European teams topping the charts in the Men's Beach Volleyball tournament
Recap
The European teams competing at the Men’s Beach Volleyball tournament at Tokyo 2020 continue with their good performance. The Polish duo Michal Bryl/ Grzegorz Fijalek join the already qualified to the eightfinals, Mol A./ Sorum C. (NOR) and Leshukov/Semenov (ROC).
The silver and the bronze medallists from Rio 2016, Nicolai/Lupo (ITA) and Brouwer/Meeuwsen (NED) respectively, recorded second victories and topping their respective pools (F and D) are guaranteed out of their pools, although they could potentially play “lucky loser”, depending on how their next matches unfold.
The Vice World Champions from Germany, Julius Thole and Clemens Wickler also had a good day, claiming first victory at the Olympic Games.
The silver medallists from Rio 2016, Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo continue on the winning path in Pool F, after delivering a 2-0 win over the Japanese Gottsu/Shiratori (21-19, 21-16). Gottsu and Shiratori were leading in the first set, but the Europeans showed nerves of steel, turning things around. The second set was a close one in the beginning, with both sides changing the leadership until the 10th point. The Italians then resisted on the pressure and scored four in a row. Overall, both teams remained concentrated throughout the match, but with five blocks by Paolo Nicolai, and 13 points each (Nicolai/Lupo), the Italians found the way to emerge victorious. Lupo and Nicolai are currently topping the charts in the pool.
Paolo Nicolai (ITA)“We have made an important step forward. We are in the best possible position after two matches here at Shiokaze Park, and we are satisfied with what we delivered.”
Katsuhiro Shiratori (JPN)“We had learned our lessons from the first match, and we could push on the serve today. However, as the match was unfolding, our opponents found their way back and emerged victorious."
The other matchup in the pool was highlighted by an all-European battle. The Vice World Champions Julius Thole and Clemens Wickler (GER) recorded their first victory at Tokyo 2020, after outclassing at 2-0 (22-20, 21-16) the Poles Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak. Both sets unfolded identically, with the Polish players starting better, and the Germans coming back to score the important points. Kantor and Losiak had their chances in the end of the first set, but Thole and Wickler were more precise. The German players scored more on their opponents errors (18), and with four blocks (to one), grabbed the important victory.
The only European team in Pool D, Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen (NED) also did their job right on Tuesday, outclassing in two sets the Argentinians Nicolas Capogrosso and Julian Amado Azaad. The bronze medallists from Rio 2016 were well in control of the match, and did not allow their opponents to show their potential. Brouwer topped the charts in the match, recording 21 points to his name. Meeuwsen, on the other hand, disappointed the opponents with as many as four successful blocks.
Robert MEEUWSEN (NED)"It’s important to win every game, and that’s how we approached the Games. We know it’s a tough pool, all the teams can beat each other. I think we’ve played two very focused games, and we’re looking forward to playing the Olympic Gold medallists, Alison Cerutti and Alvaro Filho".
The Polish duo Michal Bryl/ Grzegorz Fijalek also recorded a second victory, thus securing a ticket to the eightfinals, topping the charts in Pool E. The Europeans proved better in the match against the Chileans Marco and Esteban Grimalt, winning at 2-0 (21-16, 21-18). The Poles were well in control of the match. None of the teams put pressure on the serve (Esteban Grimalt was the only one to record an ace). While both sides showed a rather equal performance on the block (six to five for the Poles), it was the domination on the attack (31 to 23) to seal the deal for Bryl/Fijalek.
Grzegorz Fijalek (POL)“We came to the court very focused on our side, and it worked out very well. I am very happy that we could keep our level and built our shape step by step. We are not thinking about the next round yet. We still have one more game to play in this round against Brazil, and we have to play it the same way we did today, with full power and focused on every single action.”
Quote source: Volleyball World
On the women’s side, only two European teams hit the sand at the Shiokaze Park Stadium and both left the court with setbacks on pool B. Early in the day, three-time Olympians Liliana Fernandez and Elsa Baquerizo of Spain were defeated by Americans April Ross and Alix Klineman in two sets (21-13, 21-16).
The Spanish had to adjust to different conditions than they found earlier in the tournament as they played on cloudier and windier weather.
Elsa Baquerizo“Weather conditions change your game a little bit. When it's windy you have to play a little lower. There's just details you have to change, you can't play the same way you always play. But it's part of beach volleyball, we’re used to it.”
Two-time EuroBeachVolley winners Sanne Keizer and Madelein Meppelink of the Netherlands, who had lost to the Spanish on their opening match, are in a difficult situation after they were upset by Chinese Chen Xue and Xinxin Wang in threes sets (21-19, 29-31, 13-15).
The winless Dutch will now face the undefeated Americans in a win-or-go-home match at the conclusion of pool play on Friday while the Spanish will try to secure their second win in Tokyo and a spot in the Round of 16 against the Chinese.