Lopes-Schliep wins hurdles bronze

Canadian Priscilla Lopes-Schliep won a bronze medal in the 100-metre hurdles final late Tuesday at the Beijing Olympics, a race won by Dawn Harper of the United States.

Harper was timed in 12.54 seconds, with Sally McLellan of Australia taking silver.

Lopes-Schliep, of Whitby, Ont., ran in 12.64 seconds, the same time as McLellan, but officials ruled that McLellan was ahead by mere thousandths of a second.

Priscilla Lopes-Schliep drove hard to the finish - leaning with all her might - and in that split second, she raced out of the shadows for good.

The unheralded athlete from Whitby, Ont., won bronze in the women's 100-metre hurdles at the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday, capturing Canada's first Olympic track and field medal in 12 years in a thrilling performance that perhaps changed the pecking order in Canada's crowded hurdling scene.

The 25-year-old product of Whitby, Ont., ascended to the podium a year after her right ovary was surgically removed following the detection of a cyst. The operation was performed before the 2007 world championships in Osaka, Japan, where she competed in the women's 100-metre hurdles.

Russian duo repeats gold in synchro swimming, Twin sisters finished fourth

The Russian synchronized swimming duet of Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova has repeated as Olympic champions.

Performing a perfect free routine to the classic Peer Gynt Suite at the Water Cube on Wednesday, Davydova and Ermakova won with a combined 99.251 points. The pair received all 10's - out of 10 - for technical merit.

Gemma Mengual and Andrea Fuentes of Spain took the silver medal with 98.334 points and Saho Harada and Emiko Suzuki of Japan took the bronze with 97.167.

Twin sisters Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen of China settled for fourth with 96.334. The American pair of Christina Jones and Andrea Nott finished fifth.

Marie-Pier Boudreau Gagnon of Riviere-du-Loup, Que., and Isabelle Rampling of Burlington, Ont., finished sixth with 95.333.

superstar girl : Nastia Liukin

Nastia Liukin is going to have a very busy life outside of gymnastics. That doesn’t mean she’s putting gymnastics out of her life.

The Olympic all-around champion is considering competing at next year’s world championships in London.

“I’d love to stay around,” Liukin said Wednesday. “Gymnastics has meant so much to me. I’m going to be busy, but I’d love to keep going.

“I feel there’s one more medal at worlds I can win to give me 10. I missed out an all-around medal last year, so I kind of feel like it’s meant to be.”

Liukin is 18 and would be 22 for the 2012 Olympics, also in London. That can be ancient in women’s gymnastics. She also has dozens of opportunities outside sports—and millions of dollars in earnings—awaiting her back home.

American gymnast Nastia Liukin finished the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday by taking home more medals than any other gymnastics competitor and surpassing the haul of her own father in the process.

Her silver medal on the beam was her fifth prize of the Games, after taking silvers in the asymmetric bars and the team event, a bronze in the floor exercise and the gold medal in the women's all-round.

"To leave here with five Olympic medals, it just, it's amazing and it's more than a dream come true. I would have never dreamed this. It's been the experience of a lifetime and nothing could top this," she told reporters.

Her haul tops that of her father and coach, Valery, who won two golds and the two silvers at the 1988 Seoul Olympics competing for the Soviet Union.

"The only thing he can say to me is 'I have two golds'," she said,

Asked if she was thinking about beating his medal count as she saw the results flash up on the board, Liukin said: "Obviously that's not something he was thinking about but I sure was thinking about it."

Olympics "hockey semis"

Defending Olympic champions Australia suffered a major blow ahead of Thursday's men's hockey semi-finals when seasoned striker Grant Schubert was ruled out with a knee injury. Holders Australia led field hockey's top four nations into the Olympic men's semi-finals for the second time in a row after playing a 3-3 draw against Britain on Tuesday. In Thursday's semi-finals, world number one Australia clash with fourth-ranked Spain, while third-placed Netherlands take on number two Germany.

China will take on champions Germany and Argentina will play the top-ranked Dutch in the Olympic women’s hockey semi-finals on Wednesday.

Pool A leaders the Netherlands beat Spain 2-0 and qualify the semifinals with a full 15 points. Athens bronze medalists Argentina edged New Zealand 3-2, ranked following the defending champions Germany who downed Japan 1-0 to top Pool B.

China next play Germany and the Netherlands take on Argentina in semifinals on Wednesday.

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games » Medal tally »

	Country	G	S	B	Total
1.	China	44	14	19	77
2.	US	26	26	27	79
3.	Great Britain	16	10	10	36
4.	Russia	12	14	18	44
5.	Australia	11	12	12	35
6.	Germany	11	8	9	28
7.	South Korea	8	10	6	24
8.	Japan	8	6	9	23
9.	Italy	6	7	7	20
10.	Ukraine	5	5	8	18
11.	France	4	12	14	30
12.	Netherlands	4	5	4	13
13.	Romania	4	1	3	8
14.	Spain	3	5	2	10
15.	Poland	3	4	1	8
16.	New Zealand	3	1	5	9
17.	Slovakia	3	1	0	4
18.	Canada	2	6	5	13
19.	Kenya	2	4	2	8
20.	Czech Republic	2	3	0	5
20.	Jamaica	2	3	0	5
22.	Denmark	2	1	3	6
22.	North Korea	2	1	3	6
24.	Ethiopia	2	1	0	3
25.	Switzerland	2	0	3	5
26.	Georgia	2	0	2	4
27.	Cuba	1	5	5	11
28.	Belarus	1	3	7	11
29.	Kazakhstan	1	3	4	8
30.	Zimbabwe	1	3	0	4
31.	Azerbaijan	1	2	2	5
31.	Norway	1	2	2	5
31.	Slovenia	1	2	2	5
34.	Turkey	1	2	1	4
35.	Indonesia	1	1	3	5
36.	Bulgaria	1	1	2	4
37.	Finland	1	1	1	3
38.	Estonia	1	1	0	2
38.	Mongolia	1	1	0	2
40.	Brazil	1	0	5	6
41.	Argentina	1	0	1	2
41.	India	1	0	1	2
43.	Bahrain	1	0	0	1
43.	Cameroon	1	0	0	1
43.	Panama	1	0	0	1
43.	Thailand	1	0	0	1
43.	Tunisia	1	0	0	1
48.	Hungary	0	4	1	5
49.	Sweden	0	3	0	3
50.	Uzbekistan	0	1	3	4
51.	Austria	0	1	2	3
51.	Greece	0	1	2	3
51.	Lithuania	0	1	2	3
54.	Algeria	0	1	1	2
54.	Colombia	0	1	1	2
54.	Croatia	0	1	1	2
54.	Kyrgystan	0	1	1	2
59.	Chile	0	1	0	1
59.	Ecuador	0	1	0	1
59.	Malaysia	0	1	0	1
59.	Portugal	0	1	0	1
59.	Singapore	0	1	0	1
59.	South Africa	0	1	0	1
59.	Trinidad & Tobago	0	1	0	1
59.	Vietnam	0	1	0	1
67.	Armenia	0	0	5	5
68.	Chinese Taipei	0	0	2	2
69.	Egypt	0	0	1	1
69.	Iran	0	0	1	1
69.	Israel	0	0	1	1
69.	Latvia	0	0	1	1
69.	Mexico	0	0	1	1
69.	Morocco	0	0	1	1
69.	Tajikistan	0	0	1	1
69.	Togo	0	0	1	1

Wrestler Sushil Kumar wins bronze

Another Olympic medal slipped out of India's wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt missed his lead in the third and final round to lose the wrestling quarterfinal tie of the 60kg free style category against Kenichi Yumoto of Japan.

Sushil's campaign seemed nearly over when he lost his first round battle against eventual silver medallist Andriy Stadnik but repechage provided him a ray of hope and the Indian proved simply irresistible as he beat three grapplers on the trot to win the bronze.

Though the Kazakh grappler scored one in the second period and managed to thwart Sushil, the Indian proved his superiority again in the third period and eventually prevailed 3-2 to trigger frenzied celebration among the Indians present at the Chinese Agricultural University in Beijing.

This is India’s second medal in the Beijing Olympics following Abhinav Bindra’s Gold in 10mt Air Rifle.

Yelena Isinbayeva Wins Gold : Breaks Her Own Record

At the age of 26 Isinbayeva is seen as the best female pole vaulter in history. She has already been a 9-time major champion (Olympic, World outdoor and indoor champion and European outdoor and indoor champion).

Isinbayeva's current world records are 5.05 m outdoors, a record Isinbayeva set at the Summer Olympics Games in Beijing on August 18, 2008, and 4.95 m indoors, a record set at the Donetsk indoor meeting on February 16, 2008. The former was Isinbayeva's twenty-fourth world record.

The 26-year-old Isinbayeva beat the record by a centimetre with a clearance of 5.05 metres, finishing ahead of American Jennifer Stuczynski, who cleared 4.80m.

Medal record
Yelena Isinbayeva
Competitor for Russia
Women's athletics
Olympic Games
Gold	2004 Athens	Pole vault
Gold	2008 Beijing	Pole vault
World Championships
Bronze	2003 Paris	Pole vault
Gold	2005 Helsinki	Pole vault
Gold	2007 Osaka	Pole vault
World Indoor Championships
Silver	2003 Birmingham	Pole vault
Gold	2004 Budapest	Pole vault
Gold	2006 Moscow	Pole vault
Gold	2008 Valencia	Pole vault
European Championships
Silver	2002 Munich	Pole vault
Gold	2006 Gothenburg	Pole vault
European Indoor Championships
Gold	2005 Madrid	Pole vault

Liu captures China's first Beijing swimming gold

Liu Zige led a thrilling Chinese one-two in the women's 200m butterfly on Thursday, giving the host country its first swimming gold of the Beijing Games.

With no golds on the horizon for US superstar Michael Phelps -- who swam only the semi-finals of the men's 200m medley this morning -- the spotlight fell squarely on the Chinese.

Liu smashed the 200m fly world record, out-duelling previous world record-holder Jessicah Schipper of Australia to seize the gold in 2min 04.18sec.

Jiao Liuyang, lying third at the final turn behind Zige and Schipper, claimed the silver in 2:04.72, also under Schipper's previous world mark of 2:05.40, while the Australian settled for bronze in 2:06.26.

"I didn't expect that I could swim so fast," Liu said. "I have never imagined that I could win the gold in the Olympic Games."

Schipper was under world record pace at the halfway stage, but couldn't maintain her challenge.

The Chinese swimmers sped to the final wall buoyed by the roars of the Water Cube crowd.

"The last 50 metres was hard work, it hurt quite a bit and the Chinese girls swam an awesome race," Schipper said. "I am very happy for them both."

Liu and Jiao emerged from the pool to an ecstatic ovation.

Their medals took China's tally at the pool to four, along with Zhang Lin's silver in the men's 400m freestyle and Pang Jiaying's bronze in the women's 200m freestyle.

"I didn't feel pressure before the competition, I tried to relax," Liu said. "In the race, I just swam at my own pace, not caring about the others."

Jiao said having her teammate in the final made things easier.

"The pressure was much less," she said. "We swam together and I felt like we were in training."

France's Alain Bernard won the men's 100m freestyle gold, overtaking Eamon Sullivan on the closing length to triumph over the Australian who had seized his world record in the event.

Bernard didn't add to the flurry of world records in swimming's blue riband event, but he gave France its first swimming gold of these Games and just their third swimming gold ever.

He also helped make up for French disappointment in the 4x100m freestyle relay, in which they narrowly lost out to Michael Phelps's world record-setting US squad.

Bernard won in 47.21sec, with Sullivan second in 47.32. Cesar Cielo of Brazil and US relay hero Jason Lezak shared bronze, in a dead heat of 47.67.

Dutch star Pieter van den Hoogenband, vying to become the first man to win the same Olympic swimming event at three games in a row, was fifth in 47.75.

The world record in the event had fallen three times in Beijing.

Sullivan seized the mark from Bernard with a lead-off leg of 47.24sec in the 4x100m freestyle relay on Monday.

Bernard regained the mark with a time of 47.20 in the first semi-final on Wednesday, and Sullivan snatched it back with his astonishing 47.05 in the second semi.

But for Bernard, gold was all that mattered. "The best moment is when I turned back, and I saw the number one next to my name," he said. "It's huge, unbelievable. At any moment I felt that I could be beaten."

Japanese breast-stroke king Kosuke Kitajima was also more than happy to capture his second gold of the Games, and his fourth overall, in the 200m breast-stroke despite missing out on a world record.

Kitajima, winner of the 100m breast-stroke on Monday in world-record time, repeated the double breast-stroke gold he claimed in Athens four years ago.

Kitajima won in an Olympic record 2:07.64, just outside the world record of 2:07.51 he set in Tokyo in June.

He held off a late challenge from Australian Brenton Rickard, who was second in 2:08.88, with France's Hugues Duboscq taking the bronze in 2:08.94.

"I'm very relieved that I got the gold medal," Kitajima said.

The 25-year-old, still the only swimmer to break 2:08 in the event, wasn't too disappointed to miss out on a new record.

"I was going OK until the last 50 metres, and then I ran low on energy, but it was a good swim and I am pleased with the time," he said.

Australia's world record-setting victory in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay gave Stephanie Rice her third gold medal of the Games, after record-breaking wins in the 200m and 400m individual medleys.

Australia won in 7:44.31, with China taking silver in 7:45.93 as the United States settled for bronze in 7:46.33.

Bajrang Lal Takhar disappoints in rowing

Bajranglal Takhar, who is already out of reckoning for the semi-finals, on Wednesday finished fourth among six rowers in Men's Single Sculls classification race at the Olympics here.

Takhar will now compete for 19-24 places. The Indian clocked 7:23.00 to finish fourth, way behind the 7:15.53 of the top finisher Patrick Loliger of Mexico.

Chile's Oscar Vasquez (7:17.17) finished second, while Egyptian Aly Ibrahim was third with a timing of 7:20.73.

Takhar was the only Indian in fray in the singles' event. The double sculls team of Devender Khandwal and Manjeet Singh have earlier failed to make it to the semi-finals.

Archer Mangal Singh Champia crashes out of Olympics

ndia's archery challenge in the Beijing Olympics came to an end with Mangal Singh Champia failing to replicate his ranking round form and crashing out in pre-quarterfinals in men's individual section here on Wednesday.

Champia, who sizzled in the ranking round to finish overall second, was pipped by Russian Bair Badenov 109-108 at the Olympic Green Archery Field.

Incidentally, Badenov had shot 658 -- way below Champia's 678 -- in the ranking round but when it mattered the most, it was the Russian archer who raised his game and clinched the issue.

Earlier in the day, Champia had little problem in sweeping aside Vaezi Hojjatolah of Ireland 112-98.

The Indian women team, which got a bye in the first round for finishing sixth in the ranking round, had earlier crashed out of the tournament with a defeat against China.

A dejected Champia said he just could not adjust to the format and that perhaps spelt his doom.

"I struggled for rhythm and the format did not allow me get into the groove. In practice, we shoot six arrows one by one but here, I had to shoot one, leave the lane for the opponent to fire one before I could go and have my second go at it," Champia said.

"It's not that I lost to someone who is a world beater but I think it simply was not my day. I had high hopes since finishing second in the ranking round and this is surely not my best performance," he added.

Champia said he would now focus his energies on the upcoming World Cup.

"Anyway, I cannot do anything about it anymore. Instead, I'll prepare for the World Cup and World Championship and then you have 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi," he added.

In individual events, senior member Dola Banerjee and L Bombayla Devi made an early exit losing their first round match while compatriot Pranitha Vardhineni did slightly better, managing to reach the next level.

Sania-Sunitha duo crash out of Olympics

A half-fit Sania Mirza and rookie Sunitha Rao tried every tricks in the book but still could not avert a defeat against top seeded Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina in the second round of the women's doubles tennis event of the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday.

The Indian scratch pair fought tooth and nail but it was the Russian pair, which ended on the right side of the nearly one-and-half hour battle, which they won 6-4, 6-4.

To their credit, Sania and Sunitha tried their best but the Russians were simply head and shoulders above them and in the end, their effort was just to delay the inevitable.

Sania, battling a wrist injury that forced her to retire midway through her first round singles match, and Sunitha, who had right thigh heavily strapped, began in the right earnest, breaking both the Russians to go 3-0 up in the first set.

But before the set could slip through their fingers, the Russians fought back. Shocked by the reversal, they responded by breaking back Sania in the fourth and Sunitha in the ninth games to eventually seal the set in 43 minutes.

The Indians shrugged off the setback and resumed with renewed vigour and they broke Safina in the third game to go 2-1 up but the Russians were at it again. They broke Sunitha in the fourth game to draw parity and even though Kuznetsova could not held her serve, the Russians placed them firmly in command of the proceedings and never relaxed their grip.

Sania expresses desire to play in Pakistan

India's tennis ace Sania Mirza has expressed her desire to play exhibition matches in Pakistan if such an opportunity comes her way in future.

Sania, who pulled out of her women's singles first round match against Czech Iveta Benesova due to a wrist injury, told a group of Pakistani reporters in Beijing that she had no problems playing in Pakistan.

"I think it is a good idea if such an opportunity comes my way to go and play in Pakistan," she said.

Sania commands great fan following in Pakistan where tennis remains a relatively low key sport compared to cricket and hockey.

"You don't have tournaments there otherwise I would have loves to come and play in Pakistan," she said.

However, the 21-year-old Indian, ranked 65 in the world, said her Pakistan tour would totally depend on her schedule.

Overwhelmed to know about her fan following in Pakistan, she said whenever she visited Pakistan as a junior player she received good reception.

"I remember that my first ever tournament outside India was in Pakistan. Its great place and I will definitely go there in future when the opportunity comes," said Sania.

She was also hopeful that with the rise of players like Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, tennis would eventually grow in popularity in the strife-torn nation.

"This will happen specially with Aisamul Haq performing and playing so well. I am sure a lot more people will be coming up to play tennis in Pakistan," said Sania.

India welcomes golden boy Bindra

India's first-ever individual Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra arrived at the Indira Gandhi International airport on Wednesday night to a hero's welcome.

Bindra's father AS Bindra, mother Babli Bindra and his sister and brother-in-law were present at the airport to receive the 25-year-old shooter.

"I am very happy. I feel honoured that I have won the first gold medal in the olympics," Bindra said extending Independence Day greetings to all.

A huge crowd gathered to have a glimpse of the Chandigarh marksman. Drummers, a contingent of mediapersons and security personnel in large numbers were present.

Bindra has won the the gold medal in the 10 metre air rifle men's event in Beijing Olympics.

Anjali, Avneet fail to qualify for 50 metre 3 Position finals
India's Anjali Bhagwat and Avneet Kaur Sidhu crashed out without being able to make the grade for the finals of the women's 50m air rifle three position shooting competition at the Beijing Olympics on Thursday.

Anjali finsihed at 32nd while Avneet at 42nd position after putting up a dismal show.

Anjali Bhagwat got the Olympic quota place in women's 50 m rifle three position event at the ISSF World Cup at Resende in Brazil. Despite finishing fourth in the event, Anjali was awarded the berth since the top three podium finishers had already made it to the Olympics.

Earlier in the 10 m air rifle event Anjali, who is competing in her third Olympics, finished 29th with a score of 393 while Avneet Kaur Sidhu was down 10 more places, shooting a poor 389 in the same event.

Anjali fired rounds of 99, 99, 97 and 98 for a total of 393, way off the last shooter's qualifying mark of 397 in the 10 m air rifle event.

On the other hand Avneet did have a perfect 100 in the second set after firing 98 in the first set, but her last two sets of 96 and 95 were just not in the same class as the top shooters in the field.

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi in quarters

Their impeccable on-court camaraderie betrayed no signs of a stormy past as Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi today inched closer to their first joint Olympic medal by reaching the quarter-finals of the men's doubles event here.

The seventh seeded Indians played compact tennis to defeat Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa of Brazil 6-4, 6-2 in just over an hour.

In the quarter-finals, they will take on the winners of the second round match that pits fourth seeded Swiss pair of Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka against the mercurial Russian duo of Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny.

Paes and Bhupathi were in perfect sync and they combined well to negate the Brazilians. Breaking Sa early in the third game put them ahead and the duo subsequently did not relax their grip over the proceedings as they sealed the first set without much ado.

At a time when games tend to go with the serve, squandering break points is a luxury that a pair can hardly afford and Paes and Bhupathi put themselves right in the driver's seat by breaking Melo in the first game of the second set.

Again in the seventh game, a couple of double faults by Sa handed the Indians a golden opportunity to take the match away from the Brazilians and they did just that, courtesy a scorching Bhupathi winner.

Bhupathi then served out for the set and match to complete the formality that put them right on course for an Olympic medal.

Paes was elated with the performance and said the key now was to sustain it.

"It was a good match. We played sharp tennis. We served well and returned well and we just need to repeat it every day," Paes told reporters.

"We had come out firing in the first match and we gained a lot of confidence. It is tough to beat a team that plays so confidently," he added.

Asked how he and Bhupathi could manage to put behind their stormy relation and dish out such quality stuff, Paes said, "See, both of are professionals and we know what to do. Mahesh has his way, I have mine. You don't need to hang around together all the time. What is more important is how what we do in the court.

"I'm happy that we played like professionals and there was excellent camaraderie. I think it rather helps that we don't live into each other's life. It rather gives us a breather and helps us do well on the court."

Schipper wins bronze in 200m butterfly

Australia's Jess Schipper has won the bronze medal in the 200m butterfly after being blown away by Chinese swimmers Liu Zige and Jiao Liuyang at the Beijing Olympics.

The reigning world champion was unable to hold off the fast finishing pair who shattered the Queenslander's world record in the four-lap event.

Liu (2:04.18) and Jiao (2:04.72) both went well under Schipper's old mark of 2:05.40 with the Brisbane swimmer touching the wall in 2:06.26.

Schipper said she came to Beijing hoping to take home an individual medal and has checked that box - twice.

"I'm pretty lucky, I came here with a goal to achieve - an individual medal - and I've got two of them so I'm very happy," she told the Seven Network.

She said the race went to plan and she would head back to training with plenty to work on.

"That was pretty much the plan, just take it out and try and hold on," she said.

"I've definitely learnt a lot from this meet and I have something to work on I suppose for the future."

Schipper said she came to Beijing hoping to take home an individual medal and has checked that box - twice.

"I'm pretty lucky, I came here with a goal to achieve - an individual medal - and I've got two of them so I'm very happy," she told the Seven Network.

She said the race went to plan and she would head back to training with plenty to work on.

"That was pretty much the plan, just take it out and try and hold on," she said.

"I've definitely learnt a lot from this meet and I have something to work on I suppose for the future."

Australia wins women's 4x200m relay gold

Australia caused one of the biggest boilovers in Olympic swimming history by winning the women's 4x200m relay at the Beijing Games today.

The team of Stephanie Rice, Bronte Barratt, Kylie Palmer and Linda Mackenzie obliterated the world record by almost six seconds in winning in seven minutes 44.31 seconds.

Rice, Barratt and Palmer set up a massive lead for Mackenzie to take into the final leg and the Mackay swimmer held on to win Australia's fifth gold of the Games in the pool.

The result ended the USA's stranglehold in the event, having won the title on the three occasions it has been held since its introduction for the 1996 Atlanta Games.

China (7:45.93) and the USA (7:46.33) collected the silver and bronze medals.

Rice, who claimed her third gold medal, said the record-breaking relay was a great way to wrap up her first Olympic Games.

"It's so exciting. I mean this is mine and Bronte's last Olympic event so what a great note to finish on - world record and a first place," she told the Seven Network after the race.

Barratt said she was feeling the pressure as Mackenzie swum the last leg.

"I think I almost had a heart attack when Macca was swimming that last 50 (metres) and when I was so excited when we won," she said.

Palmer dove into the pool at the Water Cube for the first time for the today's relay.

"First Olympics, first swim, it feels awesome to get in there and be part of team who just won a gold medal," she said.

Anchor swimmer Mackenzie had the high-pressure task of cementing gold in the anchor leg.

"I was pretty nervous but just wanted this so bad for these girls and for myself and I just had to trust what I had to do in my own swim," she said.

Soccer :

Australia's lack of fire power was exposed as their Olympic soccer campaign ended with defeat in a match they had to win against Ivory Coast.

Ivorian striker Salomon Kalou, who plays for Chelsea in the English Premier League, scored off a cross by captain Gervinho to hand his side a 1-0 victory at Tianjin Olympic Centre Stadium and secure a place in the quarter-finals.

Olyroos coach Graham Arnold was again left wondering what might have been had his team finished off any one of numerous chances.

"This has been a problem with the group even when they were under-20s," Arnold said.

"We tried to think outside the square a bit but it just never happened.

"It's been a two-year journey, it's been a wonderful journey for the boys. I'm very proud of them.

"We're extremely disappointed but the development of these players is huge."

While Kalou missed the target more than once, the Ivorians were patient, picked their moment and shattered Australia's dream in the 81st minute.

Kalou, who turned 23 last week, drilled his shot into the top-right corner of the net.

Australia had to beat Ivory Coast to have any chance of reaching the knockout phase.

Instead it was the Africans who advanced from group A with four points behind Argentina, who beat Serbia 2-0 in their last pool match for a maximum nine points.

Ruben Zadkovich scored Australia's only goal of the tournament, in the first match which ended in a 1-1 draw with Serbia.

Arnold made four changes to the starting line-up that lost 1-0 to defending champions Argentina on Sunday.

Strikers Mark Bridge and Nikita Rukavytsya came into an attack missing Archie Thompson, who injured his foot in the previous game.

Zadkovich also missed the match against Ivory Coast because of a groin strain.

Defender Trent McClenahan and midfielder Kristian Sarkies replaced midfield duo Neil Kilkenny and James Troisi.

Mew Choo blows golden chance to win a medal

Wong Mew Choo had only herself to blame for letting slip the chance to get into the medals playoff of the women's singles badminton competition at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium last night.

She held a total of nine game points in the second game of her quarter-final match against Lu Lan but was unable to force the Chinese third seed to a rubber game and lost the match 7-21, 27-29.

Mew Choo, who was the first Malaysian woman to qualify for an Olympic quarter-final, had no answer to the Lu Lan's aggression in the first game and conceded defeat in 14 minutes.

The battle continued but it was not to be Mew Choo's night. She bowed out in straight games and there will be an all-China semi-final between Lu Lan and top seed Xie Xingfang, who beat Xu Huaiwen of Germany 21-19, 22-20.

The other semi-final is between defending champion Zhang Ning of China and Indonesian Maria Kristin Yulianti.

Zhang Ning slogged for 66 minutes to beat Pi Hongyan of France 21-8, 19-21, 21-19 while Maria, who ousted Danish contender Tine Rasmussen in the early round, chalked up a 26-28, 21-14, 21-15 win over India's Saina Nehwal.

MALAYSIAN second seed Lee Chong Wei moved into the quarter-finals of the men's singles badminton competition with an effortless win over Lithuania's Navickas Kestutis at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium yesterday.

But it was the end of the road for veteran Wong Choong Hann. After the high of eliminating defending champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia the previous night, Choong Hann squandered the chance to advance when he was beaten by Taiwanese Hsieh Yu-hsing in a third-round match.

The Taiwanese lost the first game 14-21 but staged a gritty comeback to beat Choong Hann 21-17, 21-18 in 64 minutes for the biggest win of his career.

Earlier, Chong Wei needed just 26 minutes to beat Kestutis 21-5, 21-7 and will face his first big test tomorrow against Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro, who beat Finland's Ville Lang 21-13, 21-18 in his third-round match.

Top seed Lin Dan set up a last eight clash with Danish veteran Peter-Gade Christensen when he powered his way past South Korean Park Sung-hwan 21-8, 21-11. Christensen overcame Shoji Sato of Japan 19-21, 22-20, 21-15.

In the same half as Chong Wei's draw, third seeded Bao Chunlai earned a quarter-final showdown against the unranked but dangerous South Korean challenger Lee Hyun-il after a hard-fought 21-11, 19-21, 21-13 win over Wacha Przemyslaw of Poland.

Kien Badminton Olympic : Keat-Boon Heong fail to get past the quarter-finals

THE Malaysian challenge for an Olympic medal from badminton has been whittled down to just one contender following the exits of Wong Mew Choo and the men's pair of Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium last night.

And Lee Chong Wei will shoulder the responsibility of keeping the Malaysian hopes alive when he takes on Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro today for a place in the men's singles semi-finals.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong were beaten 16-21, 18-21 by Indonesian world champions Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan in the quarter-finals.

The Malaysian duo had showed solid form in their opening match win over Japan's Shuichi Sakamoto-Shintaro Ikeda on Tuesday.

But they lacked the aggression needed to beat the top seeded Markis-Hendra.

The Indonesians were solid in defence and led all the way to take the first game 21-16.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong offered a bit of resistance when they led briefly at 14-11 in the second game but had no answers when the Indonesians turned on the style.

Markis-Hendra regained the lead at 18-17 and never looked back to win the match.

It was the first time in six meetings that Kien Keat-Boon Heong lost to the Indonesian pair.

Kien Keat conceded that the Indonesians were outstanding in defence and it was hard to break their rhythm.

“They have become familiar with how we play since we beat them in the 2006 Doha Asian Games. They know our weak points. We could not get our game going even we tried to come back,” he said.

Boon Heong offered no excuses for the defeat and said: “The Indonesians controlled well but we also did not play our best game tonight.”

Hendra said that they knew the Malaysian pair would be difficult to beat and it was a matter of them going in for the kill first.

“We have to start attacking. We were also under no pressure because we have not beaten them before. That helped us a lot. Now, we have a chance to win the gold and we will go all out to get it,” he said.

Markis-Hendra, who have the chance to follow in the footsteps of fellow Indonesians Rexy Mainaky-Ricky Subagja (Atlanta 1996) and Candra Wijaya-Tony Gunawan (Sydney 2000), will play against Danish veterans Jonas Rasmussen-Lars Paaske for a place in the final.

The Danes, who sent the top Korean pair of Lee Yong-dae-Jung Jae-sung packing in the first round, came from behind to beat Poland's Michal Logosz-Robert Mateusiak 17-21, 21-11, 21-15 in the quarter-finals.

China's golden hope Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun advanced to the semi-finals with an easy 21-9, 21-10 win over Americans Howard Bach-Bob Malaythong.

The second seeded Chinese pair will be up against Jae-jin-Ji-man, who beat Tadashi Ohtsuka-Keita Masuda of Japan 21-12, 18-21, 21-9.

Pellegrini wins Olympic 200 free with world mark

Stephanie Rice of Australia has won the 200-meter individual medley at the Beijing Olympics, lowering her own world record and adding to her victory in the 400 IM.

She won in 2 minutes, 8.45 seconds, erasing her mark of 2:08.92 set at the Australian trials in March.

Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe took the silver in 2:08.59, also below the previous world record. Natalie Coughlin of the United States won the bronze in 2:10.34, her third medal of the games.

American Katie Hoff picked up her second fourth-place of the morning, finishing behind Coughlin in 2:10.68. She also was just out of the medals in the 200 freestyle.

Federica Pellegrini of Italy has won the 200-meter freestyle at the Beijing Olympics, lowering her own world record set a day earlier.

She won in 1 minute, 54.82 seconds, erasing her previous time of 1:55.45.

Sara Isakovic of Slovenia took the silver in 1:54.97. Pang Jiaying of China earned the bronze in 1:55.05, giving the Chinese women their first swimming medal of these games.

American Katie Hoff finished fourth in 1:55.78, the first time in three events she failed to medal.

For Michael Phelps, it’s not enough to just set a new standard. He has to demolish the old one.

Winningest Olympian ever? He’s two golds past that already and not finished yet, just over halfway to his goal of breaking Mark Spitz’s record seven in a single Olympics.

World records? In a sport measured down to the hundredths for a reason, Phelps sets a pace to crush one of them by more than four seconds.

Even when his goggles malfunctioned during the first race of a golden morning in China, the gangly, 23-year-old American squinted through water-filled lenses on the way to, yes, a world record. Of course, he was none too happy to beat it by only six-hundredths.

Zhang Ning VS Maria Kristin women's singles semifinals Beijing Olympic Games

China's defending champion Zhang Ning snuck into the semi-finals of the Olympic badminton competition on Wednesday, defeating France's Pi Hongyan in a gripping three-game tussle.

Zhang, the veteran of the Chinese team at 33, was forced to fight all the way against the tenacious Pi after surrendering a one-game lead, before holding on for a 21-8, 19-21, 21-19 victory.

Zhang meets Indonesia's unseeded surprise package Maria Kristin Yulianti, who downed the Olympic champion at this year's Indonesian Open.

Yulianti, ranked 21 in the world, produced a gritty comeback in her quarter-final clash against Indian teenager Saina Nehwal.

Yulianti clawed her way back from one game down for a 26-28, 21-14, 21-15 victory over Nehwal, who was looking to become the first Indian woman to reach the last four.

"I don't know what happened after the first set, I just lost the match. Overall, it was a good game, but I just don't know what happened," the 18-year-old Nehwal said.

Nehwal pointed to a series of costly errors when she repeatedly allowed the shuttle to fall on the baseline only to see it called in.

Indonesia are gunning for at least one gold in Beijing, counting on their world champion men's and mixed doubles to come up with the goods.

But Yulianti, 23, has proved Indonesia are a chance on the women's side, downing Denmark powerhouse Tine Rasmussen on the road to the finals.

Olympic Tennis Event : Results

Singles - Second Round
(2) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. Alona Bondarenko (UKR) 75 61
(4) Serena Williams (USA) d. Samantha Stosur (AUS) 62 60
(5) Elena Dementieva (RUS) d. Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) 63 64
(6) Dinara Safina (RUS) d. María José Martínez Sánchez (ESP) 76(3) 61
(7) Venus Williams (USA) d. Iveta Benesova (CZE) 61 64
Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. (8) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 63 76(6)
(9) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. Shahar Peer (ISR) 63 76(4)
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. (10) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 61 63
(12) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. Casey Dellacqua (AUS) 62 62
Sybille Bammer (AUT) d. (13) Patty Schnyder (SUI) 64 64
(15) Alizé Cornet (FRA) d. Peng Shuai (CHN) 62 62
(16) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) d. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 62 62
Zheng Jie (CHN) d. Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP) 67(7) 61 64
Li Na (CHN) d. Ayumi Morita (JPN) 62 75
Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. Virginie Razzano (FRA) 64 75
Lucie Safarova (CZE) d. Mariya Koryttseva (UKR) 26 61 75

Singles - First Round
Ayumi Morita (JPN) d. Marina Erakovic (NZL) 57 76(7) 64
Mariya Koryttseva (UKR) d. Tzipora Obziler (ISR) 57 75 64

Doubles - First Round

(1) Kuznetsova/Safina (RUS/RUS) d. Santangelo/Vinci (ITA/ITA) 61 36 75
(2) Williams/Williams (USA/USA) d. Benesova/Vaidisova (CZE/CZE) 46 75 61
(3) Chan/Chuang (TPE/TPE) d. Cornet/Razzano (FRA/FRA) 76(2) 67(3) 75
(5) Davenport/Huber (USA/USA) d. Jans/Rosolska (POL/POL) 62 61
(6) Bondarenko/Bondarenko (UKR/UKR) d. Domachowska/Radwanska (POL/POL) 63 62
(7) Vesnina/Zvonareva (RUS/RUS) d. Llagostera Vives/Martínez Sánchez (ESP/ESP) 26 61 63
(8) Yan/Zheng (CHN/CHN) d. Hantuchova/Husarova (SVK/SVK) 61 76(9)
Govortsova/Kustova (BLR/BLR) d. Peng/Sun (CHN/CHN) 76(1) 76(3)
Azarenka/Poutchek (BLR/BLR) d. Ani/Kanepi (EST/EST) 62 62
Gagliardi/Schnyder (SUI/SUI) d. Daniilidou/Gerasimou (GRE/GRE) 60 64
Pennetta/Schiavone (ITA/ITA) d. Dellacqua/Molik (AUS/AUS) 64 64
Dulko/Jozami (ARG/ARG) d. Obziler/Peer (ISR/ISR) 63 62
Mirza/Rao (IND/IND) d. Golovin/Parmentier (FRA/FRA) w/o

Phenomenal Phelps

Michael Phelps became the greatest Olympian in history on Wednesday, capturing the 10th gold medal of his Games career with a world record-setting triumph in the men's 200m butterfly.

Phelps clocked 1min 52.03sec to shave six-hundredths of a second off the world mark of 1:52.09 he set in winning the world title in Melbourne last year.

It was his fourth gold medal and fourth world record in Beijing's Water Cube, to go with six golds won in Athens four years ago.

The 23-year-old American moved past Olympic icons Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis, Mark Spitz and Larysa Latynina, who all won nine golds in their careers.

He had joined that group on Tuesday, and had a chance later Wednesday to add to his tally in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay final.

Phelps continues to inch closer to another piece of Olympic history.

If he can win all eight of his Beijing events, he will surpass the record of seven gold medals at one Games set by US swimmer Spitz at Munich in 1972.

Hungary's Laszlo Cseh was second in the 200m fly in 1:52.70, and Japan's Takeshi Matsuda took the bronze in 1:52.97.

Phelps's triumph in an event in which he has owned the world record since 2001 wasn't the same kind of dominant display as his victory in the 200m freestyle on Tuesday, but Phelps said there was a reason for that.

"My goggles were filling up with water during the race, and I had trouble seeing the wall," he said.

"I wanted the world record. I wanted a 1:51 or better, but given the circumstances it's not too bad, I guess."

With the relay final scheduled later in the session, Phelps had no time to contemplate his place in history.

"He won't appreciate the history of what is happening here until later, maybe years later," Phelps's coach Bob Bowman said.

But the swimmer's pursuit of immortality was turning heads.

National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James and other members of the vaunted US men's basketball team were in attendance at the Water Cube on Wednesday to watch him, following in the footsteps of US President George W Bush.

Beach volleyball :

Cristine Santanna and Andrezza Martins, native Brazilians playing for Georgia at the Olympics, rallied to a three-set victory over Russia, advancing to the medal round and sending a proud message to their adopted and war-torn homeland.

The Georgian team rallied Wednesday from a sloppy 21-10 loss in the first set to win the next two, 22-20 and 15-12, and beat Alexandra Shiryaeva and Natalia Uryadova.