Olympics updates

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IT'S DAY 3 at the London Olympics — and once again the pool will dominate the attention of Australian fans, with Australians contending for four gold medals tonight.
Phil Lutton will bring you the swimming finals later today (from 4.30am AEST), but there's also Aussies in action in shooting, rowing, hockey, boxing, basketball, equestrian and much more.
2.52pm — Chris Dutton (women's basketball): End of first quarter, and the Opals lead France 14-11. The Opals are holding a tight lead over France in their second-round match. They've had to do it largely with out star skipper Lauren Jackson, who picked up two fouls and sat out the majority of the opening quarter. For the Opals, Jackson, Suzy Batkovic and Kristi Harrower all have four points. Opals 14 France 11.
2.40pm Four minutes into the Opals v France women's basketball preliminary match. We're underway at the Basketball Arena. Very slow start by both teams, but it's the Opals who have a 6-0 lead. Opals starting five: Lauren Jackson, Suzy Batkovic, Jenni Screen, Belinda Snell and Kristi Harrower.
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2.25pm — Caroline Wilson (Equestrian): Australian Sam Griffiths, whose horse Happy Times fell on the cross country course, said he was "gutted" now that his Olympic campaign had ended. Happy Times' back legs dropped after the rose garden stage, but was unhurt and galloped off. "I was pretty devastated," he said. "You need a bit of luck in this game." Australia goes into tomorrow's final stage of the three day event one rider down.
2.12pm — Peter Hanlon (Diving): The countdown to the men's diving doubles off the big board (ie, synchronised 10-metre platform) is on in earnest at the pool, with Team GB's Tom Daley and his partner Pete Waterfield going through their warm-up. Daley, who must feel as if his every move has been marked out of 10 since he was barely out of primary school, has likened this and the individual event on Friday to Steven Bradbury's famous all-fall-down figure skating win, contending that anything could happen and pretty much anyone could win. Don't think too many of his compatriots were listening. Lots of divers are plunging off the various boards now, then climbing back up the stairs and drying themselves off fastidiously with chammys. Used one of them backpacking a long time ago, about twice. These people do it dozens of times every day. Some of us are just made for proper towels, I guess. Not terribly fond of climbing stairs, either. Oh well, there's another prospective sport crossed off the Rio wishlist.
2.08pm — Caroline Wilson (Equestrian): Australia's second rider in the cross country, Sam Griffiths, has fallen and failed to complete the course. Griffiths came into the equestrian team as a reserve just 24 hours before the Opening Ceremony. Both rider and horse Happy Times were unhurt. Chris Burton is still leading the stage with 19 of 74 riders completed.
1.51pm — Daniel Sankey (Main Press Centre): Here's a submission from back home, thanks to CH in Brisbane for pointing this one out. There's reason to celebrate Jamie Dwyer today — given his three goals in Australia's 6-0 victory over South Africa today made him our equal greatest-ever goalscorer. That's some feat. But ...
Can Jamie Dwyer survive the jungles of Belize, where he'll tackle a boa constrictor, get stuck over raging waters and then take to the threes?
Can Jamie Dwyer escape Northern Africa, where to survive he'll need to fashion a shelter out of acacia trees and eat moths and locusts for breakfasts?
Can Jamie Dwyer make his way out of the Arizona Sky Lands by building a sand buggy from a wrecked aircraft to traverse the parched desert landscape?
We're not sure — but given he has bears an uncanny resemblance to this guy, there's every chance Jamie may be capable of more than just spearheading Australia to London hockey gold.
Take a look at this image, then leave a comment below to tell us which one is Jamie Dwyer, which one is our mystery guest ... most importantly, what is the name of our mystery guest?
I'll reveal the answer/s just before the swimming finals begin tonight (7pm UK time, 4.30am AEST).


1.47pm — Chris Barrett (Boxing): That's a shame. Woods began well but found himself right on the back foot for much of that third round and it's the Algerian, Samir Brahmi, whose arm is raised by the referee afterwards. The Australian hit the deck a couple more times in the final three minutes and it was enough to give the Algerian a 14-12 points win.

1.42pm Oh dear, Woods ends up on the canvas midway (pictured above) through the second round against the Algerian although it was more a result of a slip than anything else. Even so Brahmi had the better of that three minutes and scored a 5-3 round win. It's tight as the bell rings for the penultimate time.
1.37pm There's the bell for the end of the first round and Woods has his nose in front. The judges have got him 6-3 ahead, although nothing of any real note landed in that first three minutes.
1.32pm Australian Jackson Woods is first up in the afternoon boxing session at the ExCel. The Tasmanian teenager is about to step into the ring in the men's flyweight (52kg) competition. He's up against Algeria's Samir Brahimi.
1.23pm — Caroline Wilson (Equestrian): Christopher Burton has given Australia a brilliant start in the cross country stage of the team eventing. The England-based Queenslander completed the course in 9 minutes 46 seconds, well ahead of the 10.03 time allowed. Course designer Sue Benson had predicted only two of the 74 riders would beat the time limit. Australia's five riders entered the cross country stage standing second behind Germany in the team placings. Burton's impressive start on HP Leilani has delivered his team-mates the confidence that the tough course can be beaten.

1.22pm — Daniel Sankey (Main Press Centre): That's the match for Lleyton Hewitt! He defeats Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to advance to the second round of the men's tennis singles at the London Olympics. Hewitt made that a bit more difficult than it might have been against the world number 98, but he's made it through and that's what counts. Hope the Stak Man isn't too disappointed to be bowing out early. If he goes out in the athletes' village dressed like this photo from his website, he's sure to prove very popular with the ladies. Start signing up the Stakofans, Sergiy!
Men's tennis singles, round 1:
LLEYTON HEWITT (Australia) defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukraine) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

1.22pm Sergiy Stakhovsky holds. Lleyton Hewitt about to serve for the match.
1.19pm And just as I publish a comment on how this is going down to the wire, Lleyton Hewitt gets the break over Sergiy Stakhovsky! He's now serving at 4-2 in the third set ... the match is on Lleyton's racquet. He scores a comfortable service hold and is one game away from victory.
1.12pm The men's tennis first round match between our very own Lleyton Hewitt and Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky is going down to the wire, folks. The Stak Man is currently serving at 2-3 in the third set, with neither giving an inch in a match that is thrilling a capacity crowd of 48 spectators on Court 18. I remember a time when I used to enjoy watching tennis ... now I just seem to sit hunched over, in pain, and fondly remembering the days when we didn't have a player ranked inside the top 50 and I never got my hopes up of an Aussie getting past even the first round of a Challenger tournament in Moree.
12.50pm And that's it in the second set in the tennis ... Sergiy Stakhovsky capitalises on a Lleyton Hewitt lapse to take it 6-3 and level up the match. That break came out of nowhere for Hewitt, he looked completely in control of that set. (I reckon that's the 842nd time I've either written that or said during a Lleyton Hewitt match, by the way).
We're into the third set.
12.46pm Oh no! It's a Stak Attack! Our new favourite Ukrainian quickly makes himself public enemy number one in Australia by breaking Lleyton Hewitt's serve to take a 5-4 lead. He's about to serve for the second set. Where's Sergiy's favourite player Pat Rafter when you need him? Let's send him courtside to try to distract the Stak.
12.32pm Well into the second set in the tennis now and it's on serve in the second set, with Australia's Lleyton Hewitt up 3-2 after taking the first 6-3. Thankfully, the Aussie supporters seem to be outnumbering the Stakofans out at Court 18 at Wimbledon. Speaking of which, anyone know the last time a Wimbledon champion graced the 48-spectator capacity Court 18? They're crammed in there ... crammed right into the three rows of seats that line either side of the court. I've seen more people watching Lleyton in training than there are there today!
12.18pm Lleyton Hewitt has taken the first set 6-3 against the Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky ... a trademark Hewitt fist-pump and a little "C'mon" to the Aussie fans in the stands as he put one set in the bag. I've been doing a little more poking around on young Sergiy during the break ... have to say, for a bloke probably best described as a solid player, with a career high world ranking of 31, he is definitely punching above his weight in the website stakes. Take a look at the official Sergiy Stakhovsky website ... the modelling shot in the white shirt is a belter. You can also take a look at his Stako Reports — plenty of nuggets of wisdom in there — and even sign up to be a Stakofan. There's apparently Staks of them. C'mon guys, give him some support - he's about to be knocked out in the first round at the Olympics by a man who plays in the Davis Cup team of his favourite player!

12.17pm — Tim Barrow (men's hockey): Decision referrals from both teams do little other than allow the crowd some quality Mexican wave time to fill the void. Eventually, it's all over and Australia have sent a message to their main goal medal rivals with a superb 6-nil smashing of South Africa. Jamie Dwyer (pictured above celebrating one of his three goals) a clear man-of-the-match, scoring three and having a hand in two others. The Kookaburras will return to Riverbank Arena on Wednesday when they play Spain.
Final score: KOOKABURRAS 6 (J Dwyer 3, G Turner, C Ciriello, M Butturini) d SOUTH AFRICA 0.
12.08pm — Daniel Sankey (Main Press Centre): Finally, some good news for Australia in the tennis. Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt up a break in the first set against Ukrainian opponent Segiy Stakhovsky, leading 4-3 and playing some pretty good tennis. For all those back home who have never heard of Sergiy Stakhovsky, let me dazzle you with my knowledge about this Kiev-born right-hander. He's ranked number 98 in the world and is the son of a retired urology professor and retired university economics teacher. One of his favourite players growing up was ... wait for it ... our very own Pat Rafter! (in case you were wondering — yes, I just got all that information from the ATP website. I'd never heard of him either).
12.06pm — Chris Barrett (judo): Update from the ExCel. Australia's Carli Renzi is unfortunately out of the women's 57kg judo after running into a red-hot Italian in the round of 16. The Victorian had a bye in the first round but found Automne Pavia too strong. The Frenchwoman claimed early points and ended up a 15-0 winner. It was a tough ask for Renzi - Pavia is the fourth seed and a serious medal contender.
12.05pm — Tim Barrow (men's hockey): GOAL TO AUSTRALIA. Glenn Turner adds a sixth, walking the ball in. It's officially a demolition here at Riverbank Arena, which is concerning given the grandstands are held up by scaffolding. Seven minutes left, Kookaburras 6 South Africa 0.
11.56am Jamie Dwyer is an absolute magician. He had the ball on a string, beating South African keeper Pieterse all ends up, who resorted to tripping Dwyer, earning the Aussies another penalty stroke. Dwyer gets his third and second from the penalty spot. With 12 minutes remaining: Kookaburras 5 South Africa 0.
11.56am Australia a man short as Mark Knowles takes a seat in the naughty chair for five minutes after being shown a yellow card. But let's face it, South Africa need every advantage they can get at the moment. Even with the numerical disadvantage, Russell Ford almost races away and scored. He did all the hard work and then coudn't connect with the back-handed effort. Kookaburras 4 South Africa 0.
11.50am GOAL TO AUSTRALIA. "It's raining goals, hallelujah. It's raining goals." Australia's fifth and sixth penalty corners produce goals to make it 4-nil. Chris Ciriello's low drag flick went flying past the stick of South African keeper Erasmus Pieterse, then moments later Dwyer makes the most of Govers deflected shot. Dwyer has a double, Australia are 4-nil up with 21 minutes left. Kookaburras 4 South Africa 0.
11.40am — Daniel Sankey (Main Press Centre): Disappointment for Australia in the table tennis this morning, with Australian number one William Henzell eliminated from the singles tournament. Henzell, the world number 130, was a huge underdog against world number 14 Vladimir Samsonov in the third round. However, he served it right up to the Belarussian throughout before eventually going down 12-10, 8-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7. Henzell will now have to focus on the team event, which begins against Singapore on August 4.
No matter the result for Australia in teams competition, we can still walk away with our heads held high. On Saturday, we enjoyed a landmark day in which for the first time, four different Aussie players won matches on the same day at an Olympics. You can read Peter Hanlon's report of that terrific day's play here.

11.35am — Phil Lutton (SWIMMING HEATS WRAP): That's all from the heats this morning. All of the Australians progressed to their various semi-finals. But you cannot shake the talk about the 16-year-old Chinese machine Ye Shiwen (pictured above). She looks set to annihilate the field in the women's 200m IM and I'd suggest we will see another world record in her keeping after the final tomorrow night, if not tonight's semi.
The whispers and rumours about doping are inevitable, particularly after a final leg in the 400m IM two nights ago that would have left Ryan Lochte floundering in her wake. Her fellow teenager and former team-mate, Li Zhesi, tested positive for EOP six weeks ago on the basis of an out-of-competition test in March by the Chinese anti-doping agencies. No suspension has been announced.
When asked about Ye this morning, Stephanie Rice stayed clear of any doping allegations but said her performances at these Games, especially the final 400m IM freestyle leg where she rounded up Elizabeth Beisel like she was stuck on the lane rope, had been "insane".
"I didn't see it because I was way behind but 58 or something I heard she split, which was out of control. So I mean if I was up with her I would have had no chance anyway," Rice said. And on doping: "Oh I have no idea, I wouldn't want to get into that at all. 58 is an insanely fast swim but I know she's a good freestyler. I was next to her at worlds in the 200m IM last year and she came home over the top of me in that freestyle leg and I'm not exactly a bad freestyler. She's a gun."
Given the obvious history, assumptions of doping has become the default position for many when a Chinese swimmer dominates. But at this stage, it's both unfair and unflattering. Post-Beijing, the Chinese swimming recruitment has been conducted with military precision, identifying genetically gifted talents at early ages and crafting them into racing robots. And she did win the 200m IM at the last World Championships, beating Alicia Coutts. She hasn't exactly fallen from the clouds but nobody was prepared for this.
Nick D'arcy, who qualified in 12th for the semi-finals of the men's 200m butterfly, said the heats were quick and the semis were likely to be lightning tonight. "This morning I wanted to make it through to the semis as comfortably as I could because tonight is going to be a tough swim. I think you will see a lot of times that won't even get beaten in the final. Everyone is going to be going super fast."
Phil Lutton will be back with all the action from the swimming finals tonight at 7.30pm (4.30am AEST).
11.31am — Tim Barrow (hockey): Australia lead 2-nil at half-time. Jamie Dwyer is in brilliant form, picking holes in the South African defence on several occasions. He scored from the penalty spot, before the Kookaburras doubled their lead when Dwyer pushed hard along the goalline and handed Matthew Butturini a simple tap in. South Africa have had a couple of half-chances on the break, but Australia could easily be three or four up, most notably Kieran Govers hitting the post. Half-time: Kookaburras 2 South Africa 0.
11.22am — Rupert Guinness (rowing): Just back from the mixed zones where Aussie crews have fnished their warm downs. The official time for Australia's win in the men's coxless four was 5 minutes 47.06 seconds. In second was Germany in 5:49.84 while third was Canada in 5:50.78. Most importantly, the second heat was won easily by Great Britain, Australia's main rival for gold. Their time was 5 minutes 50 seconds unofficially. They rowed within themselves.
The Australian crew was very happy with their row. Had a chat with Brooke Pratley and Kim Crow, they are also happy with their heat win, but believe they can get more boat speed. So watch out!
Thats it for the Australian crews today — three wins: the men's coxless four, women's double scull and quad scull and fourth by the men's coxed eight. A good morning had by all ... now for some writing!
11.21am — Tim Barrow (men's hockey): ANOTHER GOAL TO AUSTRALIA. Jamie Dwyer was the architect with an elusive run along the goal line. He passed it across goal and Matthew Butturini is there for the tap in at the back post. Crushing blow for South Africa before half-time. Kookaburras 2 South Africa 0.
10.24am South Africa call for the video referee five minutes before half-time, with Russell Ford's deflection finding the goal. It's ruled off his leg and not his stick, the referral upheld. South Africa hang on, it's still Australia 1-0.
11.16am Australia camped in the attacking circle here, two penalty corners, then Kieran Govers strikes the pipe and it bounces away. It's one-way traffic on the blue turf, eight minutes before half-time. Kookaburras 1 South Africa 0.
11.06am — Phil Lutton (swimming): Alicia Coutts and Stephanie Rice are through to the semi-finals of the 200m IM but you could almost give this gold away before it starts. Ye Shiwen, the 16-year-old Chinese swimmer who smashed Rice’s world record to win gold in the 400m IM, was superb in the heats and qualifies fastest for the semis with a swim of 2.08.90. The world record for this event is 2.06.15 set by Ariana Kukors at the rubber-suit World Championships in Rome in 2009 (43 world records were set at that meet before supersuits were outlawed) and I think Ye has a massive chance of skittling that as well.
Coutts finished third in her heat with a time of 2.10.74, behind American Caitlin Leverenz and Hungarian Katinka Hosszu. Coutts led into the second 100m and looked to coast a little in the breaststroke leg before powering through her freestyle. Rice was in the final heat and finished third with a time of 2.12.23 – almost four seconds behind the winner Ye. She was never in the hunt.
Rice qualifies 9th fastest, Coutts fifth fastest and Ye is the new superstar of women’s swimming. What a powerhouse.
11.05am — Tim Barrow (men's hockey): GOAL FOR AUSTRALIA. Jamie Dwyer opens the scoring with a penalty stroke, after he was infringed when a goal looked a certainty in general play. Australia break the deadlock after 16 minutes, helping to mend the nation's broken heart from last night's 4x100m relay disaster. Kookaburras 1 South Africa 0.
10.59am Australia's second penalty corner, but South Africa survive again, picking up a free hit in the defensive circle. Tensions boil over, with Tim Deavin copping a green card for a shoulder charge Greg Inglis would be proud of. Earlier, Australian goalkeeper Nathan Burgers is being attended to, he was hurt in a collision with South African attacker Thornton McDade. Both have recovered to play on. Kookaburras 0 South Africa 0.
10.52am — Daniel Sankey (Main Press Centre): Are our shooters the victim of an Olympic curse? On the first day of competition, teenager Alethea Sedgman almost missed her event altogether when she slept through her alarm the morning after the opening ceremony. Since then, every Australian shooting competitor has failed to make a final. The trend continued today, with Will Godward (40th) and Dane Sampson (42nd) bowing out in the qualification stage. They'll have to watch on in today's final, in which Mexico's Niccolo Campriani is a hot favourite after shooting an Olympic record in the qualifying round.
10.51am — Tim Barrow (men's hockey): Australia with a penalty corner after Jamie Dwyer was denied by the goalkeeper's glove when cutting in from the left. Australia look on a mission here early. Penalty corner denied by the rushing defence. After five minutes: Kookaburras 0 South Africa 0.
10.50am — Rupert Guinness (rowing): In the men's coxless four, Australia clocked an Olympic best time of 5 minutes 47.06 seconds to win their heat by several lengths, and clearly with much more boat speed to produce. Australia beat Germany and Canada to shore up their berth for Thursday's semi-final. It was a stunning display by the crew of (from bow to stroke) Will Lockwood, James Chapman, Drew Ginn and Josh Dunkley-Smith.
10.41 — Phil Lutton (swimming): Nick D’Arcy has qualified for the semi-finals of the 200m butterfly — but he will need some rapid improvement to feature in the medals. D’Arcy finished fifth in a stacked heat that included Americans Michael Phelps and Tyler Clary. Austria’s Dinko Jukic won the heat and qualified fastest for the semis in a time of 1.54.79. D’Arcy is through after hitting the way at 1.56.25. He looked strong through the first 100m as he went stroke-for-stroke with Phelps next to him but couldn’t keep the pace when they turned up the heat on the final leg.
Steph Rice and Alicia Coutts up next in the heats of the women’s 200m IM.
10.40am — Rupert Guinness (rowing): Another great result for Aussie rowers — in the womens double scull Kim Crow and Brooke Pratley won their heat to go straight in the final on Friday. They beat Poland by more than a length with the US coming in third. Their winning time was 6mins 48.80secs. The winners of heat one were Great Britain, who clocked an Olympic best time of 6mins 44.33secs — so they are clear favourites. But favourites don't always win, do they?
The men's coxless four is about to start ... hold on to your braces!
10.32pm — Phil Lutton (swimming): There’s lots of interest in the men’s 200m butterfly from a global perspective, not just because of Nick D’Arcy’s inclusion. Michael Phelps, who lines up next to D’Arcy in the final heat, gets another chance to become the first male swimmer to win three golds in the same event at the Olympics. This looks to be his best chance. Aside from Phelps, one other swimmer has already tried and failed at this Games to achieve this very feat. Japanese breaststroker Kosuke Kitajima missed out in his 100m event last night.
10.18am The heats of the women's 200m freestyle are done, with some good news for Australia. Bronte Barratt and Kylie Palmer are both through to the semi-finals, qualifying 10th and 11th with times of 1.58.12 and 1.58.16. Italian world-record holder Federica Pellegrini is the quickest qualifier, with American silver medalist from last night's 400m Allison Schmidt second on the list. Nick D'Arcy up next in the heats of the men's 200m butterfly.
10.15am — Rupert Guinness (rowing): Some official results that have come to hand in between rushing from finish line to press room: the women's quad scull repechage: 1. Australia 6min 18.80secs, 2. USA 6m 19.49secs, 3. Great Britain 6m 21.65, 4. China 6m 21.98secs. The two crews to miss out on the final are 5. Poland 6min 23.19secs and 6. New Zealand 6min 48.71secs.
Men's eight : 1. Great Britain 5.26.85, 2. Canada 5.27.41, 3. Netherlands 5.27.41, 4. Australia 5.28.67. Gotta go ... rowers coming to talk!
10.05am Great start for Australia at the rowing regatta, with the women's quad scull and men's coxed eight both finishing in the top four in their repechages to earn berths in their finals on Wednesday.
Rowing in lane three, the Australian women's quad scull crew (from bow to stroke) of Dana Faletic, Kerry Hore, Pauline Frasca and Amy Clay sealed their place in the medal race with a confident and strong victory over the United States and a fast finishing Great Britain. Had to feel for the New Zealand crew. They were in third place but came tro an abrupt halt in the last 250m when one of their crew caught a crab. That opened the door for Britain, who looked like missing out until the last 250m, to secure their final berth.
In the men's coxed eight, the crew of cox Toby Lister and (from bow to stroke) of Sam Lock, Francis Hegerty, Cameron McKenzie-McHarg, Bryn Coudraye, Tom Swann, Josh Booth, Matt Ryan and Nic Purnell placed fourth behind Great Britain, the Netherlands and Canada. The class crew to miss a final berth were Poland, who beat Australia in the last World Cup regatta where the two crews were first and second. Gotta say, the roar of the crowd in the grandstands over the last 500m is deafening. It will bring a lot of crews home strongly, no matter what country they are from. That surely must have disturbed the sheep ...
9.53am — Phil Lutton (swimming): Good morning (evening) everyone. We're back at the pool — did we ever leave? — for day three of competition. The highlight for Australia today is Emily Seebohm, who set an Olympic record in her 100m backstroke heats and will start favourite in tonight's final. Leisel Jones will try to medal in her fourth Olympics in the final of the 100m breaststroke, while Thomas Fraser-Holmes swims in the final of the men's 200m freestyle.
This morning, we have Stephanie Rice and Alicia Coutts in the heats of the women's 200m IM and Nick D'Arcy making his Olympic debut at long last. He swims in the heats of the men's 200m butterfly.
9.30am — Rupert Guinness (rowing): Another Olympic Day! From bikes to boats today ... it's day three of the rowing regatta out at Dorney Lake, Eton. There is a bit of a stiff breeze, cross-tail-wind. Sunny weather with a bit of early morning chill. The sheep in the nearby farm fields are happily grazing, seemingly unaware of all the fuss that is around them. Australia has four crews racing today — in order they are the women's quad scull repechage (9.40am), the men's coxed eight repechage (9.50am), the women's double scull in their heat (10.20) and and the men's coxless four in their heat (10.40am). Row your boat ... let go!
9.15am — Daniel Sankey reports: It's been a horror time for Australia in the tennis at these Olympics. Sam Stosur lost both her singles and doubles (paired with Casey Dellacqua) on Saturday, and our other women's doubles pairing (Jarmila Gajdosova and Anastastia Rodionova) also bowed out on Day 1. and Yesterday, it was Bernard Tomic's turn to feel the pain in a rain-interrupted 7-6, 7-6 straight sets defeat to Japan's 15th seed, Kei Nishikori. Our last remaining hope is ... you guessed it ... Lleyton Hewitt. He'll need to prepare a packed lunch for the journey all the way out to court 18 at Wimbledon, but once he's there, he'll be taking on the Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky at 11.30am (8.30pm AEST). C'mon!
9.15am Down at Eton Dorney, our men's eight rowing crew are warming up for their 9.50am repechage. Up against crews from Canada, Poland, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Ukraine, the Aussies must finish in the first four to advance to the A-Final. Just spoke to our man Rupert Guinness at the rowing ... he'll be filing live updates, so stay tuned.

9.05am Victoria Na (pictured above) takes the second set to wrap up her Group D match against Slovakia's Monika Fasungova in straight sets, 21-12, 21-18. Good strong win for Na in a match that, according to world rankings, she was expected to win. UPDATE: We also had a win in the women’s doubles, with Leanne Choo and Renuga Veeran beating South Africans Michelle Edwards and Annari Viljoen 21-9 21-7.
8.49am Australia's Victoria Na has made a strong start in her women's singles match at the badminton today. She's taken the first set 21-12 against Slovakia's Monika Fasungova. They're just about to come back onto the court for the second set. Na, a 21-year-old from the Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley, won international events in Naimibia and Ethiopia last year and comes into the Olympics ranked 75 in the world. Her Slovak opponent is ranked 99.
8.14am Speaking with a few Aussie journos on the way into the Main Press Centre today, it was still pretty much an air of stunned silence when it came to dissecting our dismal performance in last night's men's 4x100m freestyle relay. If you thought James Magnussen looked disappointed on Channel 9's coverage, that was nothing compared to how he presented in front of the media later on. Let's hope he can bounce back in the individual 100m freestyle in two days' time.
In the meantime, we'll see Leisel Jones defend her Beijing gold medal in the 100m breaststroke. It's unlikely she'll seriously challenge for the gold, but it would be terrific to see her win a medal in her fourth and final Olympics.
And we could be in for something special in the women's 100m backstroke. Emily Seebohm looked spectacular in the heats and semi yesterday — if she puts it all together, she'll seriously challenge the world record.
In this morning's heats, most of the attention will centre around the controversial Nick D'Arcy and his Olympic debut in the men's 200m butterfly.

It has been a mixed bag so far for the Indian contingent in the much-anticipated 10m Air Rifle competition.

India started the event with two strong challengers -- Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang. However, the 2008 Beijing gold medallist failed to produce the kind of form that helped him win the top spot four years ago and crashed out in the qualifying round. India's hopes now rest on Narang, who looked in fine form as he qualified third for the final.

India Today correspondents have been following every second of the action in London. Here are some of the highlights:

S Kannan: "Abhinav Bindra says he won't quit shooting. He will now watch Gagan Narang shoot the final."

S Kannan: "On the bright side, Gagan Narang has qualified third for the final of the event. He scored 598 out of 600."

2012 MEDALS TABLE
No Country Total
1 China 9 5 3 17
2 USA 5 7 5 17
3 France 3 1 3 7
4 N Korea 3 0 1 4
27 India 0 0 1 1

China 17 medals