Sport

Roeiseland romps to third gold, Odermatt bags giant slalom win

Published

3 years ago

February 13, 2022

Another near-perfect shooting performance gave Marte Olsbu Roieseland of Norway her third gold medal of the Beijing Olympics when she cruised to victory in the women's 10 km pursuit race on Sunday.

Swedish prodigy Elvira Oeberg took her second Olympic silver medal in 48 hours with Roieseland's team mate Tiril Eckhoff taking the bronze.

A thick layer of fresh snow covered much of the man-made course as the race got underway, making the going heavy and punishing those who missed shots and had to endure a penalty loop of 150 metres.

A miss by Oeberg allowed Dorothea Wierer to slide into second place early on but the Italian was unable to exploit a miss by the Norwegian leader at the third shoot, missing two of her own five shots to fall more than a minute-and-a-half behind during the fourth lap.

With her biggest rivals struggling, Roieseland flashed off her last five shots in perfect fashion before skiing away from the range, safe in the knowledge that only a broken pole or ski might keep her from gold.

Behind her the battle for silver gathered pace as the rest of the pack followed Wierer on to the range, with the 22-year-old Oeberg making a stunning comeback to retake second place ahead of the final lap.

Norway's Ingrid Tandrevold was hot on her heels as the two exited the final shoot, but Oeberg quickly dropped her to secure the silver medal, her second at the Games after second place in Friday's (February 11) sprint.

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt won the gold medal in the men's giant slalom, holding his nerve to fend off a superb effort from Zan Kranjec of Slovenia.

Odermatt finished with a combined time of 2:09:35, putting him 0.19 seconds ahead of runner-up Kranjec with France's Mathieu Faivre taking bronze.

The first run had taken place in driving snow with poor visibility but the decision to delay the second run by 75 minutes paid off, with better conditions producing a thrilling battle.

Kranjec produced a magnificent second run - the fastest of the field - to put himself top of the podium and then stood and watched as several challengers slipped out of contention.

Odermatt had to keep his cool on the second run and he did just that with his smooth, classic technique delivering a time of 1:06:42, which was 0.59 slower than Kranjec's second effort but just enough to secure him his first Olympic medal.

The team representing the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) made the most of a big lead built up in the first half of the race to storm to victory in a punishing men's 4x10 km relay.

The ROC team finished one minute 7.2 seconds ahead of the Norwegian team, with France picked up a superb bronze medal after a dogged display, 9.2 seconds after Norway.

Just as their victorious women's team did on Saturday (February 12), the Russians made an early break as lead man Alexey Chervotkin accelerated in the middle of his second lap, building up a lead of more than 12 seconds to the chasing pack by the halfway point of his leg.

By the time he handed over to Alexander Bolshunov, who won gold in last week's skiathlon and silver in the 15-km classic, the race was all but over and Bolshunov continued to set a searing pace as the ROC team eased to victory.

Kaillie Humphries of the United States led at the halfway mark of the Olympic's first ever monobob event, with the two-time gold medallist opening up a yawning 1.04 second gap between her and Canada's Christine de Bruin in second.

Monobob is one of seven new events at the Beijing Games and the only one exclusively for women, with drivers pushing a 130-kg (286 lb) sled as fast as they can before jumping in and barrelling down an icetrack at speeds up to 120 kph (75 mph).

As the reigning World Cup champion in both the monobob and two-woman bobsleigh events, she was favourite going into the race.

Germany's Laura Nolte was 1.22 seconds behind the leader in third, still in with a chance of making it seven sliding golds out of seven for her country.

The Swiss women's curling team improved to a 5-0 record in the round robin phase of the tournament following an 8-4 victory over Canada.

Switzerland sit top ahead of Japan, while Great Britain sit tied for third with three wins from five matches following their 7-2 win against Denmark.

In the men's tournament, Sweden maintained their 100% record after five matches after claiming a tight 6-4 win over Norway, while Canada saw off North American rivals the United States 10-5.

Related Topics:Beijing Winter Games featured Winter Olympics

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Sport

Afghanistan to tour Zimbabwe for all-format series

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said the tour will take place from December 9 to January 6

Published

3 days ago

November 3, 2024

Ariana News

AfghanAtalan will tour Zimbabwe next month for an all-format series that will feature two Test matches, three ODIs and three T20Is.

According to the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) the tour will take place from December 9 to January 6.

First up will be a three-match T20I series to be played on December 9, 11 and 12 at the Harare Sports Club.

This will be followed by a three-match ODI series on December 15, 17, and 19 at the same venue.

The tour will conclude with a two-match Test series in Bulawayo, with the first Test scheduled from December 26 to 30 and the second from January 2 to 6.

Mirwais Ashraf, Chairman of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, said in a statement that “this year (2024) has been quite productive for us both domestically and internationally, and we’ve had good achievements.

“We are committed to striving hard and adding more bilateral cricket to our calendar in the next year and bringing more glory to our nation,” he said.

“The all-format tour to Zimbabwe is a significant event for us. We have a rich history with Zimbabwe, and playing there has always been challenging, but it’s a challenge I believe the AfghanAtalan can face confidently,” he added.

Zimbabwe Cricket’s Chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani said December 26 and January 1 “Test matches are iconic cricket fixtures that we are delighted to be adding to our calendar this festive season and we are looking forward to celebrating in style one of the finest traditions in the sport’s long history.

“Before the Test series, scheduled for Bulawayo, we will start off with some T20I and ODI action in Harare to complete a full tour, a clear demonstration of our commitment to improve our game across all formats.

“Matches between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan are always intense and exciting affairs and we have no doubt the players will once again serve up some great entertainment befitting such a historic tour.”

The AfghanAtalan squad will arrive in Zimbabwe on December 6, where they will have two practice sessions before the first T20I match on December 9.

Sport

Bangladesh announce squad for ODI series against Afghanistan, Shanto to continue as captain

Published

4 days ago

November 2, 2024

Ariana News

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Friday announced its squad for the upcoming ODI series against Afghanistan. Najmul Hossain Shanto, who had expressed his desire to quit captaincy following the South Africa Tests, has been named the captain for the series.

The announcement follows the discussion between Shanto and BCB president Faruque Ahmed on Thursday evening, as Shanto had informed the board of his reluctance to continue as Bangladesh's all-format captain.

Bangladesh are without Shakib Al Hasan, who Faruque said voluntarily pulled out of reckoning for this ODI series. Litton Das is also missing due to fever which kept him out of the Chattogram Test against South Africa.

Pacer Nahid Rana is the only uncapped player in the squad, which sees the return of opener Zakir Hasan and left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed.

Zakir has featured in only one ODI, while Nasum's last 50-over game came in the ODI World Cup in India last year.

Anamul Haque, Taijul Islam and Hasan Mahmud have not found places in the squad with Mahmud missing due to a shoulder injury. Wicketkeeper batter Litton Das also misses out due to fever.

The ODI series will kick start on November 6, followed by the second and third games on November 9 and 11. All the matches will take place at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Bangladesh's ODI squad for Afghanistan:

Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan, Zakir Hasan, Nazmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Towhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Nahid Rana

Sport

Rashid Khan retained by Gujrat Titans ahead of IPL 2025 auction

“No T20 team would be complete without a world-class spinner, and we are fortunate to have one of the very best in Rashid Khan,” Gujrat Titans said in a news release.

Published

5 days ago

November 1, 2024

Ariana News

Afghan cricket star Rashid Khan has been retained by the Indian Premier League side Gujrat Titans ahead of the auction.

Khan has been retained for 180 million Indian rupees (approx. $2.14 million).

“No T20 team would be complete without a world-class spinner, and we are fortunate to have one of the very best in Rashid Khan,” Gujrat Titans said in a news release.

“Rashid started weaving his magic right from the outset in our first season, where he returned with 19 wickets. He upped the ante in 2023 with 27 wickets, which includes a spectacular hat-trick against Kolkata Knight Riders. Rashid also became the first player to cross 50 wickets for our franchise during the 2024 season,” according to the news release.

“Also not to forget, he underlines his value as an all-rounder with remarkable contributions as a batter - let it be those last ball finishes against SRH in 2022 or PBKS in 2024, or the unforgettable night in 2023 at Wankhede where he smashed his highest T20 score,” it added.

Rashid Khan was picked by Gujrat Titans before the auction in 2022, when the franchise had just entered the IPL. He got 150 million Indian rupees ($1.78 million) then.

Other players retained by Gujrat Titans are Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan and Rahul Tewatia.

IPL auction will take place in November or December.