RIATH AL-SAMARRAI IN TOKYO: Feathers flew and one of the brightest boxing talents in Team GB fell. In what amounts to an enormous setback for Rob McCracken's gilded programme, Peter McGrail was beaten in Tokyo by a combination of bad luck and a good Thai on Saturday. In regards to the poor fortune, it came from McGrail being unseeded, despite the Liverpool featherweight holding medals at world, European and Commonwealth level. In turn he was given a brutally tough opening-round pairing with Chatchai-Decha Butdee and lost by unanimous decision. The size of that disappointment can be measured by knowing McGrail, 25, was considered one of the strongest contenders for gold in a team that is hardly short of talent.

It remained level at half-time, but Britain enjoyed a dominant second period and claimed maximum points in the Pool B encounter through goals from Liam Ansell and Jack Waller. Britain face Canada on Monday in their next game in a group that also includes Holland, Belgium and Germany.

DAVID COVERDALE IN TOKYO: Kohei Uchimura is one of his country's most revered athletes having won eight Olympic medals, including three golds, most notably the last two all-around titles. Having struggled with injury since Rio 2016, the 32-year-old was only competing in the high bars here in search of one last gong before he retires. However, a nation was in mourning when Uchimura crashed to the mat in qualifying - ending his hopes of reaching the final and bringing an unhappy ending to his storied career.

The Tokyo Olympics officially kicked off this week with an unexpected feature from a UK star.  Viewers were left shocked as Susan Boyle, 60, made a guest appearance at the opening ceremony on Friday - through the stadium speakers.  Event organisers selected Susan's ballad Wings To Fly to wow the crowd as paper doves were released in the Tokyo Olympic Stadium. 

World number one Novak Djokovic safely negotiated the opening hurdle in his bid for a first Olympic gold medal by beating Bolivia's Hugo Dellien 6-2 6-2. Djokovic, who is looking to become the first man to win a Golden Slam of all four grand slam titles and singles gold in the same year, eased past his lowly-ranked opponent in just 61 minutes. The Serbian, who added the Wimbledon title as his 20th Grand Slam victory in June, extended his unbeaten run to 19 matches in a match where after a sluggish start, he dominated his opponent for the rest of the match.

After a year's delay, the Tokyo Olympics are finally under way and there's already been plenty of action involving Team GB in Japan.  Sir Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury marked themselves out as medal contenders with a brilliant first-round performance in the men's doubles at the Ariake Tennis Park. The pair had a tough draw against second seeds and Roland Garros champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut but they brushed the French pair aside in a 6-3, 6-2 victory.

European 400m champion Matthew Hudson-Smith (left) has pulled out of the Olympics on medical grounds. Team GB confirmed the 26-year-old has withdrawn, although it is not Covid-19 related. Joe Brier (right) will take Hudson-Smith's place in the 4x400m relay squad having initially been a travelling reserve in Tokyo.

NICK FAGGE AND SHEKHAR BHATIA IN TOKYO: British gymnast Max Whitlock's number one fan urged him on as he began the defence of his two Olympic gold medals in Tokyo today. Two-year-old daughter Willow wished her dad 'Good Luck' and shouted 'Go GB' in a heart-moving home video, recorded by his wife Leah at the family home in Essex early this morning. Whitlock, who won two gold medals and a bronze at Rio 2016 and two bronzes at London 2012, shared the sweet film on his Instagram.

IAN HERBERT: The 12-year-old Syrian table tennis player arrived in slightly baggy shorts and grey T-shirt with her long hair in a green scrunchie and stood rather awkwardly while the umpires took their places. Her 39-year-old Austrian opponent's immaculate Olympic apparel revealed the different worlds they occupy. Hend Zaza, the youngest Olympian since 11-year-old Beatrice Hustiu competed in figure skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics, has struggled at times to find tables to play on amid the conflict which has ravaged her country. Municipal sports hall and garages have had to do. Here, in an preliminary round session on the first full morning of competition was the very essence of the Olympics. No surprise that besieged Syria, which has sent only five competitors here, selected Zaza as their flag bearer on Friday night, even though those duties kept her up later than she is accustomed.

Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury marked themselves out as medal contenders with a brilliant first-round performance in the men's doubles at the Ariake Tennis Park. The pair had a tough draw against second seeds and Roland Garros champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut but they brushed the French pair aside in a 6-3, 6-2 victory. Salisbury and Murray had never played a match together before but the former is Britain's best doubles player while Murray also has plenty of experience in the format.

Thomas (top left) was bidding to avoid the same heartbreak of Rio de Janeiro five years ago, when he also came off his bike in the road race (bottom left). The 35-year-old had suffered two crashes at last month's Tour, also. However, the Welshman and Great Britain team-mate Tao Geoghegan Hart were caught in a spill (main) around 70 kilometres into the 234km race to the Fuji International Speedway, after Hart's front wheel came off, with Thomas landing on his right side. Thomas got back on his bike (bottom left) and after visiting the medical car, Thomas managed to hunt down and rejoin the peloton before the Fuji Sanroku climb, the biggest climb of the road race. However, he later withdrew from the road race with 60km remaining as Ecuador's Richard Carapaz won Gold.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI IN TOKYO: Britain's first shot at a medal at these Olympics went the way of the last from Seonaid McIntosh's air rifle on Saturday - off target. The Scot was seen as a viable top-three contender in the 10m shooting and held the possibility of getting Team GB off the mark in the very first medal contest of the Games. However, after taking herself to the brink of qualifying for the eight-woman final in stifling heat, her 60th and final shot of the day was also her worst and left her down in 12th.

Galashina barely made it to the final, grabbing the last of the eight qualifying slots, but was in pole position for gold until she cracked under the pressure. Her last shot of 8.9 was the lowest of any competitor in the final, leaving her on a total of 251.1. Yang was not immune to the pressure at the Asaka Shooting Range but her below-par final shot of 9.8 was still enough to snatch the gold with an Olympic record total of 251.8.

Helen Glover launched her bid for a third Olympic gold medal and insisted there was more to come. The two-time Olympic champion finished third in her women's pairs heat with Polly Swann as they opened their Games campaign on Saturday. The duo clocked in seven minutes 23.98 seconds behind Australia and the ROC, the Russian Olympic Committee, at the Sea Forest Waterway.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI IN TOKYO: A judoka from Algeria has been suspended from his sport after choosing to withdraw from the Olympics rather than face an Israeli. Fethi Nourine (left) was due up against Israeli Tohar Butbul (right picture, right) in the second round of the 73kg division if he got past Mohamed Abdalrasool of Sudan on Monday, but pulled out because of his support for Palestine. Nourine said: 'We worked a lot to reach the Olympics. But the Palestinian cause is bigger than all of this.'