Turkish women beat Brazil in two overtimes

RIO DE JANEIRO

AA photo

Turkey denied host Brazil its lone win in women’s basketball Aug. 13, rallying from 18 points down in the third quarter and beating the Brazilians 79-76 in double overtime.

Brazil (0-5) had the biggest and loudest crowd of group play trying to will the Brazilians to a win. It was working early, as Brazil grabbed an early lead and appeared to be cruising before Turkey went on a 24-5 run to set up a thrilling finish that kept fans on their feet. Lara Sanders led Turkey (3-2) with 23 points, but Işıl Alben engineered the comeback with 18 points, nine rebounds and eight steals.

Farewells to Rio Turkish athletes were not promising in other events in Rio, with many bidding farewell to the Olympics. In the women’s 3,000m steeplechase, Özlam Kaya finished 20th in the heats, Tuğba Güvenç 41st and Meryem Akdağ 43rd, all bidding farewell to Rio.

Kenyan-origin Polat Kemboi Arıkan finished 13th in the men’s 10,000m final, while Ali Kaya failed to complete the race. Turkish boxer Ali Eren Demirezen lost 3-0 to Filip Hrgovic of Croatia in the second round of the men’s 91kg category competition, while Selçuk Eker competing in the 51kg category was knocked out of the games by China’s Jianguan Hu in the first round.

In badminton, Özge Bayrakbeat Jeanine Cicognini of Italy 21- 14, 21-9 in her first group game. In the Olympic sailing women’s laser radial event, Nazlı Çağla Dönertaş finished 15th, while Alican Kaynar,competing
in the men’s finn category, was in the 11th spot in the ongoing competition.

Jamaican-origin Jak Ali Harvey finished second in his men’s 100m heat and was to run in the semifinals
late on Aug. 14