NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Olympics

Olympics: Tall Ferns answer their critics but NZ swimmers and table tennis bow out

16 Aug, 2004 09:21 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

7.45am

The Tall Ferns women's basketballers produced an Olympic surprise and rolled over South Korea last night (NZ time) to send a message to detractors who said they shouldn't even have been allowed to go to the games in Athens.

But the run ended for table tennis sisters Li Chunli and Karen
Li , bowing out in the fourth round of the doubles to highly ranked opponents while New Zealand swimmers missed out on finals spots and the Black Sticks hockey players struggled, going down 2-0 to China.

Leading into the Games, long-serving Olympic selector Bruce Cameron felt so strongly that the New Zealand women's basketball team did not deserve the New Zealand Olympic selection panel's nod for the Games, that he resigned.

But, after suffering an opening match hiding by the United States, the Tall Ferns rebounded to upset Korea 81-73.

They are also on track to meet their seemingly unambitious performance target of finishing in the top 10 of 12 teams at Athens, which is also the goal set them by the Olympic selection panel.

The victory was the Tall Ferns' first in Olympic preliminary competition. Their only other Olympic win was in the wooden spoon play-off against Senegal, which saw them finish 11th at the Sydney Games

Korea finished fourth in 2000 and beat New Zealand in two recent Olympic warm-up matches.

"That was a big moment for us, a big moment for New Zealand," the Ferns' charismatic Australian coach Tom Maher said after beating Korea.

"To win a round game is a fantastic achievement and certainly in my 30 years of coaching, it ranks as one of the best games that I'll ever remember."

Forward Donna Loffhagen, who had 19 points and 14 rebounds, was outstanding for New Zealand while Gina Farmer topscored with 22 points and showed her experience to dig New Zealand out of trouble.

Day three of the Athens Games also saw more encouraging New Zealand performances in the pool, with swimmers progressing for the first time beyond the heats.

In his 200m butterfly heat, Moss Burmester led United States star Michael Phelps through the last turn before finishing fifth, but Burmester's time of 1 minute 58.13 seconds qualified him 10th for the semifinals.

Helen Norfolk, having narrowly missed the cut for the 400m freestyle final on Sunday, was the slowest qualifier for the 200m individual medley semifinals with her 2min 17.27sec heat time.

In hockey, the Black Sticks made much of the play against the higher-ranked Chinese but couldn't convert any of their five penalty corner chances while China netted two goals from their six chances.

New Zealand will now need to beat Japan on Thursday to have any chance of a medal.

At the at the Galatsi Olympic Hall table tennis venue, Li Chunli and Karen Li first took just 35 minutes to dispatch Nicole Struse and Elke Wosik, of Germany, 4-1 in the third round and advance to the fourth round of the women's doubles.

But the joy was short-lived as later in the day the duo were eliminated in the fourth round 8-11 13-11 6-11 13-11 5-11 4-11 by eighth-seeded North Koreans Kim Hyang Mi and Kim Hyong Hui.

Canterbury archer Ken Uprichard was eliminated after a tense match against the higher ranked Ming Huang Liu of Taiwan.

The scores in their sudden death 18-arrow clash at Panathinaiko Stadium -- an ancient amphitheatre converted to be the main stadium for the first modern Olympics in 1896 -- were tied with just two arrows remaining before Uprichard was edged out 148-145.

At the equestrian centre, Taranaki three-day eventer Heelan Tompkins was the best performed of the New Zealanders after the dressage with 44.00 points and remained well placed for the medals although she slipped back to thirteenth on Glengarrick after being second overnight.

Another Taranaki rider Matthew Grayling gave a strong performance on Revo, incurring just 47.20 penalty points for 22nd, helping New Zealand to sixth in the team standings.

Frenchman Nicolas Touzaint now heads the individual competition on Galan de Sauvagere, after an outstanding dressage test while overnight leader Germany's Bettina Hoy slipped to third.

Andrew Nicholson was 52nd, while Blyth Tait sat 54th and Dan Jocelyn 61st.

In the yachting, among the sailors to get on the course as winds played havoc, a highlight for New Zealand was the second placing in race five for the Yngling crew Sharon Ferris, Joanna White and Kylie Jameson.

A ninth in race six had them sixth overall and just nine net points away from the silver medal position.

After six races in the Finns, Dean Barker has dropped from fourth to ninth after seventh and 16th placings.

It turned out to be a day off for the New Zealand rowers as winds sweeping the course postponed races for the day.

Star medal hopes Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell were unaffected having already qualified straight into the finals.

But the two New Zealand crews who must compete in repechages, single sculler Sonia Waddell and women's pair Juliette Haigh and Nicky Coles will have to race tomorrow afternoon and possibly Wednesday respectively.

- NZPA

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Olympics

Olympics

'World-leading': New study addresses concussion risks for female athletes

08 Jul 09:12 PM
Olympics

Olympic champion Butcher wins kayak cross World Cup gold

29 Jun 10:44 PM
Olympics

The staggering figure the Paris Olympics cost French taxpayers

23 Jun 06:29 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Olympics

'World-leading': New study addresses concussion risks for female athletes

'World-leading': New study addresses concussion risks for female athletes

08 Jul 09:12 PM

The new technology installed will detect signs of concussion from blood.

Olympic champion Butcher wins kayak cross World Cup gold

Olympic champion Butcher wins kayak cross World Cup gold

29 Jun 10:44 PM
The staggering figure the Paris Olympics cost French taxpayers

The staggering figure the Paris Olympics cost French taxpayers

23 Jun 06:29 PM
'It was different': Dame Lisa Carrington on end of remarkable 16-year streak

'It was different': Dame Lisa Carrington on end of remarkable 16-year streak

07 Jun 10:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP