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WATCH LIVE: U.S.-Italy at IPC World Sled Hockey Championship — 2 p.m. ET

By Nick ZaccardiApr 29, 2015, 1:00 PM EDT
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The U.S. looks to clinch a berth in the IPC World Sled Hockey Championship semifinals in its final group-stage game against Italy on Wednesday (2 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Live Extra).

The U.S. is 2-0, atop its group after 6-1 and 7-0 wins over Russia and Germany, respectively. Russia finished group play 2-1, while Italy is at 1-1. The top two teams from the four-nation group advance to the semifinals Friday.

The U.S. beat Russia 1-0 in the Sochi 2014 Paralympic final but has never won a World Championship on home ice.

Defending World champion Canada appears to be the class of the other group, with 17-0 and 5-0 shutouts of Japan and Norway in its first two games.

WATCH LIVE — U.S.-Italy — 2 p.m. ET

Date Coverage Network Time (ET)
Wednesday Preliminary Group B – Germany vs. Russia NBC Sports Live Extra 10:30 a.m.
Preliminary Group B – Italy vs. Team USA NBC Sports Live Extra 2 p.m.
Preliminary Group A – Czech Republic vs. Canada NBC Sports Live Extra 5:30 p.m.
Preliminary Group A – Japan vs. Norway NBC Sports Live Extra 9 p.m.
Preliminary Group B – Italy vs. Team USA * NBCSN 10:30 p.m.
Thursday Qualifying Round – TBA NBC Sports Live Extra 4:30 p.m.
Qualifying Round – TBA NBC Sports Live Extra 8 p.m.
Friday Semifinal Round – TBA NBC Sports Live Extra 4:30 p.m.
Semifinal Round – TBA NBC Sports Live Extra 8 p.m.
Semifinal Round – TBA* NBCSN 10:30 p.m.
Saturday Qualifying Round – TBA NBC Sports Live Extra 4:30 p.m.
Qualifying Round – TBA NBC Sports Live Extra 8 p.m.
Sunday Bronze Medal Game NBC Sports Live Extra 11 a.m.
Gold Medal Game NBCSN 2:30 p.m.

*denotes same-day delay

French Open: Karolina Pliskova, top player sans Slam, again exits early

Karolina Pliskova
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By OlympicTalkOct 1, 2020, 12:15 PM EDT
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No. 2 seed Karolina Pliskova exited yet another Grand Slam in the early stages, falling to 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the second round at Roland Garros on Thursday.

Ostapenko, whose only match wins at the French Open before this week came in her title run three years ago, bounced the big-serving Czech 6-4, 6-2.

Pliskova put fewer than half of her first serves in play, while Ostapenko fired 27 winners to 19 unforced errors. Pliskova was on the ropes in her first round, too, needing three sets to get past an Egyptian qualifier.

“Maybe same level as the match before, but of course [Ostapenko] is much better player,” Pliskova said. “Not much to say about this match.”

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Men | Women | TV Schedule

Later Thursday, top-ranked Novak Djokovic had a second straight win ceding just five games, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 over Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis. Djokovic undefeated in 2020 save his U.S. Open default for smacking a ball that inadvertently struck a linesperson, next gets Colombian lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galán.

Nobody else in Djokovic’s half of the draw at the start of the tournament made a French Open semifinal before.

Pliskova is the highest-ranked player of either gender (No. 4) without a Grand Slam title, yet hasn’t made it past the fourth round at a major since the 2019 Australian Open.

She’s played six Slams as a No. 1 or No. 2 seed, one shy of Caroline Wozniacki‘s total before she broke through at the 2018 Australian Open and two shy of Simona Halep‘s total before she won the 2018 French Open.

Ostapenko, meanwhile, is having a very different career.

She won the 2017 Roland Garros title, two days after turning 20, while ranked 47th. She hasn’t gotten past the third round of a major since 2018 Wimbledon, including first-round French Open exits the last two years, and is back down to No. 43 in the WTA rankings.

“It’s hard to compare with 2017. As I said, it was like three years ago, and I was much younger, and also I was fearless. Nobody knew me,” Ostapenko said. “The world doesn’t stop with winning only one Grand Slam. Of course I want to achieve more, and I want to be back in top five, top 10.”

She dropped just nine games in four sets this week.

Ostapenko gets 87th-ranked Spaniard Paula Badosa in third round. Badosa dispatched 2018 French Open runner-up Sloane Stephens 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

MORE: Serena Williams ‘struggling to walk’

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Figure skating’s Grand Prix fields look very different this season

Nathan Chen
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By OlympicTalkOct 1, 2020, 10:36 AM EDT
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London Marathon 2020 London Marathon TV, live stream schedule Kaillie Humphries U.S. bobsled, skeleton athletes to sit out first half of World Cup season Grand Prix Final Figure skating’s Grand Prix Final postponed

Before Nathan Chen is expected to go for a historic fifth straight U.S. figure skating title in January, he will, in a first, compete against most of his top countrymen later this month.

Fields for the Grand Prix Series, figure skating’s autumn international circuit, were published Thursday. As expected, every top skater entered will compete in his or her home country, or nearest to where he or she trains, and in one of the six events.

Traditionally, skaters compete in two of the six events and are scattered among competitions in the U.S., Canada, France, Russia, China and Japan based on world rankings.

But the International Skating Union restricted travel this season due to the coronavirus pandemic. Skaters are limited to compete locally. And the Grand Prix Final at the conclusion of the Grand Prix Series has been postponed from its scheduled December setting in Beijing.

That means that Chen vies for a record-tying fourth straight Skate America crown in Las Vegas in three weeks against a field mostly made up of countrymen, including Olympic teammate Vincent Zhou and U.S. bronze medalist Tomoki Hiwatashi.

In all, there are eight U.S. men entered in Skate America, 11 women (including past national champions Bradie Tennell and Gracie Gold), six pairs and nine ice dance couples (including U.S. champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates and Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue), plus some skaters from other nations who train in the U.S.

Traditionally, a country has no more than three entries per discipline at a Grand Prix event.

GRAND PRIX FIELDS: Men | Women | Pairs | Ice Dance

Sochi Olympian Jason Brown, who trains in Toronto, is entered in Skate Canada the week after Skate America.

Two-time U.S. women’s champion Alysa Liu will not be old enough for the Grand Prix Series until the 2021-22 Olympic season.

All of the reigning Olympic champions are absent from the series.

Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan previously announced he wouldn’t compete due to virus-related travel risks. Russian Alina Zagitova extended her indefinite break from competition dating to last autumn, rather choosing to participate in a skating-themed TV series.

Ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada retired. The German pairs’ team of Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot last competed in the 2018 Olympic season.

Instead, the headliners include Chen, the two-time world champion undefeated since placing fifth in PyeongChang. And a deep crop of Russian teenage women, all of course entered in the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow in November.

MORE: Brian Orser reacts to Yevgenia Medvedeva’s coaching switch

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