2015-06-12 13:50:00 CEST
Friday Midday: Charge toward Quarter Finals
With medal matches only a day away, sixteen women's beach volleyball teams contested morning elimination matches at the Stavanger Major on June 12. In men's Pool play, Brazilian legends crushed American hopes.
Women's teams from Canada, Poland, Brazil, Switzerland, Russia, Slovakia, Spain and Australia overcame their Elimination round opponents at the Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series stop in Stavanger, Norway on Friday morning. Among the highlights:
In a rematch of the Poreč Major Bronze medal bout that they lost less than a week earlier, the Canadian pair of Jamie Broder and Kristina Valjas were looking for retribution. But they were denied by Australia's Louise Bawden and Taliqua Clancy, who threw down a convincing two-set win and continued their march toward a second consecutive Swatch Major Series medal. To make it to the Quarter Finals, the 15 seed Aussies will have to survive an afternoon match against 25 seed Argentinian women who have been obliterating higher seeds all week, Ana Gallay and Georgina Klug.
Brazilian disappointments continued with the elimination of Taiana Lima and Fernanda Berti. However their fourth-seed countrywomen Juliana Silva and Maria Antonelli beat a Swiss team, leaving them three hours to recuperate before playing the charging Czechs, Kristyna “Kiki” Kolocova and Marketa “Maki” Slukova, in front of the Center Court grandstands. Meanwhile, Spain's Liliana Fernandez and Elsa Baquerizo prevailed against Austria to set up themselves up for an afternoon challenge against the reigning European champions, Marleen van Iersel and Madelein Meppelink of the Netherlands.
The talk of the morning's Pool play for men was a do-or-die match between archrivals Brazil and the USA. The 2004 Olympic champions Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego were desperate to keep their hopes alive, and they succeeded, sealing the fate of Americans Sean Rosenthal and Stafford Slick in just two sets. Among the 24 men’s teams still to play in the afternoon are the three host-country teams remaining in the tournament – all on Center Court – as well as Brazilian top seeds Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt.
Women's Quarter Finals are slated to begin at 18:00 CET Friday, followed by their Semi Finals and the Medal Rounds on Saturday.
Photocredit: Joerg Mitter for Limex Images
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