Sports On The Blog

(BEIJING, August 8) — France and Angola are the first two teams to enter the field of play at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium and the home crowd will be eager to see China taking on European powerhouse Norway in the evening as the Women’s Handball competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games starts on Saturday, August 9.

Here is an overview of the contenders in Saturday’s prelims:

FRA v ANG

A fourth place at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games is the best Olympic result for France so far. Angola came ninth in Athens. Their best Olympic result to date came at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games when they finished seventh.

It’s the third consecutive appearance for the French Women at Olympics whereas for the Angolan Women it is their fourth Olympic tournament in a row.

A tight match can be expected as France finished fifth at the 2007 World Championships, only two places ahead of Angola in seventh. But France won both of their two previous matches against Angola at Olympic Games (2000: 29-27, 2004: 29-21)

The French Women’s best international result to date came at 2003 World Championships when they claimed their maiden world title. Angola is the African champion. They beat the Ivory Coast 39-27 in the final of the 2008 African Cup of Nations.

HUN v SWE

Hungary is an often-seen participant at Olympic Handball tournaments with the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games being their sixth appearance.

Sweden this year managed to get out of the shadow of their male counterparts and qualified for the first time for the Olympic Games. Their best international result to date is a sixth place at the 1993 World Championships in Norway.

Hungary’s history in Women’s Handball has been a quite successful one. They managed to claim nine medals - 1 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze - at world championships, three medals at Olympic Games - 1 silver, 2 bronze - and one bronze at European championships. Their last international title dates back to 2005 when they won bronze at the world championships in Russia.

One of Sweden’s key players is goalkeeper Madeleine Grundstrom who plays for Danish club F.C. Copenhagen. She has established herself as one of the premier players in the Danish league, which is regarded as one of the strongest in Women’s Handball.

ROU v KAZ

Kazakhstan walked a controversial path to Beijing and their first appearance at Olympic Games. First the International Handball Federation decided to annul both the Men’s and the Women’s results from the qualifying tournament after an alleged match-fixing scandal. In March 2008 the Court of Arbitration for Sport handed down a ruling that reinstated the Kazakhstan Women.

Romania qualified for the Olympics after winning the qualifying tournament in Bucharest.

Romanian key players are goalkeeper Luminita Dinu and Ionela Stanca, who was named Best Pivot of the 2007 World Championships in France in which Romania finished fourth. In 2005 the team claimed silver at the World Championships in Russia.

Kazakhstan came 18th at the 2007 World Championships. The two teams have never played each other at Olympics or world championships.

RUS v KOR

Three-time world champion Russia (2007, 2005, 2001) is the hot favorite for gold in the Women’s competition, especially after Olympic champion Denmark failed to qualify for Beijing.

Russia relies on the strength of goalkeeper Inna Suslina who was rated third most effective goal stopper at the 2007 World Championships, and on the combined force of Oxana Romenskaya and Liudmila Postnova who make Russia’s defense one of the toughest to penetrate.

But Republic of Korea is not likely to make it easy for Russia as they also came to Beijing with strong hopes for gold. They finished off the podium just once in their last six Olympic appearances (fourth at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games) and were able to claim gold twice (1988 in Seoul and 1992 in Barcelona).

Out of six matches at Olympics and world championships, Russia could win four and the ROK two, with the last one going to Russia 32-27 at the 2005 World Championships.

NOR v CHN

Norway clinched their place in the final rounds of the Olympics following their triumph at the 2006 European Championships in Stockholm, Sweden. They beat Russia 27-24 in the gold medal match.

Players to watch out for are team captain Gro Hammerseng and Katja Nyberg who was voted Most Valuable Player at the 2007 World Championships.

China won a bronze medal at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games but never got anywhere close to medal since. At the 2007 World Championships in France they finished 21st following a 36-15 win over the Dominican Republic in their classification match.

China is coached by former ROK national team player Kang Jae-Won who was named the World Player of the Year in 1989.

GER v BRA

Starting with the appointment of Armin Emrich as national coach in 2005 Germany’s Women’s Handball team seems to be back on track after almost a decade of steady decline, including failing to qualify for the 2001 World Championships.

Emrich led the German team to sixth place in the 2005 World Championships in Russia, his team came fourth at the 2006 European Championships and even jumped on the podium one year later, snatching bronze at the 2007 worlds.

The Brazilian defense needs to be on high alert for German right wing Grit Jurack who scored 75 goals at the 2007 World Championships and became the tournament’s top scorer.

One of Pan-American champion Brazil’s key players is pivot Fabiana Diniz who was among the first Brazilian players to venture into European club Handball.

For both team it’s their third appearance at Olympic Games.

By S Millson

The 2008 Beijing Olympics are right around the corner. With all the buzz around the Olympic games, the big question remains where can you find up-to-the-date Olympic results?  If you’re an avid sports fan like myself, you don’t want to miss one moment of the action that is about to happen in Beijing. The Beijing National Stadium, which was recently nicknamed the Birds Nest because of its structure is the center piece of the Olympic games. The stadium has a seating capacity of 80,000 people and will be the site of the opening ceremonies, soccer finals, many athletic events, and finally the closing ceremonies.

The Chinese have completely renovated and expanded its subway system in preparation for the Olympic games.  It’s been reported that eighty new stations were created, one with a direct link to the Beijing International Airport.  As of June 2007, there had been over 2.2 million tickets sold for the upcoming Summer Olympics.

The reason why you are going to want to see the most up-to-the-date Olympic results is the amount of events that are being returned to Beijing. The program setup for Beijing 2008 is very similar to the Athens games that happened in 04. Olympic enthusiasts will see a total of 302 events. 165 men’s events, 127 women’s events, and a total of 10 mixed events.  The buzz is definitely being held around the nine brand new events that are being held including cycling that closely resembles BMX. There are tons of new and old sports that are bringing back a lot of excitement to the Olympics.

The 2008 Olympic games will be the very first games in history to be completely produced and broadcasted in HDTV (high definition television). The estimated amount of viewers currently is over four billion during the duration of the games.

As the Olympic games comes close to the opening ceremonies there has been serious concerns over the amount of air pollution in China. The BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee) has said that many of China’s factories will cease production in an effort to lower the amount of air pollution and smog that occurs during the outdoor events, such as running.

If you’re considering traveling to Beijing, you’ll definitely want to do your research on Beijing air pollution, Beijing Airport, and Beijing massacre.

While China is a very technologically and economically friendly country, there have been concerns over closed media access and even possible pro-Tibet protestors or terroristic groups. With all the drama, excitement, and fear over the 2008 Beijing Olympics you’ll want to keep in close contact with various websites and television channels that will show the latest Beijing Olympic results. We recommend having a couple of good sources and contacts in China that can keep you updated as to what is happening with the Olympic Games in Beijing.

I wish all the athletes a very safe and exciting 2008 Olympics! May all the sports enthusiasts, athletes, volunteers, workers, and viewers have a safe and enjoyable summer games!

S Millson is an avid sports researcher who has discovered how to give [http://www.olympicresultz.com]Olympic results quickly, accurately, and effectively.   Learn everything you need to know about the Beijing Olympics via [http://www.olympicresultz.com]http://www.olympicresultz.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=S_Millson http://EzineArticles.com/?Olympic-Results—Everything-You-Need-to-Know&id=1350816