Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 8, 2016 - After placing 25th this past March at the Rio Grand Slam event on the FIVB World Tour, Louise Bawden and Taliqua Clancy of Australia were obviously looking for a much better result on their next appearance on Copacabana.
Mission accomplished for the Aussies as Bawden and Clancy have won their first two matches in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games to secure a guaranteed ninth-place finish in the competition after defeating Norisbeth Agudo and Olaya Pazo of Venezuela 2-0 (21-9, 21-14) win in 32 minutes here late Monday evening in a Pool F match.
Except for Clancy’s service error to start the match, the Aussies were in complete control of the match against Agudo and Pazo, who earned their berth in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games by winning the South American Continental Cup playoffs at the end of June in Argentina.
Bawden and Clancy now play Madelein Meppelink and Marleen Van Iersel of The Netherlands Wednesday for the Pool F title and the sixth-seeded spot in the elimination bracket. The Dutch improved to 2-0 Monday by posted a 2-0 (21-16, 21-16) win in 36 minutes over Natalia Alfaro and Karen Charles of Costa Rica.
The Aussies hold a 5-2 edge in the international series with Meppelink and Van Iersel.
With three teams from each Rio pool advancing to the knockout rounds, the winner of the Agudo/Pazo versus Alfaro/Charles contest Wednesday will either advance to Thursday’s “lucky loser” round or the 16-team elimination bracket. The two teams have never met internationally.
