RIO DE JANEIRO: Strong winds wreaked havoc at the Rio Olympics on Sunday, forcing the cancellation of the rowing competition and delays to tennis and kayaking, while spectators ran for cover from flying debris on the second full day of competition.
Despite windy conditions, Serena Williams progressed through the first round.
Williams won 6-4 6-2 against Australia’s Daria Gavrilova, ranked 42 in the world, but she was far from her best.
The 34-year-old grew increasingly frustrated as the match wore on but was rarely threatened by Gavrilova on centre court.
A ripping wind delayed the start of most tennis matches on the second day, while even those playing on the more protected Centre Court fell foul to the conditions.
“That was first time of my life that I play in (such) terrible conditions. The wind was so fast and the match become so ugly,” said Thomaz Bellucci, the top-ranked Brazilian who opened on centre court.
“It was almost impossible.”
Bellucci, ranked 55 in the world, scraped through into the second round after Germany’s Dustin Brown rolled his ankle and had to retire despite leading 6-4 4-5.Gusts of wind also caused havoc with fans as their plastic cups were sent flying and umbrellas at food tables had to be lowered in case they overturned.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Seda Tutkhalian led the way in early women’s gymnastics qualifying with US star Simone Biles and reigning all-around champion Gabby Douglas competing later on Sunday.
Tutkhalian, 17, surged ahead of teammate Aliya Mustafina, 21, a four-time medallist at the 2012 Games, who took a tumble off the beam.
China lead the team event after two of the five subdivisions with Wang Yan third best in the individual standings and teammate Shang Chunsong fifth behind Switzerland’s Giulia Steingruber.
Shang, 20, said she had been uncertain to compete because of illness and started with errors on the floor.
“I didn’t train for four or five days because of my fever,” she said. “I was worried because the coach said that I might get replaced on the team.
“My coach came to see me from Sao Paulo at three in the morning. I’m grateful for my coach because he told me that I don’t need to put so much pressure on myself.”
China, 2008 Olympic champions, scored 175.279 to lead Russia by 0.659 with reigning Olympic and world champions the United States, Britain, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Canada and Japan competing later.
Despite her tumble Mustafina finished her four rotations with a flourish on uneven bars an apparatus on which she is the reigning Olympic champion.
North Korea’s Hong Un Jong, the 2008 Olympic vault champion, posted the hightest score on that apparatus but did not perform the triple twisting Yurchenko she has submitted to have named after her.
Italy’s Vanessa Ferrari, the 2006 world all-around champion, was top on the floor. Veteran Catalina Ponor kept former gymnastics powerhouse Romania in the medals chase as she scored highest on the beam.
Uzbekistan’s Oksana Chusovitina, competing in her seventh Olympic Games aged 41, opted not to perform the difficult Produnova vault, and was sitting fourth with the top eight gymnasts advancing to the apparatus finals.
Majlinda Kelmendi moved closer to making history at the as she advanced to the semi-final round in women’s judo, aiming to become the first athlete from Kosovo to win an Olympic medal.
Rio marks the first Olympics at which athletes are competing under the flag of Kosovo, which proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008.
The two-times world champion, who was Kosovo’s flag bearer at Friday’s opening ceremony and is competing in the 52-kilo category, represented Albania at the London Games in 2012 though she went home without a medal.
British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi clocked the first knock-out of the Rio Olympics boxing after pulverising his outclassed Ugandan opponent.
Buatsi, 23, who was born in Ghana and could have represented the African country, simply had too much power for Kennedy Katende.
Buatsi capped an imperious performance when the referee stopped the fight in the third and final round to save Katende from more punishment and Buatsi won by technical knock-out.
It left his opponent slumped in his corner on a stall after the one-sided bout, rubbing the back of his head.
