An San adds the gold medal in the women’s individual archery competition to her women’s and mixed team golds.
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China’s table tennis player and 2016 gold-medalist Ma Long clinched the gold medal in the men’s singles event as he beat fellow countryman Fan Zhendong. It was a historic win for Long as he beat the current world number 1. Long is currently ranked second in the world so it was not that big of an upset. In football, the quarter-finals for the women’s event was underway. USA, Sweden, Australia, and Canada are the four sides that made it to the semis. The four matches saw three extra times and two penalty shootouts. Archery saw South Korean star An San clinch the gold medal after a nervy final match against Elana Osipova.
Long was the one who got the better of India’s Achanta Sharath Kamal in round 3 of the event. It was not an easy win for Long as he had to go up against the current world number 1 and fellow compatriot Zhendong. The match lasted for a period of one hour and four minutes. Long took the first game 11-4 while Zhendong won the second 12-10. The third and fourth games went to Long who won them 11-8 and 11-9 respectively. Zhendong made a strong comeback in the fifth game with an 11-3 win, but it was Long who took the final game 11-7 and won the game 4-2.
In the women’s individual gold medal match in archery, An San and Elana Osipova delivered an incredible game. Both archers seemed to be in top form, and deserving of being in the final. San was the one who beat world number 1 Deepika Kumari in the quarter-final stage. The first set between San and Osipova was tied as both scored a point each. The South Korean won two points in the second set, but Osipova came back by winning two points each in the third and fourth sets. San then went on to win two points in the final set, and the score was tied at 5-5. The all-important shoot-off point was won by the South Korean who hit 10, while Osipova managed to hit 8.
It was a very exciting day for women’s football at the Games on Friday. Three of the four quarter-final matches could not be decided in regulation time, and two of those three had to go to penalties. The first match of the day was Canada against Brazil. The two teams could not be separated at the end of 90 minutes, and a further 30 minutes of extra time also did not do the trick. Thus, the match went to penalties and Canada won 4-3 to advance to the semis.
There were goals galore in the match between Great Britain and Australia. The British team was the favourite heading into the tie, but they were rocked by an incredible Australian display. Alanna Kennedy opened the scoring for the Aussies in the 35th minute. Great Britain’s Ellen White scored two goals in nine minutes in the second half to give the advantage to her team. With only a minute of regulation time to go, Sam Kerr equalized and the match went to extra time. Mary Fowler gave Australia the lead in the 103rd minute, and Kerr made it 4-2 in the 106th. Great Britain’s White completed her hattrick in the 115th minute to make it 4-3, but it was not enough to see her team through to the semis.
Sweden made short work of hosts Japan as they advanced to the semi-finals with a comfortable 3-1 victory. Magdalena Eriksson gave the Swedes the lead in the seventh minute. Japan equalized in the 23rd minute through Mina Tanaka. However, second-half goals from Kosovare Asllani and Stina Blackstenius saw Sweden progress into the next stage.
Competition favourites USA were also pushed to the penalty shootout by a very good Netherlands team. The match ended 2-2 after 120 minutes. Samantha Mewis and Lynn Williams scored the two goals for the US, while Vivianne Miedema scored two for the Dutch. The US managed to edge out Holland 4-2 in the shootout as they progressed to the semis.
