Japan's Harada and Suzuki advance to synchronized duet final

Wednesday 20th August, 07:20 AM JST

BEIJING —

Japan’s Emiko Suzuki and Saho Harada advance to the synchronized swimming duet final at the Beijing Olympic Games after placing third in the free routine preliminary on Tuesday. Suzuki and Harada, team silver medalists at the 2004 Athens Games, scored 48.500 points in the free routine preliminary at the National Aquatics Center and have a combined total of 96.750 after collecting 48.250 in Monday’s technical routine. Competing in their first international competition since winning gold at the 2007 world swimming championships in Melbourne, defending Olympic champions Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova of Russia scored 49.500 points and are top with 98.834. ‘‘We performed well and you see our score is very high. In the free routine preliminary it is no surprise that we get a high score like this,’’ said Davydova.

Spain’s Andrea Fuentes and Gemma Mengual are in second place on 97.918 while Chinese twins Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen, who are coached by Japan’s Masayo Imura, are in fourth on 96.584. The duets with the top 12 combined scores from the preliminary rounds advanced to the final. The free routine will be performed again on Wednesday. Harada said she was pleased with their performance and hoped to build on it in Wednesday’s final. ‘‘We started well yesterday and wanted to continue where we left off,’’ said Harada. ‘‘We did very well on our opening lift and that gave us great strength for the rest of the performance.’’ Japan has won medals in all synchronized swimming events since the sport was introduced to the Olympic program in 1984 but has yet to strike gold. The Chinese are well placed for a minor medal duel with Japan and their coach Imura is hoping to respond to the hopes of the nation with a podium finish. ‘‘I want China to achieve a good result as the host country. I think they made a big decision to invite a coach from Japan and I would like to live up to their expectations,’’ Imura said.

Kyodo

12 Comments

okapake at 07:45 AM JST - 20th August

This is one "sport" that should be eliminated instead of baseball and softball. This sport is not available to the general population of the world, unlike baseball and softball. Another iffy "sport" is the "equestrian" events. Only for the moneyed elite.
ProudKoreanGuy at 08:05 AM JST - 20th August

This is one "sport" that should be eliminated instead of baseball and softball. This sport is not available to the general population of the world, unlike baseball and softball. Another iffy "sport" is the "equestrian" events. Only for the moneyed elite.

If popularity alone should decide whether a sport is included in the Olympics or not, then I would imagine that at least half of the current events would be eliminated.
Pukey2 at 08:37 AM JST - 20th August

The rivalry between Japan and China is in overdrive AGAIN on the morning TV shows. The key question is how to beat the Chinese, never mind the fact that Russia and Spain are ahead and that Japan should try and get the gold. Yes, as long as you are one up on the Chinese. Of course, a big, big deal is made of the fact that a Japanese is coaching the Chinese pair. They were asking the Chinese what they thought of the Japanese coach over and over again. In the end, I was surprised they didn't ask the girls whether the coach made them eat natto or whether they knew how to use chopsticks.
ExPrinceska at 08:29 PM JST - 20th August

There is a rivalry between the Japanese coach of the Chinese team and the coach of the Japanese team. The coach of the Chinese team said that Japan shall select taller girls with longer legs in order to have success.
rajakumar at 10:13 PM JST - 20th August

Way to go Harada/Suzuki, team synchronized duet swimming.
Sarge at 10:58 PM JST - 20th August

Princess - "The coach of the Chinese team said that Japan shall ( should? ) select taller girls with longer legs in order to have success"

Was this the coach of the synchronized swimming team or the volleyball team? Ha ha ha!

I want to know when the men's synchronized swimming is going to be on. Some of those boys got some long legs ha ha ha!
Pukey2 at 12:08 AM JST - 21st August

Some of those boys got some long legs

Yeah, two-thirds of them have feet on the end.

Christ, once again, after the medals were settled, they still went on and on about China and how they made a mistake to land 4th position, comparing the Japanese and Chinese performances. And as this went on, absolutely no mention of the gold and silver medallists!

China-Japan comparison overdrive again, one day after the gymnastics finish, with the TV presenter asking the gymnasts (who were tired and depressed) what they thought of the Chinese, did they think they could beat the Chinese, etc. Are the Japanese out there to win medals or just to beat the Chinese?
ProudKoreanGuy at 12:16 AM JST - 21st August

Are the Japanese out there to win medals or just to beat the Chinese?

At the rate China has been winning the medals, beating China almost guarantees winning one, also, and particularly gold.
boobug at 12:36 AM JST - 21st August

China's medal opportunities are running out. They better make the best of these "judged" events. Ha-ha !
Nessie at 07:47 AM JST - 21st August

The one sport that, when done properly, comes closest to self-parody.
Sarge at 01:58 PM JST - 21st August

ProudKoreanGuy hit the nail on the head!
Pukey2 at 10:00 PM JST - 21st August

boobug:

China's medal opportunities are running out. They better make the best of these "judged" events. Ha-ha !

Really? There's still table tennis. Oh, I'm sorry, you need umpires to judge whether the ball hit or missed the table, don't you? Regardless of whether China gets any more golds or not, USA will NOT catch up. If USA plays its cards right, it might actually get more golds than silvers! But they won't get it in softball! Oh damn, did I spoil the party? Another silver to USA. Yeap, plenty of silvers and bronzes.

I suppose I get the last tee hee hee.