Jul 30, 2024; Paris, France; Dearica Hamby (5) of USA reacts in the course of the ladies’s pool basketball 3×3 match on the Place de la Concorde 1 on the 2024 Summer season Olympics in Paris. PARIS — The defending champion United States suffered its second surprising loss within the ladies’s 3×3 basketball group stage on the Paris Olympics on Wednesday, falling 20-17 to a group led by former WNBA guard Tiffany Hayes. Azerbaijan group.
After dropping to Germany of their World Cup opener on Tuesday, the USA had been anticipated to rebound with a win in opposition to inexperienced Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan clinched its first Olympic victory when 2023 world champion Hailey van Lith missed a two-point shot within the remaining seconds that might have revived the U.S.’s hopes.
“I am at all times attempting to offer the perfect efficiency for my group,” mentioned Hayes, who grew to become an Azerbaijani citizen in 2015 and hit the game-winning shot on Wednesday in opposition to the nation of her start.
“We come right here as a group and we assist one another. That is how we get right here. That is how we win.”
American males fared no higher. A 19-17 loss to Poland within the remaining recreation of the day left them nonetheless searching for a primary win as their unconventional facet will search redemption in Paris after failing to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
“We simply do not shoot,” mentioned Canyon Barry of the USA. “That is what it comes right down to. We had lots of beauty, however they did not fall tonight.”
Within the night match, the French group narrowly beat the Lithuanian group 21-20 with a decisive 1-point objective by Timothe Vergiat, cheered by Partizan followers, and the Latvian group Collectively they received the lads’s championship with two wins.
Darkish clouds hung over the Place de la Concorde as defending champion Latvia beat the Netherlands 21-12 in a tense recreation to say their second win of the event.
Led by Zhang Ning who scored 11 factors, the Chinese language group additionally unexpectedly defeated the gold medal favourite Serbian group 21-15.
Serbian participant Strazinja Stojacic carried out poorly, scoring only one level in 7 pictures. The final foul allowed the Chinese language group to widen the purpose distinction to 21 factors with free throws.
Twin sisters Catherine Plouffe and Michelle Plouffe of the Canadian group scored 12 factors collectively and defeated the Chinese language group 21-11. After two video games, the Canadian group topped the ladies’s group.
The French ladies’s soccer group misplaced to the Spanish group 17-12 and suffered its second defeat as a result of errors, whereas the Australian group defeated the German group 21-19 and achieved its first victory.
Within the group stage, groups compete in round-robin matches. The highest two groups within the group advance on to the semi-finals, with the following 4 groups competing for the opposite two spots within the remaining 4.
Each American groups are on the backside of the standings.
“The gold medal is the usual, which is a bit of embarrassing, however we nonetheless have 5 video games,” mentioned Delica Hamby of the U.S. ladies’s group.
——Reuters, on-site media particular report
