Sports Round-Up
SPORTS
MOST ACES SERVED IN A WOMEN’S
OLYMPIC VOLLEYBALL MATCH
Ekaterina Kosianenko served eight aces during Russia’s
25–13, 25–10, 25–16 victory against Argentina at Rio 2016
on 6 Aug. Setter Kosianenko, who plays for Dinamo Moscow,
went one better than Zoila Barros and Yanelis Santos (both
CUB), who hit seven aces in matches lasting five sets.YOUNGEST
OLYMPIC TABLE
TENNIS MEDALLIST
On 16 Aug 2016, Mima
Ito (JPN, b. 21 Oct 2000)
sealed victory for Japan in
the Olympic table tennis
bronze medal play-off by
defeating Singapore’s
Feng Tianwei. Ito joined
team-mates Ai Fukuhara
and Kasumi Ishikawa on
the podium aged 15 years
300 days. Ito had won the
women’s singles title at the
2015 International Table
Tennis Federation (ITTF)
World Tour German Open
aged 14 years 152 days,
making her the youngest
winner of an ITTF World
Tour singles title.At the peak of her signature backward somersault, US gymnast
Simone Biles leaps almost twice her own height.YOUNGEST WINNER OF THE WOMEN’S
WORLD OPEN SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIP
Egypt’s Nour El Sherbini (b. 1 Nov 1995, above right) was
aged 20 years 181 days when she won the Women’s World
Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 30 Apr 2016.
El Sherbini – who in 2009 became the youngest ever
World Junior Champion when she won the title at the age
of 13 – came from two sets down to defeat world No.1
Laura Massaro (UK) 6–11, 4–11, 11–3, 11–5, 11–8.Most racquetball World
Championships (men)
Since 1984, the
International Racquetball
Federation (IRF) World
Championships have been
held every two years.
On 23 Jul 2016, Rocky
Carson (USA) won his fifth
consecutive men’s singles
title. He defeated Daniel
de la Rosa 15–11, 5–15,
11–5 in the final.
The most
racquetball World
Championships
(women) is three,
achieved by a
trio of players:
Michelle Gould
(USA) in 1992,
1994 and 1996;
Cheryl Gudinas
(USA) in 2000, 2002
and 2004; and Paola
Longoria (MEX) in
2012, 2014 and 2016.Most consecutive
Olympic beach
volleyball matches
won by an individual
From Athens 2004 to
Rio 2016, Kerri Walsh
Jennings (USA) won
22 successive matches
in the Olympic beach
volleyball contest.
She won three
consecutive golds
with Misty May-Treanor
before suffering her
first Olympic loss
to Brazil’s Ágatha
Bednarczuk and Bárbara
Seixas in the semi-finals at
Rio 20 16. Walsh Jennings
and new partner April Ross
went on to take bronze.Most wins of the
Women’s Softball
World Championship
Since its first appearance
in 1965, the Women’s
Softball World
Championship has
been held 15 times.
On 24 Jul 2016,
the USA won their
10th title, defeating
Japan 7–3 in Surrey,
Canada. It was the sixth
consecutive USA–Japan
final. The combined total
of 10 runs made the game
the highest-scoring
Women’s Softball World
Championship final.Most Olympic
badminton medals
won (male)
Having already won gold
at London 2012, Zhang
Nan (CHN) added a men’s
doubles gold and
a mixed doubles
bronze to his
collection at Rio- Only
three other men have
won three Olympic
badminton medals:
Kim Dong-moon (KOR,
1996–2004), Lee Chong
Wei (MYS, 2008–16) and Fu
Haifeng (CHN, 2008–16).
Ahead of them all is
women’s player Gao Ling
(CHN), who collected
two golds, a silver and a
bronze in 2000–04 – the
most Olympic badminton
medals won by an
individual.
Most wins of
badminton’s World
Team Championships
for Women
Instituted in 1956,
badminton’s Uber Cup
has been won by China
14 times. They triumphed
at every event between
1984 and 2016 save three:
1994, 1996 and 2010. In
2016, China beat South
Korea 3–1 in the final to
record their latest victory.MOST AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL GAMES PLAYED
On 30 Jul 2016, North Melbourne’s Brent Harvey surpassed
the legendary Michael Tuck (both AUS) when he made
his 427th appearance in the AFL. By the season’s close
on 10 Sep, Harvey had increased his total to 432 games.
He made his debut in Round 22 of the 1996 season, aged
18 years 112 days. Over the course of his career, “Boomer”
scored 518 goals and 334 behinds, achieved 1,689 marks
and ran an estimated 7,300 km (4,536 mi) on the pitch.Brent Harvey
announced his
retirement from AFL
football on 7^ Oct
2016,
after North Melbourne
refused to renew his
contract. Harvey
planned to stay on
at the club in a
mentoring role.