European champs Huberli & Brunner knock out world champs Hughes & Cheng
Clancy on the serve
The first tickets to the semifinals of the women’s Olympic beach volleyball tournament in Paris went to Australia’s Mariafe Artacho Del Solar & Taliqua Clancy and Switzerland’s Tanja Huberli & Nina Brunner. In the fantastic evening ambience of the Eiffel Tower Stadium on Tuesday, they earned those tickets with quarterfinal victories over Switzerland’s Esmee Bobner & Zoe Verge-Depre and reigning world champions Sara Hughes & Kelly Cheng of the United States, respectively.
In a hard-fought three-set battle Tokyo 2020 silver medallists Mariafe & Clancy celebrated a 2-1 (21-19, 16-21, 15-12) victory over Esmee & Zoe, improving to a 4-1 win-loss record in Paris, handing the opponents their first defeat under the Eiffel Tower and qualifying for the semifinals.
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The 16th-seeded Swiss team had the advantage early into the first set, but after 15-15, the 14th-seeded Australians turned things around and managed to close the set their way on a serving error by the opponents. Things went the other way around in set two, with the Aussies having the initiative initially and the Swiss taking over after 15-15 to level the match on an ace by Esmee for the set winner. Esmee & Zoe were able to come back from a three-point deficit in the third set and level it at 8-8, only to let Mariafe & Clancy in front again. A long shot by the Swiss handed the 15-12 match winner to the Aussies.
Clancy was the best scorer of the match with 22 points, including four kill blocks and an ace. Mariafe added another 17 points, including two aces. Esmee led the Swiss team with 19 points.
Triumphant Clancy & Mariafe
“We are just so proud of how we really stayed true and trusted our game, even though things weren’t always perfect,” Clancy said after the match. “We know what we are capable of and we know that if we played our best, it doesn’t need to be perfect for us to get the win. Every Olympics is not the same. There are new teams and the teams are stronger than they’ve ever been as well. It’s all about the growth of our sport. We will take it one step at a time and enjoy this moment with our families and friends, we will recover and then we’ll come back for the semis.”
“It was great teamwork. When one of us is down, the other one has her back. As T already said, we were really patient and we trusted what we are capable of,” Mariafe added.
In one of Thursday’s semifinals, Mariafe & Clancy will take on the winner of Wednesday’s quarterfinal between Brazil’s Ana Patricia Ramos & Eduarda Santos Lisboa (Duda) and Latvia’s Tina Graudina & Anastasija Samoilova.
Huberli in attack
Seventh-seeded Huberli & Brunner continued their impeccable run at Paris 2024 and recorded their fifth straight-set victory in a row. This time, they mastered a 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) shutout of world champs Hughes & Cheng, seeded third in the Olympic main draw, putting a stop to their streak of four wins in a row and eliminating them from further contention.
Huberli & Brunner took over the scoreboard after 5-5 in the first set and never allowed the Americans to catch up until Brunner’s swing ended the set at 21-18. Riding the momentum, the Swiss took the early lead in the second set, but this time Hughes & Cheng managed to level up at 11-11 and even break away with a 14-12 lead. However, the reigning European champions continued their push, regained control in the money time and Huberli’s tip for 21-19 stamped their ticket to the semis.
Huberli led the way with 18 points, including three aces and two blocks. Brunner contributed 17 points to the team’s victory. Also with 17 points to her name, Cheng was the best scorer on the American side.
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In their semifinal, Huberli & Brunner will face the winner of Wednesday’s quarterfinal between Spain’s Daniela Alvarez & Tania Moreno and Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes & Brandie Wilkerson.
Olympic Games Paris 2024 Beach Volleyball: schedule and results
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