Sports
Canada reacts as cheating row rocks curling superpower
A scandal at the Winter Olympics has left the Canadian curling teams on the defensive and Canadians reeling over the crack in their country’s polite persona.
Over the weekend, Canadian curler Marc Kennedy had an expletive-filled outburst after Sweden accused him of cheating during a match, and later said his team might be the target of a “premeditated” attack by their rivals.
Kennedy was accused of “double-touching” – touching the stone a second time after initially releasing it down the ice. The next day, Canadian women’s captain Rachel Holman was accused of using the same move.
Both have denied the accusations, but Canada’s curling teams, who historically have dominated the sport, now face questions over their tactics.
While the curlers have shown their anger over the situation during matches, fans of the sport and Canadians have questioned whether the team acted in the spirit of curling.
“It’s a sad day for Canadian sport,” Tim Gray, from Alberta, told the BBC. “Integrity in the sport is important, even if you have to call it on yourself.”
An opinion piece in the Canadian news outlet, the Globe and Mail, pointed to some of the frustration: “These Canadian curling teams are not fun bad guys. They come off like the sort of competitors who need so desperately to win that they will do anything – even things that are pointless – in order to get there.”
Cathal Kelly, the writer of the opinion piece, continued: “There’s an easy way out of this – stop struggling. Stop acting like our curling reputation matters more than our national one. Be the bigger man and woman, even if you don’t think you did anything wrong.”
The controversy began on Friday when Swedish player Oskar Eriksson accused Kennedy of double-touching.
As the game continued, Kennedy and Eriksson got into a verbal back-and-forth that included expletives.
Their exchange quickly went viral as a video appearing to show Kennedy touching the stone on occasion.
Kennedy got a verbal warning from World Curling for using foul language, but he was not formally charged with cheating by the governing body.
The next day Kennedy said: “I probably could have handled it better. But we’re human out there and there’s a lot of emotions. I’m not going to apologise for defending my teammates and standing up for myself.”
“I’ve curled my whole life, never once with the intention of getting an advantage through cheating,” he added.
Then, Canadian curling had another instance of purported cheating.
Match officials accused the Canadian women’s team on Saturday of the same double-touch violation.
Rachel Homan who said there was a “zero percent chance” of the violation, as she and her teammates looked on frustratingly. The Canadians lost to the Swiss, 8-7.
On Sunday, Great Britain’s men’s team was accused of the same violation.
Both Homan and British men’s curler Bobby Lammie had stones removed from play due to alleged violations.
Homan later slammed the officials’ decision to remove her stone during a defeat to Switzerland, saying it was “insane”.
All of the incidents led World Curling to clarify that double-tapping is not allowed.
“During forward motion, touching the granite of the stone is not allowed. This will result in the stone being removed from play,” they said.
World Curling does not use video to review play, but they did send two officials to monitor how players released their stones in subsequent games.
“Following a meeting with representatives of the competing National Olympic Committees, an update in the stone monitoring protocol has been confirmed, beginning with the evening session on Sunday 15 February,” World Curling said in a statement.
“This change in protocol will see the two umpires who had previously been actively monitoring athlete deliveries remain available in the field of play, but will now only monitor athlete deliveries at the request of the competing teams.”
Reaction to the controversy in Canada has been mixed.
“Do I think the finger affects the rock, no I do not,” Ankara Leonard from the Royal Montreal Curling Club told the BBC. “Do I think we have to play within the rules? Yes.”
While curling columnist and Olympian Tomi Rantamaki, in an article for The Curling News, warned that Canada’s dominance in the world of curling means its players should be mindful of the influence they have.
“Young players in Finland, Korea, Italy, Sweden – everywhere – often copy what Canadian teams do. They copy the athlete’s delivery, the sweeping, the tactics, the communication,” Rantamaki wrote. “And they copy the behaviour.”
[BBC]
The quarter-finals of the Asian Games women’s competition, putting top-notch teams against teams without much experience of playing at the highest level, were expected to be mismatches. It took till the third game – Bangladesh vs China was washed out and Thailand gave Pakistan a fright for a proper one-side affair, though, as Sri Lanka bashed 160 after opting to bat, and their bowlers then stopped Malaysia 86 runs short.
Fresh off their appearance in the final of the Women’s T20 Asia Cup, Sri Lanka were always expected to dominate, but it didn’t quite start the way they wanted, with Imesha Dulani run out for another low score in the third over – she hasn’t topped 25 in eight innings since her century against Pakistan on July 31.
Chamari Athapaththu, however, stitched together an 80-run stand off just 53 balls with Hasini Perera for the second wicket, scoring 56 runs in 27 balls to Perera’s 23 in 26 in the collaboration. After the two batters fell, Kavisha Dilhari played a similar role to Athapaththu in the stand with Harshitha Samarawickrama, scoring 36 in 19 in a stand worth 62 in 37 balls.
Athapaththu top-scored with 63 in 37 balls, while Dilhari’s unbeaten 44 came off just 27 balls. For Malaysia, offspinner Nurin Imanina impressed with 3 for 29 from her four overs, picking up all the wickets to fall to bowlers.
In reply, Malaysia were three down inside the powerplay, with Dilhari picking up two of the wickets to fall on her way to returns of 2 for 4 from three overs. Athapaththu chipped in with two wickets of her own to finish with 2 for 3 from two overs, while Mithali Ayodhya got 2 for 15 from three.
It’s not like there was no resistance from Malaysia: Winifred Duraisingam scored 28, though it took her 47 balls to do it, while Mahirah Izzati Ismail scored 24, another slow effort, taking her 42 balls.
Scores:
Sri Lanka Women 160 for 4 in 20 overs (Athapaththu 63, HasinMithali Ayodhya 2-15i Perera 23, Kavisha Dilhari 44*, Harshitha Samarawickrema 25; Nurin Imanina 3-29) beat Malaysia Women 74 for 7 in 20 overs (Winifred Duraisingam 28, Mahirah Izzati Ismail 24; Mithali Ayodhya 2-15, Kavisha Dilhari 2-04, Chamari Athapaththu 2-03, ) by 86 runs
[Cricinfo]
Champion javelin thrower Rumesh Tharanga has set his sights on Arshad Nadeem’s Olympic record at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Speaking at a public event with just days ahead of his departure to the Asian Games where he is set to meet the reigning Olympic champion Nadeem, Tharanga explained his future plans.
While revealing his plans to continue competing until the 2036 Olympics in India, Tharanga said that he would aim at Nadeem’s Olympic record at the next edition in Los Angeles in 2028.
Nadeem’s Olympic record stands at 92.97 metres. Tharanga is set to meet the Olympic champion once again this season at the Asian Games in Japan where he is Sri Lanka’s brightest medal prospect in individual events.
Speaking at a public event, Tharanga said he plans to compete at three Olympic Games — Los Angeles in 2028, Brisbane in 2032 and the 2036 Games in India — before retiring from international athletics.
”I will participate in the 2028 Olympic Games and the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane. I intend to retire after the 2036 Olympic Games in India,” Tharanga said.
His main target, however, is the Olympic record.
Tharanga said he intends to surpass the 92.97-metre mark set by Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem when he won the Olympic title at the Paris 2024 Games.
”My next focus is on securing an Olympic record at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles,” he said.
”I believe I can achieve an average above 90 metres in Los Angeles. My main focus is on setting an Olympic record,” he added.
Tharanga’s declaration comes after a remarkable rise in the international arena, with the Sri Lankan establishing himself among the world’s leading throwers.
With Los Angeles now firmly in his sights, Tharanga is targeting a performance that would take the Olympic javelin record beyond the 92-metre barrier — before embarking on his final two Olympic campaigns in Brisbane and India. (RF)
Defending gold-medal winners India overcame hosts Japan by eight wickets in the fourth quarter-final of the women’s cricket competition at the Asian Games in Nisshin on Friday. India chased down 58 in five overs to comfortably secure their place in the semi-finals. They will now face Bangladesh on September 20.
Japan did not exit the competition empty-handed. Their effort to bat as close to the full 20 overs as possible, their running between the wickets and their fielding effort were big positives. But they were bowled out for 57 in 19.5 overs after a solid start, leaving India with little to chase.
India, who opted to field, made the most of a pitch offering turn and bounce, which made stroke-making difficult for Japan. Shree Charani led the attack with another four-wicket haul, continuing an impressive run after taking 4 for 20 in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup final. She struck twice off consecutive balls in the seventh over, removing opener Haruna Iwasaki for 10 before having captain Mai Yanagida caught behind for a duck, but couldn’t convert it into a hat-trick.
Iwasaki and Ayaka Kato Stafford had put on 24 for the opening wicket, but Japan struggled to build partnerships once the stand was broken. Kato-Stafford top-scored with 25 off 47 balls, while Iwasaki made 10 off 22. Japan lost their last eight wickets for just 33 runs.
Charani finished with 4 for 10 from her four overs, while Shafali Verma took 2 for 13 and Deepti Sharma claimed 1 for 14.
Shrevanka Patil, returning to international cricket for the first time in three months after recovering from an ankle ligament injury suffered during the T20 World Cup in June, took 1 for 8 from 3.5 overs. Japan’s innings ended when Patil bowled Nonoha Yasumoto for a duck.
Chasing 58, Shafali opened the innings aggressively, smashing four boundaries in the first over to immediately put Japan under pressure. G Kamalini, who opened in place of Smriti Mandhana, and No. 3 Bharti Fulmali then threw their wickets away to fielders at long-on and point respectively. Left-arm seamer Yasumoto, who dismissed Kamalini, also delivered a wicket-maiden with the new ball.
Shafali finished the game with a six over long-on, staying unbeaten on 40 off just 15 balls. She struck six fours and two sixes at a strike rate of 266.66, as India won with 15 overs to spare.
Scores:
India Women 59 for 2 in 5 overs (Shafali Verma 40*, Richa Ghosh 12*; Nonoha Yasumoto 1-08, Ayaka Kato-Stafford 1-14) beat Japan Women 57 in 19.5 overs (Haruna Iwasaki 10, Ayaka Kato-Stafford 25; Shree Charani 4-10, Shreyanka Patil 1-08, Deepti Sharma 1-14, Shafali Verma 2-13) by eight wickets
[Cricinfo]
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