Estrada wins cheers
US middleweight advances easily
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Usually when American boxers appear in international competitions they are booed mercilessly.
But that wasn't the case yesterday at Workers' Gymnasium in Beijing, where middleweight Shawn Estrada of Los Angeles was cheered upon his arrival.
Less surprising was the outcome of Estrada's bout with Ezequiel Maderna of Argentina, a 10-2 decision.
Estrada, who had nine family members in attendance among the cheering crowds, had little trouble with Maderna, whom he defeated in the final of an Olympic qualifying tournament in Guatemala last spring.
"I already knew what he was going to bring, but I kept my composure," said Estrada, who will face James Degale of Britain in the second round.
Light heavyweight -- Dzhakhon Kurbanov of Tajikistan scored the day's biggest upset by outpointing world champion light heavyweight Abbos Atoev of Uzbekistan, 11-3.
Samoan Farani Tavui was removed from the ring on a stretcher after getting knocked out in the third round of his first bout. Tavui briefly went unconscious after taking several hard punches from Marijo Sivolija-Jelica of Croatia in their fight, ringside doctor Charles Butler said.
In an intermittent rain that left the Chaoyang Park venue a sea of yellow ponchos, the Americans needed just 36 minutes to dispatch the Olympic veterans.
"We're in bathing suits," May-Treanor said, adding that the 87 percent humidity was more of a problem. "We're bound to get wet."
Walsh and May-Treanor were visited by US Olympic basketball player Jason Kidd, who is May-Treanor's favorite player; she wore his No. 5 when she played basketball, and she has a Roman numeral "V" tattooed on her back.
Dumitru ousted Tani -- a seven-time world champion who hasn't lost a major international competition since 1996 -- in a semifinal decided on penalties. Dumitru then flipped Cuba's Yanet Bermoy to the mat in the final.
"My Japanese opponent is one of the greatest judo champions of all time," said Dumitru, who nearly quit four years ago while toiling under Tani's shadow.
Tani saw her hopes of a third-straight Olympic gold evaporate when judges awarded a penalty to Dumitru after both failed to show much aggression. Looking stunned, Tani fought back desperately, but with only seconds left had no time to mount an attack.
Men's 60 kg -- South Korea's Choi Min-ho, who won bronze in Athens, threw all his opponents to win gold. Taraje Williams-Murray of Wakefield was eliminated in the round of 16.
Lorig has the rare distinction of having competed in the Olympics for three different countries, having represented the Soviet Union and the Republic of Georgia at previous games. The US team women wasn't among the 17 nations that qualified for the elimination round.
Men -- Three Americans - including Butch Johnson of Webster - made the top 64 to qualify for the elimination round. The US team finished 10th to earn one of 12 spots in the elimination round.
"It's a great start to have in the Olympics," Railey, 24, said after ending the opening day in Qingdao as No. 2 overall after two of 11 races in the weak wind over the Yellow Sea.
