Table Tennis Sweep; USA, Japan Rematch; James Bond to Open Olympics?

Chinese Paddlers Sweep Team Worlds

China collects its record 18th men’s and 18th women’s titles after a weekend sweep of the 2012 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Dortmund, Germany.

The reigning world champion men won the Swaythling Cup by topping the home team 3-0 in Sunday’s final, a bit better than the 3-1 score by which China bested Germany two years ago in Moscow.

On the women’s side, China enacted revenge after getting shocked in the 2010 final by Singapore. This time around, a 3-0 win ensured the return of the Corbillon Cup to China.

WSB Final Bout Set

The team final is set for World Series of Boxing’s second season following weekend bouts in Baku and Moscow.

Thanks to a 5-0 lead from the first leg, all Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder needed was a single win in the Azeri capital to book a trip to ExCeL, host of the May 2 title showdown and Olympic venue for London 2012.

Reigning world championships silver medalist Teymur Mammadov of the Baku Fires gave the Thunder exactly that when he was forced to withdraw hours before his light heavyweight fight. With the match already decided, a series of withdrawals from both teams followed.

Dynamo Moscow, meanwhile, entered the second leg trailing 2-3 to Astana Arlans but swept the Kazakh competitors 5-0 to secure the other berth in London.

Gulf NOCs Back Doha 2020

The National Olympic Committees of the Gulf Cooperative Council backed the Olympic bid from member Qatar.

Doha 2020 received the "full support" of the Gulf NOCs following a meeting of the six presidents of member NOCs in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, according to a statement on the Qatar Olympic Committee website.

At his opening speech, Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee president Nawaf bin Faisal al-Saud, who chaired the meeting, said the performance of Gulf NOCs "were below expectations" according to a report in the Kuwait News Agency.

U.S., Japan Women’s Football Rematch

Three women’s football teams will square off in Japan this week to prepare for the London Olympics.

After their loss to Japan in the final of last year’s FIFA Women's World Cup, the U.S. took on Japan Sunday night in Sendai, drawing 1-1. The U.S. and Brazil will face off Tuesday and Japan will play Brazil on Thursday.

"This is a rare opportunity for us to play two of the strongest sides in the world, the United States and Brazil. This will add to our players’ experience and hopefully energise them to win the tournament," said Japan’s head coach Norio Sasaki.

The matches will take place in the Miyagi, Chiba and Hyogo prefectures. U.S. football stars Stephanie Cox and Jill Loyden visited earthquake-affected regions in Japan last October for Olympics-related events.

"We are extremely proud of our partnership with the (Japanese Olympic Committee), and also of our athletes – who were among the first representatives of the international sport community to visit areas affected by the terrible earthquake," U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Larry Probst said in an exclusive statement for Around the Rings.

"This event is a great opportunity to show solidarity through sport and elevate the spirit of camaraderie through international cooperation."

Comms Director for Tokyo 2020

Tokyo 2020’s bid committee announced that Tokuaki Suzuki will serve as its communications director.

Suzuki is the former competitions director of the Asian Football Confederation and the Japan Football Association. He has served on several organizing committees including the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups.

Ice Sledge Hockey World Champs

The United States defeated Korea 5-1 for the ice sledge hockey world championship in Hamar, Norway.

Canada defeated the Czech Republic 2-0 for the bronze.

With the United States victory, the last three major international sledge hockey tournaments, the 2009 and 2012 World Championships, and 2010 Paralympics, were all won by the U.S.

"It's unbelievable," U.S. player Alexi Salamone said in a statement posted on the International Paralympic Committee website. "Winning in Vancouver was one of the greatest things, and here in Norway we dominated as a team once again. The feeling is incredible."

Paralympic World Cup Season Ends

Russian visually impaired and sitting skiers dominated events in their Nordic Skiing world cup this year, which ended on April 1.

In the women’s visually impaired biathlon competition, Russians swept the top three places with Elena Remizova winning the overall title, and Valentina Nevidimova and Mikhalina Lysova taking second and third respectively. Lysova also won the most events this year.

Nikolay Polukhin and Stanislaw Chokhlaev, both Russians, finished one-two in the men’s visually impaired competition and Germany’s Wilhelm Brem won bronze overall.

For the women’s sitting trophy, Russia’s Svetlana Konovalova defeated Ukraine’s Olena Iurkovska and Germany’s Anja Wicker took bronze.

Russia’s Roman Petushkov won the men’s biathlon sitting world cup, winning every race. Japan’s Kozo Kubo won silver, and Russia’s Alexey Bychenok in came third.

Finn Maija Jarvela won the women’s standing world cup over Kate Rogowiec of Poland and Japan’s Momoko Dekijima.

Norwegian Nils-Erik Ulset won the men’s world cup, Canada’s Mark Arendz took silver and Russia’s Kirill Mikhaylov brought home bronze.

James Bond Opens Olympics?

James Bond actor Daniel Craig will launch the London Olympics if London’s The Sun has its way.

In an April Fool’s gag, the British tabloid said there will be a short film called the "Arrival" where Craig visits Buckingham Palace and receives his mission to start the Games.

Aired during the opening ceremony on BBC, the film would show 007 parachuting into Olympic Stadium as well.

According to the publication, Craig was personally invited by the Queen to shoot the film.

Written by Ed Hula IIIandAnn Cantrell.

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