Betschart and Huberli are the first women’s pool winners in Tokyo
Recap
Swiss Nina Betschart and Tanja Huberli and Germans Laura Ludwig and Margareta Kozuch are guaranteed in the Round of 16 of the Tokyo Olympics as they claimed the top two spots of Pool F, the first among the women to complete its schedule at the Shiokaze Park Stadium on Wednesday. Victories on Pools D and E have placed other European duos in great position to do the same in the next few days.
The top-placed European team in the Olympic rankings, Betschart and Huberli were undefeated on pool play as they prevailed in all their matches in Tokyo, including a meeting with Japanese Miki Ishii and Megumi Murakami they won 2-1 (14-21, 21-19, 15-12) on Wednesday. Huberli was instrumental in the victory with 26 points in attacks and three aces.
Reigning Olympic champion Ludwig and her partner Kozuch secured their second win in Tokyo as Czechs Marketa Slukova and Barbora Hermannova, who they were supposed to face on their final pool match, had to forfeit due to a positive COVID-19 result.
European teams on Pool D and E also played in the fifth day of competition in the Japanese capital. Latvians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka secured their first win in the tournament as they downed Brazilians Ana Patricia Ramos and Rebecca Cavalcanti in three sets (21-15, 12-21, 15-12). Graudina was targeted by most Brazilian serves and responded with 26 points in attacks and six aces.
Anastasija Kravcenoka“Just like our first match, this one was decided in the final points. But this time we won the final points. Both teams had ups and downs but it was an exciting match for those watching. We feel great now with our first victory at the Olympics but there’s still a lot more to come.”
The Latvians will advance directly to the Round of 16 if they defeat Kenyans Brackicides Khadambi and Gaudencia Makokha on Saturday, in their final Pool D match.
On Pool E, Nadezda Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina, who represent the Russian Olympic Committee, secured their second straight-set victory in the tournament as they downed Cubans Leila Martinez and Lidiannis ‘Lidy’ Echeverria 2-0 (21-16, 21-11).
On the same pool, Italians Marta Menegatti and Viktoria Orsi Toth put up a good fight, but eventually fell to Australians Mariafe Artacho and Taliqua Clancy in two sets (20-22, 19-21). The Italians have now lost both of their matches in Tokyo.
Guaranteed in the Round of 16, the teams from the ROC and Australia will clash for the top spot of the pool on Friday, when the Italians will need to defeat the Cubans to finish third and move to the elimination round.
As many as five men's European teams entered the courts at Shiokaze Park on Wednesday.
An all-European battle for the third place in Pool C is scheduled for this Friday, as both the two European teams in the group lost on Wednesday (Swiss Heidrich/Gerson to USA's Gibb/Bourne and Italians Carambula/Rossi to Qataris Cherif/Ahmed).
The Spanish Herrera/Gavira kept their chances of continuing ahead alive as they outclassed the Aussies McHugh/Schumann in Pool A. Later on that day, the number 2 team in the world (FIVB ranking as of July 26), the Norwegians Mol/Sorum suffered their first defeat in the Olympics. ROC's representatives, Iliya Leshukov and Konstanting Semenov proved better in the direct clash for the first place in the group.
The Swiss duo Adrian Heidrch/Mirco Gerson are still winless at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games as early in the Wednesday morning recorded second loss in Pool C. They were outperformed by the USA team Jacob Gibb/Tri Bourne, who seized a 2-0 win (21-19, 23-21). Heidrich and Gerson had their chances, especially in the second set, when they were leading until the 13th point. The Swiss were better on attack, finishing with as many as 29 points (19 for Gibb/Bourne), but too many errors (20) allowed their opponents to grab the victory. Jacob Gibb was above all on the block, recording three successful actions, while Heidrich/Gerson couldn’t find their game on this component.
Mirco Gerson (SUI)“You could see that today our opponents controlled the game. They were more confident than us in the important balls, and I believe that this mentality sealed the deal for them. It made the difference.”
The other European team in Pool C, Adrian Carambula/ Enrico Rossi also suffered a defeat on Wednesday. The Italian side met on the court at Shiokaze Park the Qataris Younousse
Cherif/Tijan Ahmed, and lost at 0-2 (22-24, 13-21). In a dramatic first set, Carambula and Rossi were leading, but then lost control in the last and most important moments. The Italians then struggled in the second set and couldn’t find their way back. Cherif/Ahmed had better efficiency on attack (27 to 23) and were slightly better on the block (six to four).
Adrian Carambula (ITA)“We should have showed mental toughness, but we failed to do so. We entered the second set with the wrong mentality. Now, we have to recover and beat the Swiss team on Friday.”
The Spanish legends, Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira are back in the game in Pool A, after winning at 2-0 (21-16, 21-16) over the Aussies Christopher McHugh and Damien Schumann. The European team seized the important victory for only 36 minutes, and still have a chance to continue ahead. Herrera and Gavira were well in control of the whole match, dominating across all the two sets. They outclassed their opponents on all counts, besides the serving (McHugh aced two times, while Gavira recorded one direct serve point). The Spanish finished with 25 winning spikes (15 by Herrera and 10 by Gavira), while McHugh became top scorer with 16 points to his name (Schumann added six for his team).
Adrian Gavira (ESP)“We felt the pressure today. We knew that a loss would have meant that we were out of the competition. We fought hard and, at the same time, enjoyed being on the court. We had many difficult moments last year due to the coronavirus; I still suffer from some post-Covid effects.”
The Russians Iliya Leshukov and Konstantin Semenov disappointed the Beachvolley vikings from Norway Anders Mol and Christian Sorum in the last match of the day at Shiokaze Park. Leshukov/Semenov claimed a 2-0 win (21-19, 21-19) and finish the group phase topping the charts in Pool A. It was a close call in the first set, but the Russians were able to establish their rhythm and start controlling the game.
Both Anders Mol and Konstantin Semenov aced three times each. The teams also performed rather equally on attack (26 to 24 for the Russians), but the five blocks delivered by Semenov (to only one by Mol) made the difference.
Historically, this is the first victory for Leshukov/Semenov over Mol/Sorum.