 29-4 loss to Spain on Saturday.
The South Africans will take on Netherlands on Friday before finishing their Group A games against Australia.
Source: BBC
