Day 5 blessed us with a thrilling slate of action, which saw a grandstand finish in the men’s triathlon and a silver medal to Kiwi Hayden Wilde, making it back-to-back medal-winning days for the New Zealanders.
With a slew of events in the water ahead of us on Day 6, including medal races in swimming, rowing, sailing and canoe slalom for the crew from Aotearoa, will we see more medal glory?
Thursday, 8:30pm
It’s been a case of so close, yet so far away for the Black Sticks in Paris. They have gone winless through their first three games, first falling to India 2-3 in a last-minute heart-breaker. They followed that up with a gutsy 1-2 defeat against Belgium, before Wednesday morning’s 0-2 loss against Argentina. Despite showing plenty of promise in their performances, the run of three defeats has left their chances of making the medal rounds very slim, requiring a big win against another elite opponent on Thursday night to stay in the race.
Australia began their Paris campaign in the perfect way, beating the world #7 Argentina 1-0. They were then made to work against Ireland, eventually prevailing 1-0, before being outclassed by Belgium 2-6. The Kookaburras will be confident against their trans-Tasman foes, having won their last 13 encounters, but the form of the Kiwis has been more than respectable in Paris and they will make this match interesting with so much on the line.
Thursday, 9:00pm
A huge Group C clash is on the way on Thursday night as Japan fight for survival against Germany. The brutal format of this tournament means that two losses can mean the end of your tournament, and after suffering a 76-102 defeat to the USA in their opener, Akatsuki Japan need to win their two remaining group games to guarantee a spot in the knockout rounds. The writing was on the wall early in the first quarter, as the Americans stormed out to a 12-4 lead, and despite the occasional run from Japan, they were never able to truly threaten the eventual winners. Maki Takada was the star for Akatsuki Japan, with an uber-efficient 24 points on 10/11 shooting, while Mai Yamahoto’s three-point shooting helped, chipping in 17 points, but it was a bridge too far for the Japanese.
Germany have one win on the board in Paris, pulling off quite the upset in defeating Belgium 83-69 in their opener. The experienced Belgians were expected to win with relative ease, instead the young Germans came out scorching, scoring 46 first half points, while putting the clamps on their opponents to make the half time score 46-25. They held onto their lead to record a famous victory, but find themselves up against another strong team on Thursday night. Japan have been an elite defensive team (outside of their clash against the USA) all year and Germany have shown promise on that end of the floor too, with recent points allowed only totalling 69, 84 (v USA), 43, 63 and 70 (inc. OT). We’ll see a low total between these two defensive-minded teams.
Thursday, 11:00pm
Brazil took care of business in their first match in Paris, cruising past Kenya with a 3-0 win. Entering the game as massive favourites, it didn’t take long for the Brazlilians to show why, quickly closing out the firsts set 25-14, and the domination continued for the remainder of the clash, with scores of 25-13 and 25-12 in the second and third sets. It’s now 14 wins from their last 16 games and they will take some serious confidence into this second group play fixture.
However, their Japanese opposition were one of the teams to defeat them in this run of hot form, picking up a thrilling 3-2 victory just five weeks ago. Meeting in the Volleyball Nations League semifinals, the Japanese sprung a considerable upset, winning the deciding set 15-12 after a tense earlier four sets. However, Japan couldn’t carry that form over to their Paris opener, going down 1-3 against an elite Polish team. A similar result looks likely on Thursday night, with Japan lacking the star power to excel on a stage as big as this tournament. Taking on the 2020 silver winners, this Japanese team will be slightly out of their depth.
Friday, 12:00am
Spain are on the ropes in Group B of the women’s handball, having gone winless through their opening three games. With just two games remaining on their schedule, including this massive showdown with Hungary, the Spaniards are on the brink of elimination which would be a big disappointment. Coming into the tournament as equal-seventh favourites, they were never a genuine gold medal threat, but they have been favoured in two of their three matchups so far, first against Brazil (18-29 L) and then against Angola (21-26 L). Dropping those games, alongside a match against a strong Netherlands team, it’s fair to say that Spain are struggling.
The same cannot be said about Hungary. With a 1-1-1 record through their first three games, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing, but they were impressive in a first-up 28-31 defeat against tournament favourites France. They followed that up with a narrow 25-24 win over Brazil before tying their match against Angola, 31-31. That makes their form a bit of a mixed bag, but they have been tracking much better than the Spaniards, especially in their strong showings against France and Brazil, and will win well on Friday morning.
Friday, 7:00am
Michal Bryl and Bartosz Losiak of Poland have got their tournament off to a fine start, dispatching of Australian pairing Thomas Hodges and Zachery Schubert with relative ease. Winning both sets 21-16, the Polish duo carried through their fine form from pre-Paris, which saw them finish as runners-up in the final BPT Elite16 event before arriving in France.
Representing the host nation are Remi Bassereau and Julien Lyneel, who weren’t able to get their tournament started in winning ways. Given a tough assignment first-up, taking on the German pairing of Nils Elhers and Clemens Wickler, it wasn’t much of a contest, with the French team winning just 32 points across the first two sets, and taking on a team of similar quality on Friday morning, this one will be a similar result. These two pairs have faced off twice before, with Bryl and Losiak winning 2-0 on both occasions, and that is expected to be the result again here.
It has now been more than three years since they went to battle in the French Open final but rather than Tsitsipas continue to close the gap on Djokovic, it has gone the other way. Tsitsipas blew a two sets to love lead in that final and it has left a mental scar on him. He has lost all 7 of their clashes since including the 2023 Australian Open final in straight sets. Djokovic holds an 11-2 edge in the H2H (10-0 in last 10 meetings) and has won 14 of the last 15 sets they have contested. As expected, he has found a way to expose the Tsitsipas weakness (single-handed backhand) and developed point patterns on serve which limit the ability of the Greek to establish good court position. Back Djokovic to cover the games handicap with confidence.
Best of the Rest
Men’s Singles: Zverev Sets 2-0 ($2.05)
Men’s Doubles: Fritz/Paul WIN ($1.40)
Women’s Singles: Swiatek v Zheng Over 18.5 games ($1.75)
Women’s Doubles: Muchova/Noskova WIN ($1.75)
Men’s Golf
7:22pm Thursday: Stroke Play Round 1
Ryan Fox
8:22pm: Stroke Play Round 1
Daniel Hillier
Women’s Rowing
7:30pm Thursday: Single Scull Semifinal
Emma Twigg
9:18pm Thursday: Double Scull Final
Brooke Francis & Lucy Spoors
9:50pm Thursday: Coxless Four Final
Davina Waddy, Jackie Gowler, Kerri Williams & Phoebe Spoors
Men’s Rowing
7:5opm Thursday: Single Scull Semifinal
Tom Mackintosh
9:30pm Thursday: Double Scull Final
Robbie Manson & Jordan Parry
10:10pm Thursday: Coxless Four Final
Logan Ullrich, Ollie Maclean, Matt Macdonald & Tom Murray
Women’s Judo
8:00pm Thursday: Round of 32 v GUI
Moira Koster
2:00am Friday: Finals Block
Moira Koster*
Men’s Hockey
8:30pm Thursday: Match 4 v Australia
New Zealand
Men’s Swimming
9:00pm Thursday: 200m Individual Medley Heat
Lewis Clareburt
7:34am Friday: 200m Individual Medley Semifinal
Lewis Clareburt*
9:00pm Thursday: 50m Freestyle Heat
Taiko Torepe-Ormsby
6:44am Friday: 50m Freestyle Semifinal
Taiko Torepe-Ormsby*
Women’s Swimming
9:00pm Thursday: 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Heat
Caitlin Deans, Erika Fairweather, Eve Thomas & Laticia Transom
7:48am: 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Final
Caitlin Deans, Erika Fairweather, Eve Thomas & Laticia Transom*
Men’s Sailing
10:00pm Thursday: One-person Dinghy Races 1-2
Thomas Saunders
12:43am Friday: 49er Medal Race
William McKenzie & Isaac McHardie
1:53am Friday: Foil Races 11-15
Josh Armit
Women’s Sailing
1:03am Friday: Foil Races 12-16
Veerle ten Have
1:35am Friday: One-person Dinghy Races 1-2
Greta Pilkington
1:43am Friday: 49er FX Medal Race
Jo Aleh & Molly Meech
Men’s Canoe Slalom
1:30am Friday: K-1 Semifinal
Finn Butcher
3:30am Friday: K-1 Final
Finn Butcher*
Men’s Cycling
6:00am Friday: BMX Quarterfinal (Races 1-3)
Rico Bearman
8:05am Friday: Last Chance Qualifiers
Rico Bearman*
Women’s Cycling
6:20am Friday: BMX Quarterfinal (Races 1-3)
Leila Walker
8:15am Friday: Last Chance Qualifiers
Leila Walker*