Paris Olympics: Boomers on verge of Games exit, Stingers and Gangurrus earn wins, Kookaburras go down to India

The Boomers’ hopes of making it through the knock-out stages of the men’s basketball are out of their hands after suffering a six-point loss to Greece.

Meanwhile, the Stingers and Gangurrus are both assured of making it through the group stage after wins on Friday.

Catch up on all of Australia’s team sport results from day seven of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Click below to be taken straight to the sport you want to read about.

Boomers downed by Greece, on verge of Olympic exit

The Boomers’ fate is in Canada’s hands after a six-point loss to Greece in their final Olympics pool game in Lille.

ABC Sport is live blogging every day of the Paris Olympics

The 77-71 loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s side means Australia will only finish second if the in-form Canadians beat Spain on Saturday.

But it could have been worse.

A shocking 28-12 second quarter saw Australia down as many as 19 points — a margin that would have meant a guaranteed early exit.

Even a 10-point loss would have left Australia needing Canada to win and then hope they were among two of the best third-placed sides to progress.

The Boomers did enough to avoid that hairy scenario though, Patty Mills (13 points) and Dyson Daniels (11 points, eight assists, six rebounds) hitting three-pointers to cut the lead to two points in the final minutes.

Jock Landale continued his fine tournament with a 17-point, eight-rebound double-double while point guard Josh Giddey (nine points, 10 rebounds, six assists, five turnovers) struggled in the first half but finished strongly.

Antetokounmpo (20 points, seven rebounds, six assists) kept coming though and, crucially, had help.

Thomas Walkup (18 points) hit four of seven triples while Dinos Mitoglou and Vasilis Toliopoulos both scored 13 points.

Walkup’s fourth three-pointer made it a seven-point margin just as the Boomers looked set to run them down in the final 90 seconds.

Australia made just 10 of their 21 free throws, the loss coming after a defeat of Spain and loss to Canada in what has been dubbed the Olympics’ group of death.

It was a bittersweet win for Greece, who now need Spain to upset the unbeaten Canada to progress.

Gangurrus are one step closer to Olympic progression

Australia’s strong form in the women’s 3×3 basketball continued on day seven of the Games, cruising past Azerbaijan 21-12 in their opening match, then producing a valiant, injury-affected effort in a 21-17 loss to Spain.

The Gangurrus temporarily moved to the top of the table after doing Azerbaijan, continuing on their impressive run from Thursday where they defeated China and the United States.

Three hours later, an injury concern for Lauren Mansfield proved decisive in the loss to Spain.

Mansfield didn’t take the court and appeared to have a leg injury, which left Australia with just three players for the match. The fatigue showed as the match wore on with Australia pushing Spain to 17-all with 2:36 left on the clock.

From there it was all Spain, who scored the next four points to clinch a 21-17 win.

The Gangurrus will end the day inside the top four in the standings with one group match left against France on Sunday.

The top two seeds at the end of the group stage automatically progress to the semifinals, while those who place third to sixth go through a repechage.

Australia is all but assured a top-six finish but will need to beat France to have any hope of getting the automatic advance to the semifinals.

Stingers secure quarterfinal berth with win over Canada

Australia’s women’s water polo team have moved to the top of their group, defeating Canada 10-7.

The win maintained the Stingers’ unbeaten run at this Olympics, following wins over China and the Netherlands earlier in the week.

With a game in hand, Australia is assured a quarterfinal spot and cannot finish lower than second in their group.

After a tense opening quarter where goalkeepers Gabriella Palm (Australia) and Jessica Gaudreault (Canada) produced brilliant saves, the Stingers blitzed away from their opponents in the second and third quarters. 

The Canadians conceded five penalties during the match, all converted by Australia.

Bronte Halligan and Alice Williams terrorised the Canadian goal throughout the contest.

Australia will play Hungary in their final group game, with victory sealing top place in the group.

Kookaburras downed by India 3-2 in hockey

A wasteful Kookaburras have slipped off the front row of their Olympics pool and face a nervous wait on their quarterfinal opponents after suffering a frustrating 3-2 loss to India in Paris.

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Australia’s men’s hockey team had 19 shots on goal and five penalty corners in a wide-open Friday afternoon affair.

But they were left scratching their heads after blowing chances time and again, including in the final 10 seconds when three rushed shots bounced around the circle and off Indian goalkeeper Sreejesh Parattu as the clock expired.

In Australian flag-bearer Eddie Ockenden’s 450th Test, it was India’s fourth defeat of Australia in 12 Games clashes — but first since 1972.

And it was enough to push them ahead of Colin Batch’s side into second place.

Australia, guaranteed a Sunday quarterfinal against a team to be confirmed later on Friday, are now third but could slide to fourth if Argentina upset Belgium.

The Netherlands, Germany or Great Britain are their possible opponents.

“That was a pretty tough match,” Ockenden said.

“Maybe we were not quite there but there were a lot of good things. Every opposition’s tough here.

“We’re probably not at our very best but a few things [go] our way and we probably could have had a result there.

“In the quarterfinals, we always know we are going to have tough games, it doesn’t matter where you finish.

“You’re sort of ready for that. No one knows who they’re going to play yet, so we’re expecting a tough game no matter what.”

Indian star Harmanpreet Singh scored a trademark drag flick from his first penalty corner chance then slotted a penalty stroke, while Abishek Abishek opened the scoring with a sweetly timed field goal.

Australia should have scored first, the fit-again Jake Whetton threatening early and Tim Brand with multiple chances as they found precious space in the circle.

Eventually, the goal came from a penalty corner, Aran Zalewski recovering from his botched injection and the ball eventually finding Tom Craig on the far post.

Blake Govers’s penalty stroke made it 3-2, after India had a fourth goal denied on review, and they then came within a whisker of a third that would have been enough to keep them in second.

AAP/ABC