Tokyo 2020 Day 6. Two archery wins, tie-break for Ivashka

Day 6 of the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo was another wave of emotions for fans.

Belarusian archers continue to do well. The Archery Women's Individual began on 28 July. Hanna Marusava, the most experienced archer on Team Belarus, defeated the famous German archer Lisa Unruh 6-4 in the 1/32 eliminations and eased past Azusa Yamauchi of Japan 6-0 in the 1/16 eliminations.

“I am pleased with my performance. I coped with the nerves. All shots were accurate and executed well technically. I am happy to be in the 1/8 eliminations. Who will be my opponent? This really does not matter. This is the Olympics and there are no weak opponents here,” Hanna Marusava said commenting on her performance on 28 July.

Ilya Ivashka had good chances to win when stepping on the courts of Ariake Tennis Park. The Belarusian played a solid tennis at the start of the match. Narrowly escaping the upset in the opening set, Kei Nishikori of Japan took advantage of Ivashka’s mistakes in the second set to win the game 6-7, 0-6.

“I guess I should have won the first set, I had a lot of chances. I played well tactically, but at the end of the set my serves lacked power. I missed out on my opportunities. I made mistakes, I risked too much and ended up having such a result. In the second set I was physically tired, and my moves became very constrained, while my opponent, having won the first set, felt more confident and started building pressure. It’s hard to play in the heat, but we are all on an equal footing,” Ilya Ivashka said.

Cyclist Alena Amialiusik posted the 16th result in the Women's Individual Time Trial. The Belarusian clocked 33:21.41. Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands won the event finishing the race in 30:13.49.

“The 16th place in the Time Trial was not the result I expected in Tokyo. I planned to get into the top ten. This is cycling, however. I was well-prepared. Maybe the wind was too strong, but that was a hindrance for all the competitors. This is the Olympic Games, and someone had to win. It is a pity that it was not me. Nevertheless, let’s move forward,” Alena Amialiusik said after the race.

Alena Furman and Ina Nikulina finished 6th in the Women’s Lightweight Double Sculls semifinal heats at the Sea Forest Waterway and missed out on the medal event. They will compete in Final B.

Belarusians Dzmitry Furman and Siarhei Valadzko will continue their run in the Men’s Pair Final B. The Belarusians finished fifth in the semifinal, missing out on the medal race.

“We feel disappointed that we did not advance to the final. The weather conditions and the waves were too harsh, and we failed to show our full potential. We are looking forward to competing in Final B. We will try to rank high. We would like to finish our participation in the Olympic Games on a positive note,” Siarhei Valadzko said after the semifinal event.

Tatiana Drozdovskaya ranks 21st in the women's Laser Radial Event with 120 points under her belt. Nikita Tsirkun with 163 points is currently 18th in the overall standings in the men's RS:X event.

Swimmer Anastasia Shkurdai clocked 55.17 seconds in the Women's 100m Freestyle heat. Sixteen best athletes made it into the next stage. Alina Zmushka finished the Women’s 200m Breaststroke heat in 2:27.59.

Both Belarusian swimmers failed to make it to the finals.

Press service of the Belarusian NOC

Photos courtesy of the Belarusian NOC