VOLLEYBALL

AMERICAN WOMEN OUSTED BY BRAZIL

Erika Coimbra scored 20 points to lead unbeaten Brazil to a five-set quarterfinal victory over the United States. The Americans overcame erratic serving and several unforced errors to rally from two sets down and send it to a fifth set.

But the drama quickly disappeared when the Brazilians took an 8-2 lead, and the gold medal hopes of the U.S. team vanished a few minutes later. The Brazilians advance to play Russia in the semifinals tomorrow.

China moved a step closer to its first gold medal in volleyball since 1984, sweeping Japan in three sets in the quarterfinals. China will face Cuba in the semifinals. The Cubans outlasted Italy in five sets, led by 22 points from Zoila Barros Fernandez.

Ekaterina Gamova, Russia’s 6-foot-8 opposite, had 24 points to lead her team in a sweep of South Korea.

BOXING

PAVLIDIS LOSES ON CUTS, FANS THROW TANTRUM

Hometown fans packed the bleachers to cheer on light heavyweight Elias Pavlidis, who had a chance to win the first boxing medal ever for Greece. Pavlidis seemed well on his way, leading Egypt’s Ahmed Ismail 18-12 when the referee stopped the fight because he was cut near the Greek’s left eye. Ismail was declared the winner, and the furious crowd began heaving half-filled water bottles into the ring.

American Andre Ward upset two-time world champion Evgeny Makarenko of Russia 23-16 in a light heavyweight bout, sending him into a semifinal match with Uzbekistan’s Utkirbek Haydarov. Ward and middleweight Andre Dirrell are the only two Americans left in the boxing competition, and the U.S. was looking at the real possibility of being shut out of medals for the first time ever in the Olympics.

Britain’s Amir Khan, meanwhile, continued to be the sensation of the tournament, stopping Jong Sub-baik of South Korea. The 17-year-old lightweight will be the youngest boxing medalist since Floyd Patterson in 1952.

CANOE-KAYAK

ISRAELI-AMERICAN ZUR ADVANCES TO TWO SEMIFINALS

Kayak racer Rami Zur, a former Israeli Olympian with dual citizenship, looks like the U.S. canoe-kayak flat-water team’s best chance for its first medal since 1992. He nearly won his 500-meter single kayak (K-1) heat race, finishing only .26 seconds behind winner Alan van Coller of South Africa, meaning Zur will race in a semifinal on tomorrow.

Zur also raced with Bartosz Wolski in the K-2 500,finishing fourth, about 2.8 seconds behind heat winners Marek Twardowski and Adam Wysocki of Poland. That meant a second semifinal berth for Zur.

BASEBALL

AUSTRALIA UPSETS JAPAN, WILL PLAY CUBA FOR GOLD

Brendan Kingman’s sixth-inning single sent Australia to a 1-0 victory over Japan, putting the Aussies in the gold medal baseball game. Australia will play Cuba for the title, after the Cubans rallied to beat Canada 8-5 in the other semifinal. Japan faces Canada for the bronze. Determined to reach the gold medal game, Japan sent a roster loaded with players from its pro leagues after it didn’t win a medal in 2000. A bunch of career minor leaguers led the Aussies to their biggest victory in international play.

BASKETBALL

HEAL SCORES 30 IN FINAL GAME OF CAREER

Australia’s Shane Heal was carried off the court on his teammates’ shoulders after Australia beat New Zealand 98-80 for ninth place. The four-time Olympian scored 30 points in his last game. Heal, 33, has announced his retirement from basketball. Serbia-Montenegro, the two-time defending world champion, beat Angola 85-62 to finish 11th in the Olympic men’s tournament. The Serbs dropped to last place in their first-round group on Monday, after losing to Yao Ming and China, which grabbed the last quarterfinal berth in Group A.

CYCLING

ANOTHER WIN FOR AUSTRALIA IN SPRINTS

Ryan Bayley rallied from behind to upset Dutch world champion Theo Bos 2-1 in the track sprint final, taking his first major title and confirming Australia’s dominance of the Olympic cycling tournament. Rene Wolff of Germany won the bronze. In the women’s event, Canadian veteran Lori-Ann Muenzer beat Russia’s Tamilla Abassova for Canada’s first cycling gold medal. Australia’s Anna Meares, the time trial gold medalist, took bronze. Russian Mikhail Ignatyev upset the favorites to win the points race, beating Spain’s Joan Llaneras (silver) and German Guido Fulst (bronze).

SAILING

WIND WHIPS WADLOW, SPAULDING

American sailors Tim Wadlow and Pete Spaulding lost their chance to win a medal in their first Olympics because of the fickle shifts in the Meltemi wind. In one race, they picked the left side of the course and watched the wind swing dramatically to the right. In the next race, they went to the right and the wind went left. They won their third race, but it was too late. Crews from Spain, Ukraine, and Britain have locked up the medals, with only the order to be decided in tomorrow’s final race. Wadlow and Spaulding can do no better than fourth. America’s Cup star Paul Cayard and crew Phil Trinter battled the same shifting breeze, and managed to keep themselves in medal contention in the Star class by rallying again to finish sixth in the day’s only race.

WATER POLO

ITALY UPSETS AMERICAN WOMEN, WILL FACE GREECE IN FINAL

Manuela Zanchi scored with two seconds left to give Italy a 6-5 upset win over the world champion Americans, setting up a final against Greece. Greece beat defending Olympic champion Australia 6-2. The U.S. will play Australia for bronze in a rematch of the Sydney 2000 final. Russia scored twice in overtime to edge Hungary 12-11 for fifth place.

EQUESTRIAN

GERMANS CLINCH THIRD STRAIGHT GOLD

The Germans clinched their third equestrian team gold in as many Olympics, followed by the United States and Sweden for silver and bronze.