Shuttler Thilini makes a sad exit

The 23-year-old lass from the hill capital who became the first Sri Lankan woman ever to compete in badminton had an inauspicious start and eventually went down to Vietnam's Mmm Le in straight sets 0-2. Jayasinghe, who also became the first Sri Lankan badminton player to compete at the Olympics after Niroshan Wijekoon's feat in Barcelona, 1992, was trailing 9-17 in the first set when misfortune struck her.

She suffered a minor cut near the fingernail of her right index finger and after medical attention, Jayasinghe battled bravely as a talented debutant. Having lost the first set 13-21 in 12 minutes, Jayasinghe, despite the injury, fought gallantly in the second set before going down fighting 12-21.

"I expected to do better but the things did not go the way I expected," Jayasinghe said after her first round exit. Chef-de-Mission of the Sri Lanka contingent, Dian Gomes, however, said Jayasinghe's performance is good enough for her to gain experience in the big league. "As we know, she has already created history by becoming the first woman to represent Sri Lanka in badminton at Olympics.

When one considers her age and international experience, I think this is a good beginning. She could use this experience to plan for the 2012 Olympics," Gomes said. Meanwhile, Spaniard Samuel Sanchez beat the charging pack of riders in the final moments of the men's 245-kilometre road race to win the gold medal.

The 30-year-old from Madrid returned a timing of six hours 23 minutes and 49 seconds, just ahead of Italian Davide Rebellin. Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara took third place in the sprint to the Great Wall finish line. Sanchez and Rebellin led the final stretch of the race with Cancellara escaping the peloton for a last minute charge on the lead.

Today's achievement marked Sanchez's 17th UCI career win and Spain's first ever medal in the Men's Olympic Road Race."It's like a dream. I still can't believe I've just won the Gold medal. It's something that's out of the world.

The heat and humidity were extreme. There were only five of us on the team; we were all at the front working as a unit. I was saving my legs for the final lap. It's like a victory for all of us," Sanchez said after the victory.

Choi Min-ho from the Republic of Korea won gold in Men's - 60kg category of the Olympic judo competition, defeating World No.1 Austria's Ludwig Paischer with an ippon in 2:14. Choi needed just four seconds to beat Dutch judoka Ruben Houkes in the semi final. Choi finished third at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, the 2007 Asian Championships in Kuwait City and the 2007 World Championships.

In the Olympic women's soccer competition, Sweden clinched an exciting one goal to nil victory over Argentina. The Swedish match winner was Nilla Fisher who booted that decider in the second half.

Sweden dominated play in the first half. The yellow shirts of Sweden poured into Argentina's defensive area but Sweden failed to turn its attacking verve into a killer punch and the game remained a goalless tie at half-time. Though the scoreboard remained clean, Sweden was certainly the stronger side since they created many threatening shots on goal during the first half.

Therese Sjogran's long range free kick in the 15th minute whistled past the cross bar. Eighteen minutes later, Sara Thunebro's shot on goal forced a marvellous full-stretch save from Argentina's goalkeeper Vanina Correa.

Sweden emerged just as aggressive and dangerous in the second half. If it was not for the outstanding performance of Correa, Argentina would have conceded a goal much earlier. Sweden's opening score finally came ten minutes into the second half when fisher headed a free kick home.

To its credit, Sweden did not move into defensive mode after taking the lead. Instead it continued to attack and did not give Argentina a chance to level the score. In the 23rd minute of the second half, a shot from Victoria Svensson rattled into the woodwork like a cannonball.

Argentina was kept busy resisting Sweden's attacks and did not enjoy any clear-cut chances during the regular 90 minutes of game time. As the clock ticked into injury time, Argentina suddenly rallied and created several threatening attacks inside Sweden's defensive area. If it was not for Sara Thunebro's clearance, Fabiana Vallejos' close-range shot could have given Argentina an equalizer.

In the other two matches of the women's soccer tournament, the United States beat Japan 1-0 after Carli Lloyd scored a goal in the first half while Germany finished off Nigeria with a 1-0 victory. Germany's Kerstin Stegemann scored a goal in the 64th minute.

Meanwhile, reigning Olympic Champion Mariel Zagunis of the United States has defeated teammate Sada Jacobson 15-8 to win gold in the final of the Women's Individual Sabre at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 9 held at the Fencing Hall. The podium will be an all American affair, after Becca Ward won the bronze medal bout over Russian fencer Sofiya Velikaya 15-14.