It was Day Six of the Olympics yesterday, 08 13 08, and it was a day of upsets in Tennis while Basketball and Badminton saw practically all the seeded players advance. China won 5 more golds today en route to a 22 overall gold medal tally and officially becoming the number 1 country in terms of overall golds and overall medals. It surpassed the USA today with 35 while the Americans have 34. Germany has overtaken Korea for 3rd place by winning an extra gold today while Korea stayed at 6 golds in a tie with Italy for 4th and 5th spots respectively.
On Day 3 of Men’s basketball, Australia finally won a game as they slaughtered a listless Iran team by 38 points in Group A. Other matches also saw Lithuania going 3-0 after defeating Russia by 7 points and Argentina blowing out the once flawless Croatian team by 24 points. Group B action saw Spain improve to a perfect 3-0 record beating Germany by 13 points as Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman of Germany played their second straight bad game scoring 11 points and 8 points, respectively. That isn’t going to cut it as Germany dropped to a 1-2 record in the group entering the crossover matches. The USA avenged their loss to the Greeks in the last Olympics after a huge 2nd quarter spurt and blew them out by 23 points. Lebron was at his finest showcasing unbelievable athleticism on both ends of the court with a complete stat line of 13 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks, along with a myriad of dunks that dazzled the Chinese crowd. And finally, China beat Angola for their first win of the tournament as Yao Ming came back to form to score 30 points to the delight of the hometown crowd.
MEN’S BASKETBALL DAY THREE RESULTS:
Group A
AUSTRALIA 106 (1-2) – IRAN 68 (0-3)
LITHUANIA 86 (3-0) – RUSSIA 79 (1-2)
ARGENTINA 77 (2-1) – CROATIA 53 (2-1)
Group B
SPAIN 72 (3-0) – GERMANY 59 (1-2)
USA 92 (3-0) – GREECE 69 (1-2)
CHINA 85 (1-2) – ANGOLA 68 (0-3)
In Tennis, the quarterfinals began today and the biggest upset yet had James Blake of the USA defeat number 1 seed Roger Federer of Switzerland. Federer has been struggling all year and his exit this early speaks volumes of the rut he is in. Blake beat him to the tune of 6-4, 7-6 (2) on probably his most impressive win of the year. It was such a monumental win that he was quoted saying “One day I’ll be able to tell my kids and grandkids that I beat the best of all time.” On the women’s side, the domination of the Williams sisters has officially ended. 4th seeded Serena Williams of the USA bowed out in 3 sets to Elena Dementieva of Russia 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, as the Russian FINALLY got a win over her rival. And her sister, 8th seeded Venus Williams of the USA bowed out to hometown favorite Li Na of China in 2 straight sets 7-5, 7-5! That was also Li Na’s biggest win of her career and couldn’t have come at a better time and place.
In line with the Tennis event above, the Quarterfinals of Badminton also started today. The bracket below shows both men’s (on the left) and women’s (on the right) sides. Number 1 seed Lin Dan of China continued his dominance as he breezed past Peter Gade of Denmark 21-13, 21-16. It’s a good thing my darkhorse of the tournament Lee Hyun-il of Korea upset 3rd seeded Bao Chunlai of China 23-21, 21-11 
4th seeded Chen Jin of China crushed Yu-Hsing Hsieh of Taipei 21-8, 21-14 and 2nd seeded Malaysian Lee Chong Wei blasted 6th seed Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia 21-9, 21-11 to round up the men’s matches.
Highlights: DAY 7: Thursday 08 14 08 (697MB)
Basketball Day Six: Day 3 Results Summary
Tennis Day Six: Quarterfinals Results Summary
Tennis Event: Complete Schedule and Match Stats
Badminton Event: Olympic Seedings List
Badminton Day Six: Quarterfinals Results Summary
Badminton Event: Complete Schedule and Match Stats
