Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 12, 2016 - After a woeful Wednesday where reigning FIVB world champions Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas were upset in pool play, the Brazilians had “fun” here Friday at the 12,000-seat “Coliseu on Copacabana” by eliminating a team from China to reach the women’s beach volleyball quarterfinals at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
With their 2-0 (21-12, 21-16) win in 42 minutes over Fan Wang and Yuan Yue of China, Agatha and Barbara recovered from a two-set setback Wednesday to Elsa Baquerizo and Liliana Fernandez that won the Spaniards the Pool B title with a perfect 3-0 mark with the Brazilians finishing 2-1.
Agatha and Barbara never trailed in the match as the Brazilians started quickly in the first set and increased their lead at every side switch (5-2, 9-5, 14-7 and 18-10). The second set was tied three times before the Brazilians broke from a 6-6 title with Wang and Yue to take a 13-8 lead to assume control of the match.
Friday morning’s meeting was the eighth international between the two teams with Agatha and Barbara now lead the series between the two teams at 7-1. The lone Chinese win was a in a 2014 semi-final at the Shanghai Grand Slam. Agatha and Barbara have now defeated Wang and Yue three-straight times on Copacabana with two wins last September at the Rio Open. The two teams also met in the 2015 FIVB World Championships in The Netherlands where Barbara and Agatha posted a quarter-final win enroute to their podium topping performance in The Hague two days later.
Here are the other women’s Round of 16 matches to be play.
Friday, August 12
4 p.m. - Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca, Brazil (No. 1-seeded team) vs. Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, Germany (8)
7 p.m. - Ekaterina Birlova/Evgeniya Ukolova, Russia (24) vs. Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez, Spain (11)
Midnight - April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States (3) vs. Laura Giombini/Marta Menegatti, Italy (9)
Saturday, August 13
12 p.m. - Heather Bansley/Sarah Pavan, Canada (5) vs. Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas, Canada (16)
3 p.m. - Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre, Switzerland (10) vs. Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst, Germany (4)
8 p.m. - Madelein Meppelink/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands (6) vs. Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland (17)
11 p.m. - Monika Brzostek/Kinga Kolosinska, Poland (12) vs. Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy, Australia (7)
