The fifth day of the Olympics in Rio was very successful for Croatian sailing team.
The fifth day of competition at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro was marked by brilliant Croatian sailors who currently lead in the two classes: Tonči Stipanović is first in the Lasers class, while Šime Fantela and Igor Marenić are currently leading the 470 class competition.
Fantela and Marenić have opened their competition in the best possible way and with a first and second place in the first two races they convincingly hold the first place in overall standings in the 470 class, six points ahead of Australians Belcher and Ryan. In the tight competition in the Laser class, Tonči Stipanović was on Wednesday sixth and seventh in the fifth and sixth race, and he again became the overall leader. Stipanović is now nine points ahead of Briton Nick Thompson and eleven points ahead of Rutger van Schaardenburg from the Netherlands.
After six races in the Radial class, Tina Mihelić is ninth, while Ivan Kljaković Gašpić is also ninth in the Finn class after four races. On Thursday, the Laser class will have a rest day, while other classes will be in competition. Windsurfers will also return to the seas, including Luka Mratović who is at the 18th place among 36 competitors after six races.
Other performances of Croatian athletes on Wednesday and early Thursday morning were not as successful. In the worst game of the last two Olympic tournaments, Croatia’s water polo team was defeated by Spain 4-9 (0-2, 1-2, 2-1, 1-4) in a match of the third round of Group B. The Spanish team took advantage of all the weaknesses which Croatians demonstrated during the match. Expect for matches against Serbia, Croatia has not shown such weaknesses for a long time, which led Croatia to its first defeat in the Olympic Games since Beijing 2008. Spaniard Echenique was by far the best player of the match with four goals, while Croatian goals were scored by Sukno, Bušlje, Joković and former Spanish international Xavi Garcia. Croatia is currently third with four points in the group, and in the next match, on 12 August, the team of coach Ivica Tucak will pay against the still undefeated Italy.
Barbara Matić was defeated in the first round of the 70 kilogram category of judo tournament by Puerto Rican Maria Perez.
Boxer Hrvoje Sep failed to qualify for the quarter finals in the light heavyweight class (81 kg), after he lost the round of 16 match against Brazilian Michel Borges with a unanimous decision of judges 0-3 (28-29, 28-29, 28-29).
Marin Ćilić, who was supposed to play a round of 16 match of the tennis tournament against Frenchman Gael Monfils, did not play because the whole tennis programme has been postponed due to rain. Ćilič and Monfils will play the third math of the tennis programme on Thursday. The first match will be played starting at 4 pm Central European Time.
