Olympic Updates 2012: Breaking Down Intriguing Day 4 Results from London Games

Day 4 from the 2012 London Olympics has already gotten off to a blistering start, with some exciting competition and surprising results in several of the Games' marquee sports and events.

The knockout stages have arrived in women's table tennis, and the men are still battling it out for volleyball supremacy on the beach. That's not all that Day 4 has to offer though.

Here are some of the intriguing results from Day 4's early action in London. 

Women's Table Tennis Quarterfinals

Although most viewers question table tennis' status as a sport in the Olympic Games every four years, all it takes is a few seconds of watching the competitors go at each other to realize that it takes an incredible amount of coordination and talent to be successful. 

Singapore's Feng Tianwei edged South Korean Kim Kyungah in one of three quarterfinal matchups that concluded early on Day 4 in London. Tianwei won 4-2, and will advance to the semifinals to face China's Ding Ning. Meanwhile Japan's Ishikawa Kasumi also advanced to the semifinals. All three female competitors will be in the running for a podium finish.

The winner of the last quarterfinal match between Dutch player Jiao Li and China's Li Xiaoxia will make up the final spot in the semifinals, which begin later on Day 4. The gold and bronze medal matches will be played on Day 5, wrapping up the women's singles tournament. 

Men's Beach Volleyball Group Play

A pair of men's beach volleyball group matches unfolded early on Day 4, with the Czech Republic and Brazil both finding the results they were looking for on the European sand. The Brazilian men's squad of Emanuel Rego and Alison Cerutti swept through the Swiss team of Patrick Heuscher and Jefferson Bellaguarda, beating them 21-17, 21-12.

In a much more thrilling match, the Czech team of Petr Benes and Premysl Kubala took down the Japanese tandem of Kentaro Asahi and Katsuhiro Shiratori despite dropping the first set 21-17. Benes and Kubala stormed back and won the third and decisive set in dominant fashion, 15-7. Benes served the fastest ball of the match, smoking a 52 mph service to Japan.

Men's Judo Quarterfinals

American Travis Stevens gave the United States another hope for a medal finish in 2012 when he defeated Brazilian Leandro Guilheiro in the quarterfinals of the men's half middleweight judo. Stevens used seoi-nage technique to edge Guilheiro and set himself up for a matchup with German Ole Bischof. The semifinals will be later on in Day 4, followed by the gold and bronze medal matches. 

South Korea's Kim Jae-Bum and Russia's Ivan Nifontov will go head-to-head in the other semifinal to determine which athlete goes to the gold medal match.

Stevens is the only American in the half middleweight judo competition, and has survived several grueling rounds so far. He will face off against the defending champion in Bischof, the man who beat him in the Round of 16 in Beijing four years ago. 

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