Tokyo Olympics LIVE updates Djokovic withdrawal hands bronze to Barty Boomers take on Germany
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The Boomers were at their best and their worst that quarter leading by 10 following some rapid buckets from Mills but then conceding a 10-run to see Germany back tied.Cue Kay and Landale knocking down threes from outside and Matisse Thybulle and Duop Reath making steals and dunks to regain the lead.
Thybulle’s steal and lay-up right on the buzzer has Australia up 66-59 heading into the last.
That bronze medal win to Ash Barty and John Peers, via a walkover, is now confirmed.
Barty and Peers are bronze medallists.Credit:AP
Novak Djokovic and Nina Stojanovic have forfeited from the bronze medal match of the mixed doubles. Djokovic had just lost the bronze medal singles match to Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain.
He was set to go straight from that loss to a nearby court and play the Australian pair. But that has not eventuated.
It is unclear if Djokovic - or Stojanovic - are injured. Djokovic did not look injured in his loss to Carreno Busta, not least to the naked eye.
Michael Gleeson is at the Tokyo track now for a very big night.
Hot and steamy and ripe for fast times.
Rohan Browning hits the track in the 100m heats. If he runs to form he makes a semi. Parochial fingers crossed.
Women’s 100m final tonight. Huge race.
And Matt Denny is in the hunt for a medal in the final of the men’s discus.
On the Olympics information website for the media, the letters “WO†- which stand for ‘walkover’ - sit next to the fixtured bronze medal match between Ash Barty/John Peers and Novak Djokovic/Nina Stojanovic of Serbia.
Having just lost his bronze medal singles match minutes ago in three sets to Spain’s Pable Carreno Busta - and smashing a racquet and throwing another into the crowd in the process - it looks as like Djokovic has forfeited instead of backing up for the mixed doubles bronze match.It means, if confirmed, that Ash Barty and John Peers have won a bronze medal for Australia.
When Brian Goorjian named his first Boomers selection squad Nathan Sobey’s name was noticeable omission.
Goorjian wasn’t impressed with Sobey and felt he would likely use his spot for a younger play like Josh Giddey who this week was the sixth overall pick in the NBA Draft. Sobey, a country boy from Warrnambool in south-west Victoria, took his omission personally and proceeded to dominate the NBL season with the Brisbane Bullets averaging 21 points a game and was among the best performers in the league forcing his way into camp and then onto the roster.
Australia’s Dante Exum (11) tries to block a shot by Germany’s Johannes Thiemann (32).Credit:AP
After two modest showings, Sobey has shone in this second term with four crucial points and a steal as the Boomers regained their footing and took a 44-40 lead into half-time.
He made the Boomers faster and more deliberate on offence and that was much needed.Patty Mills has 11 points, Nic Kay has nine points and so does Jock Landale. German shooter Andreas Obst leads his nation with eight points. The Boomers put the foot down defensively that term winning it 26-18.The Boomers trailed 17-10 on rebounds early in the second term but that edge is down to 19-17.
It just isn’t going Novak Djokovic’s way in Tokyo. He has lost the singles bronze medal match to Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-4, 6-7 (6-8),6-3.
To Djokovic’s credit he did save five match points before losing.
Novak Djokovic during his loss.Credit:Getty
Djokovic threw his racquet into the stands and then smashed another one during a frustrating third set, where Carreno Busta, for significant periods at a time, essentially toyed with the world no.1.
So, no gold, no silver and no bronze for Djokovic in singles BUT he has one final chance.
He is now going straight to another court, the mixed doubles bronze medal match with Serbia’s Nina Stojanovic against Australia’s Ash Barty and John Peers. Two world no.1 players but only one bronze medal. Who will get it? That clash isn’t far off.
Chris Goulding nailed a three on the quarter-time buzzer and exhaled. The Boomers needed that bucket and so did the Melbourne United captain.
Germany’s Johannes Thiemann, rear, fights for a loose ball with Australia’s Patty Mills.Credit:AP
Goulding’s first three of the Olympics has the Boomers trailing by just 22-18 to Germany after a scrappy quarter offensively.
Turnovers hurt the Boomers who were hurried and pushed away from the basket by the Germans but fortunately their defence was sturdy enough to make sure the margin didn’t blow out.
The Boomers need some offence but until that comes around they have to keep the man in red to as few points as possible.
Rebound like nothing else matters:
This is the first time since before 2008 Olympics that Australia is playing an Olympic match without either Aron Baynes or Andrew Bogut and they leave a huge hole. Every man must rebound, it is the difference between success and the other thing.
Patty Mills and the Boomers.Credit:AP
Points off the bench:
The Boomers are deeper than Germany so they need 10 plus points from their bench, hopefully 20 or more.
Guard the three-pointer:
The Germans have been very dangerous from outside when playing their best patches in games. Treat them all like they are Steph Curry and make them beat you from inside the arc.
While his hopes of a ‘golden slam’ may be bust, Novak Djokovic could still do a ‘bronze slam’, or even a ‘double bronze slam’, if you like.
Novak Djokovic in action on Saturday.Credit:Getty
With Wimbledon, the Australian Open and the French Open in his pocket, he has only the US Open left to win a garden variety ‘grand slam’ for 2021.
But after losing in the semi-final of the Olympic singles to Alexander Zverev on Friday, Djokovic is one set apiece with Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta in the bronze medal match. Then, after this singles bronze tie, he has a mixed doubles bronze tie with Serbia’s Nina Stojanovic. His opponents? Our own Ash Barty and John Peers. Quite the day in Tokyo for Novak, after admitting he felt “so terrible†when he lost to Zverev, his golden slam dreams dashed. Only Steffi Graff has done the golden slam, in 1988.
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