Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 6, 2016 - Egyptian teenagers Doaa Elghobashy/Nada Meawad make their country's Olympic debut against Germany's Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst, in a pool D match to wrap up the afternoon session on day two. The German's are the hottest team on the FIVB tour, with six final fours in the last seven events, including four gold medals, while the Egyptians have never played in FIVB World Tour competition.
Head to Head
The two teams have never met in FIVB World Tour competition.
Historically the #4 seed has won all four Olympic Games matches over the #21 seed, and all in straight sets. Longest match of the four was onlly 38 minutes, won by Athen's bronze medalists, Holly McPeak/Elaine Youngs of the United States over Norway's Susanne Glesnes/Kathrine Maaseide, 21-14 and 21-14.
Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst, Germany, Seed #4, Pool D, Qualified 4th with 6,500 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Laura: January 13, 1986 (30y6m24d), 181 cm (5'11"), 70 kg (155 lbs.), Hometown Berlin, 130th FIVB World Tour event (ranks 19th), seven gold medals, $800,137 career winnings (ranks 11th)
• Kira: November 18, 1990 (25y8m19d), 184 cm (6'0"), 75 kg (167 lbs.), Hometown Essen, 43rd FIVB World Tour event, seven gold medals, $370,187 career winnings (ranks 43rd)
• Laura and Kira have been playing together since 2013. They are playing in their 37th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks 86th), seven gold medals (ranks 10th), $721,275 career winnings (ranks 12th).
• Laura has played in 33 FIVB World Tour final fours with seven gold, 11 silver, nine bronze medals and six 4th place finishes.
• Kira has played in 17 FIVB World Tour final fours with seven gold, three silver, four bronze medals and three 4th place finishes.
• Laura and Kira have played in 11 Final Fours in 2015-2016 (4th Stavanger Major 2015, Gold Yokohama Grand Slam 2015, Bronze Long Beach Grand Slam 2015, Silver World Tour Finals 2015, Gold Puerto Vallarta Open 2015-16, Gold Antalya Open 2016, Gold Hamburg Major 2016, Gold Olsztyn Grand Slam 2016, 4th Porec Major 2016, Bronze Gstaad Major 2016, Gold Klagenfurt Major 2016).
• Laura finished 9th in the Olympic Games in 2008 (Beijing) and 5th in 2012 (London), both with Sara Goller Niedrig.
• Laura and Kira finished 5th in the FIVB World Championships in 2013 (Stare Jablonki) and 17th in 2015 (The Hague).
• Laura finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships in 2005 (Berlin), 17th in 2007 (Gstaad), 9th in 2009 (Stavanger), and 9th in 2011 (Rome), all with Sara Goller Niedrig.
• Laura and Kira are currently ranked 1st in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 5,980 points and 1st in winnings with $282,375.
• Laura and Kira have a career 152-54 (73.8%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 93-28 (76.9%) record in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period.
• Laura and Kira won bronze medals at the European (CEV) Continental Championships in 2013 (Klagenfurt, Austria) and 2014 (Cagliari, Italy), and gold medals in 2015 (Klagenfurt, Austria) and 2016 (Biel, Switzerland).
• Laura won the gold medal at the CEV Continental Championships with Sara Goller Niedrig in 2008 (Hamburg, Germany) and 2010 (Berlin, Germany).
• Laura ranks 3rd with eight gold medals on the CEV Continental Tour behind Greece's Vasso Karadassiou (10) and Vasiliki Arvaniti (9).
• Laura won the gold medal at the U18 World Championships with Jana Kohler in 2003 (Pattaya, Thailand).
• Laura was named the FIVB World Tour Most Improved Player in 2007, Best Offensive Player in 2011, Best Defensive Player in 2013, Most Inspirational in 2013, and Sportsperson in 2015.
• Kira was named the FIVB World Tour Most Improved Player in 2013 and Top Rookie in 2013.
Doaa Elghobashy/Nada Meawad, Egypt, Seed #21, Pool D, Qualified through African Confederation (CAVB) Continental Cup
• Doaa: November 8, 1996 (19y8m29d), Hometown Beheira, 1st FIVB World Tour event
• Nada: April 12, 1998 (18y3m25d), 180 cm (5'11"), 71 kg (158 lbs.), Hometown Cairo, 1st FIVB World Tour event
• Doaa and Nada are playing in their 1st FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together.
• With no previous FIVB World Tour events played, Doaa and Nada are the least experienced team competing in the Rio Olympics.
• Doaa and Meawad are the first team from Egypt to compete in the Olympic Games for beach volleyball.
• Nada is the youngest women's player to compete in any of the six Olympic Games at 18 years, 3 months.
• Doaa is the second youngest women's player to compete in the Rio Olympics at 19 years, 8 months. She is sixth youngest in all Olympic Games.
• Doaa and Meawad competed with different partners in helping Egypt to secure a berth in Rio. Doaa played with Lamies Nossier and Nada with Randa Radwan. Egypt posted a 5-0 record in the mid-April African Continental Cup finals in Abuja, Nigeria. With early wins over teams from Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, and Nigeria, the Egyptians defeated Rwanda 2-1 in the finals as Doaa and Nossier won the deciding match.