Turkish athletes make bad start to Rio Games

Turkey’s most prominent tennis player, Çağla Büyükakçay, was defeated and eliminated two sets to one in the first round of the tennis competition by Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova on Aug. 7.

National gymnast Tutya Yılmaz has also already bid farewell to the Olympics after finishing 42nd at the end of the qualification stage on Aug. 7. 

Still, she left a footprint, receiving applause from the commentators as well as Turkish sports fans. 

National swimmer Victoria Zeynep Güneş also failed to qualify in the 100-meter breaststroke.

The National Women’s Basketball Team, one of the medal hopes for Turkey, was defeated 61-56 by Australia, falling to 0-2 to start the tournament. Turkey will hope for better results in their remaining group games against Japan, Belarus and hosts Brazil with the aim of qualifying for the quarterfinals.

The “Potanın Perileri” (Fairies of the Basket), as the team is known, enjoyed less-than-ideal preparation for the match after their bus driver took the wrong road on the way to the arena, causing the team to arrive late for the warm-up, Anadolu Agency reported. 

After losing its opener to France, Turkey will hope for something better against Japan on Aug. 9.

National table tennis team member Melek Hu also bid farewell to the Olympics as she lost her match to Taiwan’s Szu-Yu Chen 4-0.