Anna Kournikova isn’t part of the Russian Olympic tennis team. Nor is Maria Sharapova. Daniela Hantuchova played tennis for Slovakia but only reached the second round. Jennie Finch plays softball for Team USA.

So where does Finch fit in the context of this discussion? One, because this is actually a softball report, and two, Finch was chosen in 2003 as ESPN.com’s Hottest Female Athlete, easily outpolling Miss Kournikova.

The truth is, though, that in a US softball team that is slaying all before them in these Olympics, isn’t really even their star player. As a member of the pitching roster, she doesn’t play every game - she pitched in two of the US’s seven games to date - and every pitcher in the US squad has shut out the opposition.

And the outstanding pitching performance of the tournament to date wasn’t even an American… but we’ll come to that in a minute.

Saturday is a rest day in the softball tournament. The eight-team competition finished its league stage on Friday, each country having played the others once. USA will play Australia in the first semi-final on Sunday (4.30pm Sydney time), with China meeting Japan in the second (7pm). The bronze medal game will be held at 1700 Athens time (midnight in Sydney), with the gold medal match on Monday at 11pm Sydney.

USA have won all seven of their league matches for a cumulative total of 41 runs to nil, beating Australia (10-0), Japan (3-0), China (4-0), Canada (7-0), Taiwan (3-0), Greece (7-0) and Italy (7-0). USA’s combined team batting average is .346, followed by Japan with .260. The US pitching staff’s combined ERA is, of course, 0.00.

Australian player Natalie Titcume has the leading batting average at this stage of the tournament with .600. Crystl Bustos of the US has three home runs, while her team-mate Lisa Fernandez has seven RBI’s. With most teams being less diligent than the US in rotating their pitchers, Tanya Harding of Australia had an ERA of 0.00 in four games. Lauren Bay of Canada leads the strikeout tally with 36 from five games.

Jennie Finch started for the US against Italy last Saturday, but only pitched three innings, still enough to credit her with the win. She pitched the entire game (ie, 5 innings) against Canada on Wednesday.

But getting back to the outstanding pitching performance of the tournament, indeed of Olympic softball history. It came on Friday when Yukiko Ueno threw a perfect game for Japan against China. Here is the play-by-play summary of the game. Ueno retired every batter she faced, and registered nine strikeouts in seven innings.

It’s not Ueno’s first perfect game against the Chinese. She did it to them in the 2002 World Championships and again in the Canada Cup last month.

Softball coverage in the US: NBCOlympics.com, ESPN.com, CBS Sportsline, New York Times,

Canada lost their unbeaten status in the Olympic Honkbal tournament when competition resumed on Friday after the rest day Thursday. The Australians made heavy weather of their game against Greece, while Italy knocked off Taiwan. The following is the ONS wrap of the day’s action:

Men : Day 5: Japan, Cuba, Canada on top of standings 20 Aug. 2004

ATHENS, 20 August - With four wins and one loss, Japan, Cuba and previously unbeaten Canada stand alone atop the preliminary standings after five days of action in the Olympic baseball tournament. Greece (0-5) is no longer in medal contention, while Australia (3-2), the Netherlands (2-3), Chinese Taipei (2-3) and Italy (1-4) are still alive.

ITA v TPE
Claudio LIVERZIANI’s (ITA) two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning provided the key to Italy’s 5-4 victory over Chinese Taipei. Italy avoided elimination from medal contention in improving to 1-4, while Chinese Taipei fell to 2-3.

With the score level at 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning, right-handed hitter PENG Cheng-Min (TPE) hit a low and outside pitch over the right field wall for the go-ahead run.

Throughout the tournament these moments proved to be a harbinger to an Italian pitching collapse, but Italy was able to hold Chinese Taipei within striking distance.

Two innings later, Chinese Taipei brought in closing pitcher YANG Chien-Fu to help nail down the win and move it closer to the medal round.

Italy had other ideas. Mario CHIARINI (ITA) earned a lead-off walk which set the stage for LIVERZIANI. The Italian captain clubbed a YANG pitch over the wall in right-centrefield to put Italy ahead for good.

Chinese Taipei mounted no threat in the bottom of the ninth inning, with Peter NYARI (ITA) completing his 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief pitching to pick up the win.

JPN v CAN
Japan (4-1) stroked three home runs in decisively beating previously undefeated Canada (4-1) 9-1.

Canada came into the game with a tournament best team ERA (Earned Run Average) of 0.50. But the Asian champs got to starting pitcher Mike JOHNSON (CAN) early with some long-ball fireworks, smacking three home runs and scoring in each of the first five innings.

First, second and fourth inning shots by centerfielder Yoshinobu TAKAHASHI (JPN), leftfielder Yoshitomo TANI (JPN) and designated hitter Kazuhiro WADA (JPN) helped the 1996 Atlanta Games silver medallists build a seven-run lead. TAKAHASHI, a standout with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Major League, led the team with three RBI (Runs Batted In) to go with his two hits and two runs scored.

That was more than enough for starter Tsuyoshi WADA (JPN), the 2003 Pacific League Rookie of the Year with the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks. The diminuative lefty used his wicked split-fingered fastball and changeup to keep the Canadian hitters off balance to pick up the win, giving up three hits and striking out seven in seven innings of work.

JOHNSON (CAN), who won Canada’s first game against Chinese Taipei with seven scoreless innings, was charged with six hits and seven runs and took the loss.

AUS v GRE
Australia eliminated Greece from medal contention today by defeating the host nation 11-6.

Unlike previous games, Greece made its opponent pay with timely hitting. By the second inning Greece had already tied its Olympic total with four runs, three coming in the first.

Yet the team that had upset medal favourite Japan two days earlier showed confidence and patience by slowly dissecting its opponent and then striking when the iron was hot.
Australia tacked on two runs in the sixth to tie the game at 5-5, and then five runs in the bottom of the seventh to put the game away.

The second run of the inning came when slow footed catcher David NILSSON (AUS) drag bunted for a base hit, scoring Gavin FINGLESON (AUS) from third base.

CUB v NED
Cuba erupted for five runs in the third inning and cruised to a 9-2 win over the Netherlands to keep its gold medal hopes very much alive in evening action.

After retiring the side in the first two innings, Dutch starter Eelco JANSEN got a taste of the vaunted Cuban offense. A seven-hit, five-run inning keyed by third baseman Michel ENRIQUEZ’s (CUB) two-run single put the current World Champions and two-time Olympic gold medallists in firm command.

Two innings later, the Big Red Machine again battered Dutch pitching for another four runs. This time, catcher Ariel PESTANO (CUB) did the major damage in the balanced Cuban attack with a single to centrefield off reliever Robin van DOORNSPEEK (NED) that scored two runs.

The Netherlands got on the board in the eighth and ninth innings with solo home runs from Evert-Jan T’HOEN and Yurrendel de CASTER.

Four Cuban pitchers, including starter Norge Luis VERA, combined to hold the Netherlands’ offense to five hits. But it was lefthander Ariel PALMA’s (CUB) three-innings of no-hit throwing that earned the win. PALMA leads the tournament with two wins and a 0.00 ERA (Earned Run Average).

JANSEN gave up five runs and seven hits in 2 2/3 innings for the loss.

ONS dr/jc/nkl

After Friday’s play, Ariel Pestano of Cuba has the highest batting average with .500 (10 for 20). He also leads the RBI’s with 9. Seven players, three of them from Japan, have hit two homers each. Cheng-Min Peng of Taiwan leads the stolen bases with 3. Nine pitchers have a perfect 0.00 ERA while Chih-Chia Chang of Taiwan has easily the most strikeouts with 18.

See Baseball Canada’s report in French on their loss to Taiwan.

Day Seven was, according to the ATHOC media chief Serafim Kotrosos, “Super Friday”. Twenty-six sports in twenty-nine venues. “And we are ready,” said Kotrosos to the great surprise and astonishment of everyone. But where are the spectators?

Shot upon television shot of pristine, empty, grandstands at sport after sport has been a major source of discomfort to the chieftains of the NBC Empire. Perhaps the most heartwarming moment of the first week of the Games came on Wednesday when the emperor of NBC Sports, Dick Ebersol, requested that the ATHOC officials start giving tickets away for free so that they could fill the grandstands. Ebersol was told more or less to get stuffed. An event worth of the NBC Kleenex Moment of the Day Award, surely.

According to figures issued by ATHOC late on Thursday night, 16 of Friday’s sessions were sold out. A total of 75% of available tickets (190077 out of 252940) were sold. Yet the gold medal session for the women’s weightlifting was only 32% sold. As 70s ABC cricket commentator Norman Blundell once said, “A huge crowd has missed a great day’s action by turning out in such small numbers.”

The judo finished on Friday night with (surprise surprise) Japan winning 8 out of 14 gold medals. The super-heavyweight champions were Maki Tsukada in the women’s 78+, and Keiji Suzuki in the men’s 100+. See the Agence France-Presse report of the day’s judo proceedings.

Two female athletes were sent packing by the IOC on Friday for failing drug tests. Thingbaijam Sanamacha Chanu of India, who finished fourth in the 53kg weightlifting, tested positive for a banned diuretic. Among other things, she has been instructed to return to the IOC her commemorative diploma. Uzbek shot putter Olga Shchukina tested positive for anabolic agent Clenibuterol. Oops sorry, said Olga, I took some cough medicine. The Disciplinary Commission “appreciated Ms Shchukina’s openness in admitting how the prohibited substance was found in her body”, and kicked her out of the Games.

The day’s Great Moment in Olympic Cynicism belongs to The Phelpster. Five gold medals under his belt, El Phelporama gave up his spot in Saturday’s 4×100 medley relay final so that Ian Crocker. Awww shucks was the general reaction from the US media. Thing is, Phelps will score a medal for the medley relay anyway because he swam in the US team in the heats. Crocker, incidentally, has already outdone Phelps in the Athens Games with six gold medals.

The women’s soccer semi-finals will be USA v Germany and Sweden v Brazil. The Matildas lost 2-1 to the Swedes, Brazil beat Mexico 5-0, and the USA beat Japan 2-1 (see the University of Florida Gators report). Germany beat Nigeria 2-1. I watched the last part of that game live, it was getting rather spiteful, and Nigerian fans were throwing beer bottles onto the running track towards the end of the game. Which begs a question: why were the spectators allowed to have beer bottles in the first place?

With the swimming carnival almost at an end, my attention turned to the Unofficial Pieter van den Hoogenband website (pietervdh.cjb.net). This is run by a 23 year-old girl from Perth named Caite, whose least favourite thing is “when the computer freezes and I haven’t saved my work”. Ah yes, what ’tis to have lived a full and exciting life! Anyway, she has this quizzical quote on the homepage:

Pieter’s designated charity is the Kidney Foundation as it is a cause close to his heart.

What’s close to his heart, the foundation or the kidney?

It’s good to see the track and field under way, for me this is always the True Olympic Games. But there’s one event that I think needs to be reinstated to the olympic roster (well, two including cricket). More about that shortly.

The entertainment world has been abuzz with excitement since it was revealed that the Australian and Italian women’s water polo teams will be the star attraction in next Sunday night’s closing ceremony.

In exclusive footage captured by Reuters photographer Laszlo Balogh on Monday, we see rehearsals for the climatic moment of the water polo ballet. Click on the thumbnail at left for the full image.

The choreography team of Jackson and Timberlake were unavailable for comment.

(I first saw this on Slobokan’s Site O’Schtuff.)

The Chaser, that superb Sydney-based newspaper of record, is hosting an Ancient Olympian Online Tipping Competition. As well, apparently, as inventing democracy, souvlaki, and fluffy dice, The Chaser tells us that the Ancient Greeks were famous for their online tipping comps. I commend this competition to you.

Olympic-related items on The Chaser website this week:

• Pittman now favourite for Paralympic gold
• Botswanan gold medallist wears 40% of nation’s GDP around neck
• Aussie cyclist sets new peddling record

(Sadly the registration on the Chaser’s Sydney Olympics website, silly2000.com, appears to have lapsed.)

Meanwhile, The Bladder has a wealth of information about Athens 2004. Their online poll tells us that 35% of voters consider the highlight of the Games so far to have been the Police Academy movie marathon on Channel 9.

Over in The Land Of The Free, The Onion provides us with a downloadable colour poster Olympic programming guide.

Plenty of Olympics coverage also at international media outlet, The Spoof.

The Dream Team almost cacked it again. The Australian Boomers led the end of each of the first three quarters before the Americans realised “Oh hello, the game has started has it?” and scored 24 points to 12 in the final term. USA 89, Australia 79, the DT’s now 2 -1. Read the USA Basketball report on the game.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand Tall Blacks, and don’t you just love the imagination that goes into these Kiwi team names, upset Serbia and Montenegro 90-87 (Press Association report at FIBA.com). Puerto Rico only just scraped home in their men’s basketball clash with Angola on Thursday to the tune of 83-80, while Spain’s 71-63 win over Italy was lead story on TVE’s Telediario on Thursday night. It really is fun following someone else’s parochialism sometimes.

Spain defeated the Aussie Sharks 8-4 in a fiery men’s water polo encounter. As fiery as water sports can be. Australia had the penalty count their way 9-1 and could do little with it. Take your pick of reports from the Barcelona daily El Periodico (in Spanish) and the report on the Australian Water Polo website.

Australia v India in men’s hockey was another rematch of a fixture that I witnessed at Sydney 2000. That game was a draw, this time the Aussies won 4-3 with Michael Brennan scoring 35 seconds from full-time. Former Indian international Mervyn Fernandis wrote about the game for Rediff in his regular column entitled (and I am not making this up) “Dribble Scribble”.

It was all a bit of an anticlimax at the Olympic Softball Stadium as China beat Taiwan 1-0, the only score of the game coming from a Taiwanese error in the fifth inning.

Oh, and Phelpsy got gold medal number four in the 200IM.

Finally, there’s now exactly one month till the wheelchair rugby begins at the Paralympics.