[ad_1]
OLYMPICS
USA Basketball gained’t have to attend lengthy for intrigue on the Tokyo Olympics. The U.S. males will open the Olympics in opposition to France on July 25, and the U.S. ladies have been positioned in the identical group as host Japan when the draw for the rescheduled Tokyo Video games was held Tuesday. The draw happened in Mies, Switzerland, at FIBA headquarters.
The U.S. males will even face Iran on July 28 and the group that emerges from the qualifying event in Victoria, Canada, on July 31 as its different Group A rivals. The final time the Individuals performed France was in 2019 within the quarterfinals of the Basketball World Cup in China — when France prevailed to finish the U.S. medal hopes.
“It’s thrilling to study extra concerning the Olympic schedule and who our preliminary spherical opponents can be in Tokyo,” mentioned Gregg Popovich, the U.S. males’s coach. “The three Olympic preliminary teams seem nicely balanced, and there are a great variety of groups who’ve respectable photographs on the gold medal in Tokyo.”
The opposite males’s pairings noticed Australia, Nigeria and the winners of qualifying tournaments in Break up, Croatia, and Belgrade, Serbia, in Group B — with Japan, Argentina, Spain and the winner of a qualifying event in Kaunas, Lithuania, in Group C. Spain beat Argentina within the Basketball World Cup gold medal recreation in 2019.
The U.S. males are searching for a fourth consecutive gold medal. The Tokyo Video games open July 23, sooner or later after the NBA says is the final attainable date for this season’s NBA Finals. USA Basketball’s roster gained’t possible be finalized till June on the earliest and can undoubtedly hinge on how deep some gamers like LeBron James go into the postseason.
The video games have been rescheduled from final yr and the continuing coronavirus pandemic has prompted some to recommend they won’t — or mustn’t — occur this summer time both.
TENNIS
ROGER FEDERER is aiming to play his first event after two knee surgical procedures and multiple yr out in Qatar subsequent month.
Federer informed Swiss radio station SRF on Tuesday he has focused the Doha Open from March 8-13. The 20-time Grand Slam champion mentioned he most popular a smaller event the place he “wouldn’t be within the highlight an excessive amount of and the stress can be rather less.”
Now 39, Federer final performed in January 2020 on the Australian Open, shedding within the semifinals to Novak Djokovic whereas clearly fighting harm.
Federer mentioned he may play yet one more occasion after Doha – the next week at his offseason base in Dubai is an possibility – after which concentrate on the clay-court season.
His fundamental targets are Wimbledon, the Tokyo Olympics and, after he turns 40, the U.S. Open.
SKIING
WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Mikaela Shiffrin’s long-awaited return to hurry snowboarding will come on the world championships beginning subsequent week.
The American standout introduced Tuesday that she plans to enter 4 occasions on the worlds in Cortina d’Ampezzo: mixed, super-G, big slalom and slalom. It’s the most important program that Shiffrin has ever launched into at a significant championship – worlds or Olympics.
Earlier than her father died final yr, Shiffrin had expanded from her favored technical disciplines of slalom and big slalom to additionally race – and excel in – the velocity disciplines of super-G and downhill. A lot in order that she gained the gold medal within the super-G on the final worlds in Are, Sweden, two years in the past.
Since her prolonged break and her return to the World Cup circuit in November, although, Shiffrin has not entered a single velocity race. However she has spent a number of days coaching super-G this week.
“I really feel snug on the skis and it’s tremendous enjoyable, so I’m actually going into the velocity part of world champs with the intention nearly making an attempt to take it as a chance for coaching,” Shiffrin mentioned. “Clearly it’s a race and it’s world championships so I’m going to be making an attempt to ski as quick as I can and I feel that I’ll be capable of have a fairly good outcome.”
HOCKEY
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Latvia was picked to stage the lads’s world championship alone by the Worldwide Ice Hockey Federation on Tuesday after Belarus was eliminated as co-host final month amid political turmoil there. The event in Might can be performed at two close by venues in Riga with all 16 groups staying in the identical lodge.
If Latvia can handle the coronavirus pandemic, the IIHF mentioned it may start providing tickets “inside three days’ discover of presidency approval to host followers within the venues.”
Belarus and Latvia have been chosen as co-hosts in 2017. The IIHF pulled the event from Belarus, citing safety considerations associated to protests in opposition to President Alexander Lukashenko’s disputed re-election final yr and the previous Soviet nation’s administration of the pandemic.
Opposition leaders known as for the event to be moved, saying it will quantity to a propaganda coup for Lukashenko, who typically takes half in exhibition video games. Distinguished IIHF sponsors mentioned they might not again the event except a brand new host was discovered.
SOCCER
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: UEFA set an prolonged April 2 deadline on Tuesday for Champions League golf equipment to finish their spherical of 16 video games, with Germany’s restrict on journey from England a pending drawback. Liverpool’s go to to Leipzig on Feb. 16 for a first-leg recreation could possibly be affected by federal restrictions on arrivals from England the place an aggressive variant of COVID–19 is spreading.
“At present there isn’t a particular association for skilled athletes,” the German inside ministry mentioned on Tuesday.
UEFA requires golf equipment to “cooperate with their nationwide affiliation with the intention to receive from the related authorities exemptions from present journey restrictions, comparable to border closures and quarantine necessities.”
The Champions League final 16 is scheduled to complete on March 17, and quarterfinal first legs are set for April 6-7.
REAL MADRID President Florentino Pérez has examined constructive for the coronavirus, the membership mentioned Tuesday. Madrid mentioned the 73-year-old Pérez is asymptomatic and examined constructive after a routine check. No different particulars have been launched.
Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane examined constructive for the coronavirus final month. Spain stays one of many hardest-hit nations by the coronavirus pandemic.
Associated Tales
[ad_2]
Source link
Invalid username/password.
Please verify your electronic mail to substantiate and full your registration.
Use the shape under to reset your password. Once you’ve submitted your account electronic mail, we’ll ship an electronic mail with a reset code.