SIN - Youth Olympic Games - Day Two

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SINGAPORE (Youth Olympic Games) - Good afternoon to you all!

After a busy day one and a exciting evening that included a swifty ride to a recently opened beach club as well as a dinner with my new friends from Singapore (Thanks Amy for showing me around!), I headed into day two to witness even more thrilling action on the court.

Girls-Highlights:
The Korean girls surprised the Russians to win a hard-fought game early this morning. As you know, I have a crush on the Russian coach and from what I've heard, she must have been shouting at her players the whole Sunday afternoon so I guess after this loss, the young Russians should be deaf right now.
Brazil had its first appearance against the Czech Republic and it was not just literally the match-up between hot pants and trousers.

The more athletic Brazilians edged the favored Czech girls and could be a title candidate if they can keep up the pace.
Japan had a good start into the tournament but the Italians - led by the Dotto-twins - speeded up the game significantly in the second half to undermine their gold-medal-status.
The U.S. girls had a slow start but thanks to Kiah Stokes, they scored quick flurry of points and never looked back.
And to close the day, the Aussies clinched an important win over the French girls, who lost their rhythm in the last two minutes of the game. I really liked watching Onayssa Sbahi doing her crossovers on the girls from down under, but she could not convert a couple of easy lay-ups which would have eventually decided the game for the Europeans.

Boys-Highlights:

Srbija arrived with mainly post players who all are able to dribble and create their own shots - What a surprise! India, who seems to be developing some good talent nowadays, scored a couple of threes but once huge Nemanja Bezbradica (His last name means "without beard" in Serbian according to our photographer Marko) got inside the paint, the game seemed to bed decided pretty early.

Ater a small break due to rain leaking through the pavilion, the Israelis went pretty close to beating the highly favored U.S. boys but Sterling Gibbs prevailed by scoring some crucial baskets down the stretch.

Kadeem Jones (U.S. Virgin Islands) made a name for himself after connecting four of his seven threes to beat the Pinoys which had Bobby Parks the first time stepping on the court for the Philippines.

The Greeks collected a "W" in a tough game against Puerto Rico. May favorite player, Lampros Vlachos, did not pay much under head-coach George Limniatis, but the team stayed focus in the end and deserved the win.

Mingrong Su had the crowd on its feet as Singapore went to pulling off a surprise win over Turkey, but as the coach of the hosts displayed bad timing with a dubious substitution in the decisive minutes, the World Championship-hosts closed the door and got away with it.
Finally for today, my favorite guys outside of the court: Asian-Elvis (Thanks George!) and the coach who brought all of his tools to fix broken things here in Singapore.

Results of Day Two:

Girls
Korea - Russia 22-18 (Jeong 14 points - Antonenko 8 points)
Belarus - Angola 35-11 (Baklaha 18 - Afonso 5)
Brazil - Czech Republic 30-26 (Joice 13 - Vojtkova 16)
Japan - Italy 17-26 (Nagaoka 12 - F. Dotto 12)
Ivory Coast - Vanuatu 22-19 (Ouattara 16 - Maliliu 10)
USA - Singapore 33-11 (Stokes 19 - Ng 9)
Mali - Thailand 23-18 (Konate 12 -Maihom 9)
France - Australia 15-21 (Sbahi 7 - Bontempelli 12)

Boys
Serbia - India 33-19 (Bezbradica 15 - Sunder 10)
Argentina - Panama 27-16 (Benitez 14 - Archibold 5)
Israel - USA 20-27 (Chernuvych 15 - Gibbs 12)
Philippines - Virgin Islands 28-34 (Teng 12 - Jones 16)
Puerto Rico - Greece 21-23 (Medina 9 - Panagiotaras 9)
Lithuania - Iran 29-18 (Narkevicius 11 - Sedighi 14)
Turkey - Singapore 28-24 (Yildizli 15 - Su 13)
South Africa - Spain 5-33 (Mahlinza 3 - Costa 12)

FIBA

l Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games