Side can’t mask joy at Ward’s goal

GREAT BRITAIN’S Sam Ward made a dream return to Olympic action as his side beat South Africa 3-1 in their Pool B hockey opener.

Ward opened the scoring in Tokyo, 20 months after suffering a serious eye injury which threatened his career.

The 30-year-old struck from a penalty corner after just two minutes.

Ward, sporting a face mask as a result of being hit directly in the face by a ball during an Olympic qualifier in 2019 which almost blinded him, was mobbed by his team-mates when he found the net.

Matt Guise- Brown levelled from another penalty corner a minute later but second-half goals from Liam Ansell and Jack Waller gave GB a winning start.

Head coach Danny Kerry said: ‘It was a tricky first match to start the Olympics. South Africa set up to play counter-attacking hockey and sat deep for much of the game, so we had to work hard to break them down.

‘We managed to create a lot of opportunities through the match, but we’ll go away and seek to improve in a number of areas. It’s always pleasing to start with a win. We’re off and running.’

Meanwhile, Andy Murray declared that he and partner Joe Salisbury have the potential to be a ‘ really good team’ after the Team GB duo toppled second seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in round one at the Ariake Tennis Park. Murray and Salisbury, who had never before played together, sparked immediately in brutally hot conditions and demolished the French pair 6-3, 6-2.

The Britons take on Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz in the last 16.

Murray, who begins his quest for a third straight singles gold medal on Sunday against ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, said: ‘I think if we keep the same sort of attitude and everything, prepare diligently, I think we’ve got a chance of doing well.

‘We have the potential to be a really good team, I think the result today showed that.’

Murray’s older brother Jamie is also through to the last 16 after he and partner Neal Skupski beat Argentine duo Andres Molteni and Horacio Zeballos in a deciding tie-break.

There was disappointment, though, for Heather Watson, who was beaten 7-6, 6-3 by Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam in the women’s singles.

Johanna Konta’s positive test for coronavirus left Watson as Britain’s only female representative and she must now wait until Tuesday to find out if she and Salisbury will make the cut for the mixed doubles.

An emotional Watson said: ‘It definitely wasn’t my best tennis but I gave my best with what I had. It wasn’t enough. Just too many unforced errors.’

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev — the world’s top two men’s tennis players — led calls to Olympic organisers to move matches to the late afternoon for the rest of the competition to save players from the stifling conditions.

Temperatures hit 33oC while Djokovic was easing past Bolivia’s Hugo Dellen in straight sets and temperatures did not relent for Medvedev during his 6- 4, 7- 6 win over Alexander Kublik of Kazakhstan.

Medvedev suggested moving all matches to the evening and Djokovic said: ‘I agree with him 100 per cent. I just don’t understand why they don’t move it, I sincerely don’t understand.’