The Dominican Republic rebounded from yesterday’s close defeat to Belgium to beat Korea in fine style at the Volleyball Nation’s League, in Italy, on Tuesday.
Overall, the Dom Rep gave a commanding performance to win in straight sets 25-23, 28-26, 25-18. Although they got off to a shaky start, the team’s aggressive approach to the match was clear.
The Caribbean team dropped points early in the first set but worked their way back with strong backcourt defence and impressive attacking to eventually come out on top.
After claiming the first, Dom Rep took a commanding lead in the second set but lost concentration at one point and Korea was able to capitalise and tie the set at 23-all. Thanks to good blocking at the net and a couple of mistakes from the Koreans, however, they were able to close out the set and take a 2-0 lead.
Dom Rep was closely trailed by their opponents in the final set, but with the score at 16-15 in their favour, they started to pull away and surged to victory for the second time this tournament.
Outside hitter Brayelin Elizabeth Martinez and right-side hitter Isabel Pena were the top scorers for the Dominican Republic with 16 points each. Martinez had 14 kills, a block, and an ace, and Pena finished with 15 kills and a block.
This victory means that the Dominican Republic now sit ninth on the table with seven points from five matches. The team will be hoping to carry the winning momentum into their next game tomorrow against Poland.
The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) has been forced to pull out of its upcoming friendly international against Japan, as a breakdown in COVID-19 protocol communications will see the Caribbean team unable to field enough players.
The game was scheduled for Thursday, June 3rd but the majority of the team’s English-based contingent will not arrive in time for the fixture. The issue stems from the fact the English-based players did PCR tests using the widely accepted dual method of the nostril and oral swabs, however, Japan only accepts the more complicated nasal PCR tests.
According to reports, the Japan Football Association (JSA) had not informed the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) of the specific requirement. As a result, the six players were denied boarding in Amsterdam after they were found to not have the specific PCR coronavirus test results required for entry into Japan.
The England-based players have since returned home to do the necessary PCR test but, having rebooked, will not reach Japan until Wednesday. The members of the delegation who left Jamaica did the correct PCR test and were accepted on the flight from Houston to Japan, except for Tyreek McGee who did not board the flight to Japan for reasons yet to be conveyed. The player, however, did have the required PCR test done. He is set to return home.
The remaining matches against Serbia, on the 7th, and the Japan Olympic team, on the 12th, will go ahead as planned.
The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) has confirmed that several players invited to be part of the national squad for the team's upcoming matches against Japan and Serbia next month.
Initially, the JFF had named a 30-man for the pair of friendlies but has since revealed that a few of the players will be unavailable for the engagement due to various reasons.
According to the release some players had injuries, visa and documentation issues, extended club commitments, and personal reasons. The football body, however, remained hopeful of having the full team assembled in time for the Gold Cup, which will take place in July.
The team will face Japan in Sapporo, on Thursday, June 3, followed by Serbia on June 7 in Kobe and the Japan Olympic team in Nagoya on Saturday, June 12.
Jamaica squad
Leon Bailey and Michail Antonio will not be available for the Reggae Boyz matches against Japan and Serbia that have been scheduled for June as Jamaica’s senior squad continues its preparation for the CONCACAF Gold Cup in July and the World Cup qualifiers in September.
Reigning champions Brazil and 2016 finalists Germany have been drawn together in the group stages for the men's football tournament at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Brazil secured the gold medal on home soil in Rio five years ago when defeating Germany via a penalty shoot-out, Neymar with the clinching spot-kick for following a 1-1 draw after extra time.
The two nations are together again in Group D, along with Ivory Coast and Saudi Arabia, and are in the same half of the draw as Argentina and Spain, who are both in Group C.
Hosts Japan are joined in Group A by France, Mexico – who claimed the gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London – and South Africa.
Les Bleus will be involved in the opening match when they take on Mexico on July 22 at Tokyo Stadium, followed by Japan taking on South Africa at the same venue later that day.
In the women's event, the United States – winners of the 2019 World Cup - are paired with Sweden, who lost the 2016 final to Germany. Trans-Tasman rivals Australia and New Zealand complete the line-up for Group G.
Japan will take on Canada, Great Britain and Chile in Group E, while the other pool contains China, Brazil, the Netherlands and Zambia.
Men's draw in full:
Group A: Japan, South Africa, Mexico, France.
Group B: New Zealand, South Korea, Honduras, Romania.
Group C: Egypt, Spain, Argentina, Australia.
Group D: Brazil, Germany, Ivory Coast, Saudi Arabia
Women's draw in full:
Group E: Japan, Canada, Great Britain, Chile.
Group F: China, Brazil, Zambia, the Netherlands.
Group G: Sweden, United States, Australia, New Zealand.
Japan thumped Mongolia 14-0 at the Fukuda Denshi Arena on Tuesday to close in on the third round of Asia's qualifying tournament for the 2022 World Cup finals.
The win was Japan's second-biggest ever, behind their 15-0 thrashing of the Philippines in 1967, and leaves them needing victory against Myanmar in June to advance to the next phase.
Liverpool forward Takumi Minamino, who has spent the second half of the campaign on loan with Southampton, opened the scoring after 13 minutes before Werder Bremen's Yuya Osako scored the first of his three goals.
Daichi Kamada and Hidemasa Morita added their names to the scoresheet and Khash-Erdene Tuya put into his own net before half-time in the one-sided affair, which was played behind closed doors in Japan due to quarantine restrictions in Mongolia.
Osako's second goal arrived 10 minutes into the second half and substitute Sho Inagaki hit the designated away side's seventh with 68 minutes on the clock.
Kyogo Furuhashi and Junya Ito then added two more apiece, with the latter also setting up three of his side's goals.
The final three goals arrived in added time, with Inagaki completing the drubbing against a side ranked 190th in the world following a quickfire double from Takuma Asano and Osako.
The British and Irish Lions' tour of South Africa is set to go ahead as planned later this year after proposals to stage matches elsewhere were rejected.
Due to continued complications surrounding the coronavirus crisis, questions were raised over whether the Lions would be able to travel to South Africa for the eight-match trip.
But rather than host matches in the UK and Ireland, or take up Australia's offer to play games Down Under, it has been decided to press ahead with the original itinerary
The Lions and SA Rugby released a joint statement on Tuesday to confirm an agreement is in place over the staging of the tour, which begins on July 3 and continues into early August.
"After reviewing information relating to the various contingency scenarios being considered, I can confirm that the board's intended position is for the Tour to go ahead as scheduled in South Africa in 2021," said Lions chairman Jason Leonard.
"We acknowledge that there is a significant amount of work still to be undertaken to deliver a robust Covid-19 countermeasure plan to ensure a successful, safe and uninterrupted Tour. SA Rugby will have our full support to help implement this plan."
However, the original plan for the Lions to play five warm-up matches against provincial teams, an invitational side and second-string South Africa A before the three-Test series with the Springboks could still change.
"We appreciate the Lions' faith and share their desire to see a safe and successful tour,” said SA Rugby president Mark Alexander in the same statement.
"We have been in regular contact with our government to make that a reality against the backdrop of the pandemic and its predicted progression over the coming months.
"There are serious financial implications for SA Rugby, should the event take place without any supporters in attendance, and we cannot ignore that in our considerations.
"But we are determined that the eventual outcome will deliver the best occasion and experience for players, supporters and our commercial partners."
Speaking earlier on Tuesday, RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney acknowledged the preferred contingency plan of staging the tour in the UK had become increasingly unviable.
"It was always the preferred option to go to South Africa," he said. "We had to develop a whole range of different scenarios given the potential outcomes and one of those was a UK series.
"It's quite controversial as it's not the spirit of the Lions, but as fall-back option, we thought it was a strong one. If they can't host it, the agreement's off and we've probably run out of time to host it in the UK, so you play in 2025."
Lions coach Warren Gatland is due to announce a squad for the tour at the start of May, with the first warm-up match to be played on home soil on Murrayfield against Japan on June 26.
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