I can generally make out who is bowling from listening to the way that they land and how they grunt, and from that point there are many giveaways as to | Forum

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Day 13 of the Rio Games features medal action in track and field, beach volleyball, platform diving, wrestling and more. Hydro Flask 40 OZ Danmark . Here are some things to watch (all times local):TRACK AND FIELDUsain Bolt should be lining up for gold medal No. 8 at 10:30 p.m. in the 200 meters and the biggest drama may not be whether he wins, but whether he cracks the once-thought-untouchable 19-second barrier. He already owns both the world record at 19.19, and Olympic record at 19.30.Among those who will challenge him include Canadian Andre De Grasse, who was on Bolts shoulder for much of the semifinal Wednesday night, and LaShawn Merritt of the U.S. De Grasse won bronze to Bolts gold in the 100.American Justin Gatlin -- who won silver in the 100 and was booed at that event -- failed to qualify in semis.Mens decathalon medals will be awarded after the 1500m finals, which start at 9:56 p.m. The athletes day starts with 110m hurdles (9:30 a.m.), discus (10:25 a.m.), pole vault (1:25 p.m.), javelin (6:45 p.m.) American Ashton Eaton is leading in points after the first day of events. Damian Warner of Canada, beat Eaton in a 100-meter heat and set an Olympic decathlon best 10.30 seconds in the process.In the womens 400 hurdles at 10:15 p.m., the Americans try to capture their first Olympic gold in the event. Dalilah Muhammad is the favorite, but Ashley Spencer is running well.The 30-year-old Kerron Clement tries to add a gold medal in the 400 hurdles, which start at noon. He won a silver in the event at the 2008 Beijing Games (and had a cameo in a Beyonce video ). Jamaicas Annsert Whyte has the second best time of the year.At 9:31 p.m., South Africas Caster Semenya runs in the 800 semis at 9:31 p.m. Semenya has been under unwanted scrutiny ever since word leaked in 2009, just before she won the 800-meter world title as a 19-year-old, that track officials mandated that she undergo sex testing.The shot put finals, starting at 10:30 p.m., are Joe Kovacs to lose. The American has four of the top five best throws in the world this season.The womens javelin finals are at 9:10 p.m.BASKETBALLThe U.S. will most likely be without star guard Sue Bird when they face France in the semifinal at 7 p.m.Bird suffered a sprained knee capsule and is listed as day-to-day. Even without the four-time Olympian, the Americans still have the most potent offense in the tournament, averaging over 104 points a game. They have won 47 consecutive games in the Olympics and stand two victories away from a sixth straight gold medal.The game is a rematch of the 2012 London Games gold medal match, which the Americans won by 36 points. France had its own injury at point guard when star Celine Dumerc hurt her ankle right before the Olympics began.Earlier, at 3 p.m., Spain plays Serbia.The gold medal game is Saturday afternoon.BEACH VOLLEYBALLThe mens finals at 11:50 p.m. pit two-time Olympians Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo of Italy against Brazils Alison and Bruno , who is the nephew of the nations basketball icon Oscar Schmidt.The Italians beat Russias Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Konstantin Semenov 15-21, 21-16, 15-13 on Tuesday night.Alison and Bruno, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, are the defending world champions and the hometown favorites.GOLFThe second round of womens play starts at 7:30 a.m.Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand takes a one-shot lead into the second round of play when golf resumes at 7:30 a.m. Her 6-under 65 has her one shot ahead of South Koreans Inbee Park and Seiyoung Kim.Jutanugarn is a four-time winner coming off her first major at the Womens British Open.VOLLEYBALLThe top-ranked American women look to move one step closer to a first gold when they take on Serbia in the semifinals at 1 p.m. The landscape of the tournament changed after two-time defending Olympic champion Brazil made an early exit at Chinas hands.Serbia lost in four sets to the U.S. during pool play but pulled off a surprising five-set victory at last years World Cup in Japan that forced the Americans to qualify for Rio in January.China will face the upstart Netherlands women, who are leaving their mark in Rio playing in their first Olympics in 20 years. They play at 10:15 p.m.WRESTLINGThree-time world champion Adeline Gray is a heavy favorite in the 75-kilogram weight class, while Helen Maroulis is a serious medal contender at 53 kilograms.Grays top challenger will likely be Aline Da Silva Ferreira, a silver medalist from the world championship in 2014 wholl no doubt be backed by a boisterous home crowd.Maroulis, who won a world title at 55 kilograms in 2015, will find herself up against the toughest opponent of her career if she and Japans Saori Yoshida reach the finals.Yoshida is a 16-time world champion -- including three Olympic titles -- and she hasnt lost in a major tournament in years. But Yoshidas margins of victory have shrunk in recent tournaments, and Maroulis hasnt lost a match in two years.The qualification matches start at 10 a.m.BOXINGU.S. bantamweight Shakur Stevenson is scheduled to face Russias Vladimir Nikitin at 2:30 p.m. for a spot in the gold-medal bout, although Nikitin might be unable to fight after taking serious damage in his hotly disputed win over Irelands Michael Conlan two days earlier.Three Cuban boxers appear in the final four fights, culminating in Julio Cesar La Cruzs gold-medal light heavyweight bout with Kazakhstans Adilbek Niyazymbetov at 3:30 p.m.DIVINGChinas dominance at the diving pool shows no signs of waning as the 10-meter platform finals approach at 4 p.m.Si Yajie and Ren Qian went 1-2 in the preliminaries Wednesday, setting themselves up to challenge for Chinas sixth diving gold medal of the Rio Olympics.Si scored no lower than 76.50 in any of the five rounds and posted the top score of 397.45 points. Ren was a bit off on her third dive but still claimed the second spot at 385.80.No one else was even close. Jessica Parratto of the United States took third at 346.80.The top 18 move on to Thursdays semifinals at 10 a.m.FIELD HOCKEYThe gold medal mens match features two surprises with Belgium taking on Argentina at 5 p.m.The Argentines humiliated Germany, the defending two-time champion, by a record 5-2 to get through the semis. And the Belgians beat the Netherlands 3-1 to break an 80-year streak of never losing to the neighbor in major competition.BMX CYCLINGMaris Strombergs of Latvia begins his quest for a third straight gold in BMX racing when the mens quarterfinals begin.Nicknamed The Machine, Strombergs is the only man to win BMX gold since the cycling event was added to the Olympics as a medal sport in 2008 in Beijing. Strombergs is seeded seventh in Rio.Reigning world champ Joris Daudet of France is the top seed after finishing first in the seeding runs Wednesday.---AP Summer Games website: http://summergames.ap.org Hydro Flask Blå . Pettersen, winner of last years Evian Championships, had nine birdies and three bogeys, holding off a series of challengers led by Marion Ricordeau of France. The second-ranked Norwegian made her season debut after missing the LPGA Tours opening event last month in the Bahamas because of a shoulder injury. Hydro Flask Gul . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. http://www.danmarkhydroflask.com/...sk-24-oz-flaske.html . 1, meaning problems for the doping controls at both major international sports events next year. The World Anti-Doping Agency provisionally suspended the Moscow Antidoping Center on Sunday, saying its operations must improve or a six-month ban on the facilitys accreditation will be imposed.The year was 1991 and I was just another self-conscious teenager. Skinny. Pimples. Railroad tracks across my teeth. Although I was a blind boy attending a blind school, there were some partially sighted girls and word was that they were pretty.Ensconced in my bedroom at boarding school in Worcester, South Africa, I scanned through the radio stations, looking for something to occupy my mind. Suddenly my ears were assaulted by a cacophony of sounds. South Africa were playing an ODI in India after being readmitted to international cricket.I had heard the names of some of the South Africans - Kepler Wessels, Allan Donald, Jimmy Cook. But I didnt even know what a six was. Although my older brother Gary was a good cricketer back home in Zimbabwe, and I had heard people talking about the game, it didnt really mean anything to me. How could I picture it when I had never seen it?A week later, I was back home for the holidays. Gary and my parents picked me up from the airport. The whole way home from Harare to Kadoma, a two-hour journey, I asked them questions about the game. My dad and Gary were bewildered as to where this interest in cricket had come from, but they supplied the answers that became the building blocks of my passion. I started soaking up facts and names like a sponge, listening intently to debates about the differing merits of Donald and Eddo Brandes.By the end of the holidays I had a firm grasp on the game, and my excitement was peaking because I knew there would be commentary of Currie Cup matches on the radio when I got back to South Africa.The following year the World Cup came around, and Zimbabwe beat England, with Brandes bowling our old export Graeme Hick for a duck. I was totally hooked.When Zimbabwe were suddenly given Test status later that year, and lined up a Test against India, I figured there was only one way that I would be able to follow it. For weeks before the game, I saved my pocket money and converted it into coins. I knew the telephone number for the call box at the Red Lion, a pub at Harare Sports Club, and when the Test got underway, I started calling it to find out the score. Sometimes someone would answer, but they werent always that friendly.In the end I reverted to calling Radio One in Zimbabwe, where people were friendly but didnt necessarily know what was going on. Maybe you can make sense of this, they would say. It says two-seven-five divided by four. Eventually they knew when it was me calling, because they could hear the coins dropping into the pay phones coin box as the call went through. Yes, is that the guy calling from South Africa? they would ask.Soon cricket became an obsession. I managed to obtain Dave Houghtons home number and started calling him to talk about the game for as long as my allowance would hold out. One day as we were chatting, he heard the beep beep beep that warns you the call is about to be dropped because the money has run out. Quickly, he said, whats your number? He just managed to jot it down in time and then called me back.The following Sunday, Old Hararians played Alexandra Sports Club, and afterwards everyone was having a beer in the bar. Davie mentioned to my brother what a pleasure it had been talking to me. Gary went home and told my parents, and soon my dad was asking me why I was spending money that was meant for toothpaste and deodorant on phone calls to Houghton. I told him that Davie had called me back, but that just got me into more trouble.I also used to call Eddo, although he never called me back. And at one stage Grant Flower and Alistair Campbell were sharing a flat in town, and I got their number. They were pretty happy to talk, but Houghton is the only person Ive met whose appetite for discussing cricket exceeded my own. Many years lateer, after I had become a commentator, the two of us were driving from Harare to Bulawayo for a cricket match. Hydro Flask Outlet. The only break from cricket chatter on the five-hour journey was when we passed through Kadoma, and he said, Gee, Im a bit thirsty, and stopped for a drink.My commentary career came about almost by accident. I had finished school and was back in Zimbabwe in 1999, working on the switchboard for an irrigation company, when Sri Lanka came to visit. I met Ravi Shastri, who was there as a neutral commentator, and was allowed to sit in the commentary box so long as I promised not to make a sound. Eventually some of the commentators started chatting to me and asking for my opinions.Two years later India were back in Zimbabwe, and Shastri interviewed me during one of the tea breaks. Afterwards I was loitering around the press box when I heard a voice that I recognised from my school days in South Africa. It was Neil Manthorp, and I introduced myself. He was doing radio commentary for Cricinfo on the game and asked if I would join him. He ran it by his boss in London, who told him to keep it to 15 minutes. But as it went on, the editor emailed to tell Neil to keep me on for the rest of the slot, and then for the series. My television debut came in 2003 when Mike Haysman persuaded the director to get me on during the second one-day international against West Indies in Bulawayo. Zimbabwe won the game, with Heath Streak and Mark Vermeulen taking them to a six-wicket victory, and the celebrations were extra sweet that night.I was born with tumours behind both retinas, so my eyesight was destroyed before birth. The doctors told my parents that I had three to five months to live. I had my left eye removed when I was three months old, and my right eye came out in 2001, leaving me with two glass eyes.This came in handy during an encounter with Darrell Hair during Englands tour to Zimbabwe in 2004. We had briefly met in Harare, and in Bulawayo we got chatting some more. Zimbabwe had been on the receiving end of several bad decisions from him, so I said, Darrell, Ive got something Id like to give you to help you out. I took out my right eye and put it in his hand. He went very quiet, then apparently he glowered at me, and then started to smile. Eventually he put his head back and bellowed with laughter. Eventually I had to remind him to please give me my eye back.As remarkable as my story is, I know there are things that only a sighted commentator can do. For example, I cant analyse the field placements and make suggestions of how they could be changed. But I still feel I have a lot to offer.When Im wired into the stump microphone, I can generally make out who is bowling from listening to the way that they land and how they grunt, and from that point there are many giveaways as to what has happened. The length of time between the sound of the ball pitching and hitting the bat, the shuffle of the batsmans feet, and the type of noise that emanates from the bat striking the ball, all give me an idea of what shot has been played. Then the different calls of various batsmen, and the shouts of the fielders or the sound of the crowd, suggest whether the ball has pierced the field and how far it may have gone. So I can follow the game carefully, and along with the facts, figures, scorecards and conversations that Ive stored in my mind over the years, I can perform a role as an analyst.To date, the only places Ive travelled for cricket are South Africa and Bangladesh. Opportunities have been a bit short lately, and things in Zimbabwe are not easy. But one day I hope to get out there and see the world. ' ' '