Italy, Latvia advance to semis
Italy and Latvia claimed their second straight victories Tuesday to advance to the semifinals as group winners in their respective qualifying tournaments for men’s basketball at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
In Turin, Italy defeated Croatia 67-60 in Group B. Marco Belinelli led the hosts with 19 points and Bojan Bogdanovic scored 26 for the 1992 silver medalists. Croatia still can reach the semifinals with a win in its final group game against Tunisia.
In Group A, Francisco Cruz scored 12 points in the final quarter to help Mexico beat Iran 75-70. Despite a gamehigh 20 points by Behram Yakchali, Iran’s second straight loss eliminated it from the competition.
Mexico and Greece have secured their semifinal spots before playing each other Wednesday.
In Belgrade, Dairis Bertans scored 18 points in Latvia’s 71-59 win over the Czech Republic to earn the Baltic state top spot in Group B. The Czechs will play Japan for the second semifinal berth.
In Group A, Puerto Rico bounced back from Monday’s opening defeat against host Serbia by beating Angola 91-81. Carlos Arroyo had 18 points. Puerto Rico built a 27-point lead that was reduced to 10 in the final quarter.
Earlier Tuesday in Manila, France rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat the Philippines 93-84 in Group B, and Canada defeated Turkey 77-69 on the opening day of their Group A qualifying tournament.
NBA point guard Cory Joseph led Canada with 21 points.
Russia has Rio list ready: Russia named 68 athletes that it wants to send to the Olympics if its global ban from track and field is lifted.
The list approved by the suspended All-Russia Athletic Federation appears to contradict an earlier promise not to send any athletes who previously have been banned for doping offenses.
Former world indoor champion triple-jumper Yekaterina Koneva makes the list, though she served a ban from 2007 to ’09. Other notable athletes with past doping offenses have been left out.
De Jonge out of Games: Brendon de Jonge of Zimbabwe has withdrawn from the Olympics because he didn’t want to miss two tournaments in his bid to keep his PGA Tour card.
De Jonge is the 12th player to pull out of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Seven of the other 12 players who have pulled out specifically cited Zika, including world No. 1 Jason Day and world No. 4 Rory McIlroy.