Olympic Update: Canitez wins opener; volleyball, water polo ready

Presidio Sports will be following our locally-connected athletes at this summer’s Olympic Games in London, providing updates on an almost daily basis. Check back with us for updates throughout the next two weeks.

After a inspiring opening ceremony last night, the competition hasn’t wasted any time getting going. The first Olympic gold medal has already been handed out, going to China’s Yi Siling for 10-meter air rifle shooting.

LOCAL UPDATES:

Tugce Canitez, Westmont Women’s Basketball – Westmont’s star basketball player played just over 17 minutes in Turkey’s 72-50 victory over Angola on Saturday. Canitez scored three points on 1-of-4 shooting. Turkey, playing in Group A, faces Czech Republic in its next pool-play game on Monday.

Todd Rogers, Beach Volleyball – Rogers and partner Phil Dalhausser, the defending gold medalists, open up their quest for a repeat on Sunday. Rogers-Dalhausser open pool play against Japan’s Kentar Asahi-Katsuhiro Shiratori on Sunday at 2 p.m. Pacific Time (10 p.m. in London). Their other pool play matches are against Spain’s Adrian Gavira-Pablo Herrera (July 31, 1 p.m. PT) and Petr Benes-Presysl Kubala of Czech Republic (Aug. 2, 1 p.m. PT)

USA Men’s Water Polo – The men’s water polo team, coached by San Marcos High alum Terry Schroeder, is looking to become the first American men’s water polo team to win gold at the Olympics since 1904. Team USA, which faced Italy in an exhibition in Santa Barbara in March, will open play on Sunday against Montenegro in its Group B opener.

USA Women’s Water Polo – The women’s water polo team, which features former local prep star Kami Craig, opens up competition in London on Monday against Hungary. The women earned the silver medal in Beijing.