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August 3rd, 2012

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Ahead of the London Olympic Games finally moving into the athletics arena today, Michael Phelps won his 16th Olympic gold medal, Ben Ainslie calls his rivals “liars” and the ‘Dream Team’ beat Nigeria in the basketball by a record 78 points.

Badminton

Joachim Fischer and Christinna Pedersen have won bronze in the mixed doubles, comfortably beating an Indonesian pairing in straight sets just moments ago. Yesterday they turned in a heroic performance against the number one seeds, the Chinese world champions, in the semi-finals, but couldn’t capitalise on winning the first set, eventually succumbing 21-17, 17-21, 19-21.

It was a rough day on the badminton court for Denmark elsewhere yesteday as both its remaining singles players lost in the quarter-finals. Only Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen in the men’s doubles managed to progress, beating a Taiwanese pair 21-16, 21-18 in their quarter-final.

Peter Gade lost 16-21, 13-21 to his Chinese opponent in the quarter-finals of the men’s singles. The 35-year-old Dane had said he would retire after  the Olympics, and the pain on his face that he had he failed to take a medal in his last major tournament was plain to see.

Tine Baun didn’t fair any better in the women’s singles quarter-finals, losing 15-21, 20-22 to an Indian opponent after a controversial decision went against her as she led the second set 20-18.

Archery

Carina Rosenvinge Christiansen played below her usual standard and missed out on a semi-final place in the women’s individuals when she lost 2-6 to her Mexican opponent.

Rowing

'Guld firen' with Eskild Ebbesen, Jacob Barsøe, Kasper Winther Jørgensen and Morten Jørgensen failed to live up to their name, finishing third in the final of the men’s lightweight fours. The bronze medal is the fifth straight medal the Danes and Ebbesen have secured in the discipline.

Anne Thomsen and Juliane Rasmussen finished second in their women’s lightweight double sculls to qualify for the finals.

In the men’s lightweight double sculls, Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist dominated their semi-final and will be medal favourites in their final.

Fie Erichsen qualified for the final of the women’s single sculls by winning her semi-final.

Swimming

Danish medal hopes sank on Thursday as Rikke Møller Pedersen finished fourth in the 200-metre breaststroke final despite setting another personal record, while Jeanette Ottesen blamed a ripped swimming suit for a poor showing and a seventh place finish in the 100-metre freestyle final.

Mie Nielsen failed to qualify from the 200-metre backstroke heats, and the only bright spot was Lotte Friis qualifying for the final of the 800-metre freestyle final, swimming the second best time of the semis, just behind favourite Rebecca Adlington. The final is this evening at 20:45.

Dressage

The individual and team dressage saw Denmark start well with 22-year-old Anna Kasprzak placing fourth after the first day of riding. Anne van Olst riding Exquis Clearwater finished eighth, which puts the Danes in second position in the team event.

Sailing

Jonas Høgh-Christensen had a bad day on the seas in the Finn, finishing eighth and fourth in his races. That meant that Ben Ainslie cut his lead to only three points before the rounds nine and ten today, despite suffering a penalty for touching a buoy. Ainslie then called  Høgh-Christensen and a Dutch competitor "liars" after they pointed out the incident to the judges, suggesting they had conspired against him.

Allan Nørregaard and Peter Lang are seventh in the overall standings of the 49er after finishing fifth and seventh in rounds seven and eight.

Michael Hestbæk and Claus Olesen made great strides in the Star with a third and sixth place in their two rounds which sees them swoop back into medal contention in 11th place.

In the Elliot, Susanne Boidin, Lotte Meldgaard and Tina Gramkow first beat Portugal before losing to Australia, and with only one race left are out of medal contention.

Sebastian Fleischer in the RS: X continues to struggle and after completing two rounds is in 29th place.

Tennis

Caroline Wozniacki met a Serena Williams in top form and was unceremoniously spanked 0-6, 3-6 in the quarter-finals of the women’s singles, ending her bid for a medal.

Cycling

Casper Folsach, Michael Mørkøv, Rasmus Quaade and Lasse Norman Hansen surprisingly qualified for the semi-finals of the 4,000-metre team pursuit with the fourth best time, but face the favourites from Great Britain in the semis on Friday.

Handball

The men’s handball team continued their winning ways, inching past the Serbs in another nailbiter 26-25. Denmark, who are ready for the quarter-finals, have played three games and won them all, but only have a goal difference of +4. They still have South Korea and Croatia to play before the knockout stage begins.

Tuning in today:

Three to watch today … for the home crowd

Casper Folsach, Lasse Norman Hansen, Michael Mørkøv and Rasmus Quaade race Great Britain in the semi-finals of the 4,000-metre cycling team pursuit scheduled for 18:59.

Lotte Friis bids to win Denmark’s first medal in the pool as she races in the women’s 800-metre freestyle final, against local favourite Rebecca Adlington at 20:45.

Denmark must beat Norway in the women’s handball tonight in a hotly contested match beginning at 22:15.

Three to watch today … for the neutrals

USA takes on Serbia in the group stages of the women’s volleyball tonight at 21:00.

The athletics begin today and the men’s shot put final is on at 21:30.

The women’s 10,000 metres is the other final on this evening at 22:25.