Rio Roundup: U.S. boxing off to a strong start on first day of competition

Reporting from Rio de Janeiro â€”  The U.S. boxing team couldn’t have gotten off to a better start Saturday winning both of its bouts. Carlos Balderas, the No. 8 seed in the lightweight division, took a decisive 3-0 decision over Berik Abdrakhmanov of Kazakhstan. The bout was closer than the scoring and even brought a smattering of boos from the crowd when the decision was announced. It came down to the third round and Balderas got a few more punches in than his opponent.

Nico Hernandez also scored a 3-0 decision over his opponent, Manuel Cappai of Italy, in the light-flyweight division. Hernandez’s time in the tournament could be ending Monday, when he faces No. 2 seed Vasilii Egorov of Russia.

Balderas will fight Tuesday against Daisuke Narimatsu of Japan.

Cycling: Greg van Avermaet of Belgium won the men’s road cycling race, just beating Jakob Fuglsang of Denmark. Brent Bookwalter was the only American to complete the race, finishing 16th. Taylor Phinney did not finish.

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Equestrian: William Fox-Pitt of Britain had a slight lead over Christopher Burton of Australia afterthe first day of individual dressage. Clark Montgomery (10th) and Boyd Martin (17th) were competing for the U.S. In team dressage competition; the U.S. was seventh with Germany in first after the first day.

Field hockey: In somewhat of a surprise, the U.S. scored a 2-1 win over second-ranked Argentina. The U.S. is ranked fifth. The U.S. took a 2-0 lead on goals by Katie Reinprecht and Michelle Kasold. Pool play continues for the Americans on Monday when they play Australia.

FULL COVERAGE: 2016 Summer Games »

Judo: The Brazilians were counting on defending champion Sarah Menezes to win the women’s 48-kilogram medal, but Paula Pareto of Argentina took the gold. Pareto beat Bokyeong Jeong of South Korea in the final. Besian Mudranov of Russia upset Won Jim Kim of South Korea to win on the men’s side.

Rowing: Gevvie Stone of the U.S. won her heat in women’s single sculls, giving her the fifth-fastest qualifying time. She advances to the semifinal round Monday. Anders Weiss and Nareg Guregian were 10th in the men’s pairs heats and the U.S. was sixth in the men’s lightweight four heats.

Rugby: The sport may be new to the Olympics, but it seems even a bigger mystery to Colombia. The U.S. women put a 48-0 score on the South American country to win its first match. Alev Kelter scored 14 points in the seven-person version of the sport. Kathryn John had 10 points. The U.S. finishes pool play Sunday with a match against Australia.

Table tennis: Lily Zhang of the U.S. advanced to the round of 32 after picking up a couple of wins. In the morning she beat Gremlis Arvelo of Venezuela, 4-0, and then later topped Jieni Shao of Portugal, 4-0. Zhang is ranked 101st in the world and will play South Korea’s Hyowon Suh, ranked 18th, on Monday. Jennifer Wu won her first match, 4-1, over Eva Odorova of Slovakia but fell to Matilda Ekholm of Sweden, 4-2, in evening play. On the men’s side, Yijun Feng of the U.S. lost to Zhiwen He of Spain, 4-2.

Team handball: Norway, the defending Olympic champion, was upset, 31-28, by host Brazil. No doubt the home-crowd advantage played in role in the game. Ana Paula Rodrigues scored 12 goials for Brazil.

Tennis: The stunner from the first day of play was Venus Williams losing to Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5). Flipkens was ranked 62nd in the world. Mary Joe Fernandez, the U.S. women’s coach, said that Williams was sick before arriving in Brazil. Williams did not talk after the match. She is scheduled to play doubles with her sister Serena on Sunday.

Volleyball: The U.S. women had an easy time against Puerto Rico, winning 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-17) in their opening pool play match. The U.S. next plays the Netherlands, which defeated China, 3-2. The U.S. converted on almost 47% of its spikes, compared to 12% for Puerto Rico.

Weighlifting: Progress is sometimes incremental, as Morghan King set an American record in the 105-pound division when she snatched 183 pounds. It was good for sixth place. The gold was won by Sopita Tanasan of Thailand.