Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 6, 2016 - Louise Bawden and Taliqua Clancy had an experience advantage for their opening match in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as the Australians defeated Natalia Alfaro and Karen Charles of Costa Rica in the first women’s match of the competition at the 12,000-seat “Coliseu on Copacabana”.
Competing in Pool F, Bawden and Clancy scored a 2-0 (21-15, 21-14) win in 42 minutes over their Costa Rica rivals in the third of four matches in the morning session of the first-day of Beach Volleyball competition in the Copacabana quadrennial.
While Bawden and Clancy qualified for their spot in the Olympics via the FIVB World Tour while Alfaro and Charles earned their Rio berth at the end of June by winning the NORCECA Continental Cup competition in Mexico. The Australians entered the Rio event with 38 events and 172 matches to their credit on the FIVB World Tour while Alfaro and Charles had played in only six world tour tournaments with 13 matches on their log.
The Australians never trailed in the opening set and fell behind 0-1, 2-3 and 2-4 in the second set against Alfaro and Charles. With the second set tied at 5-5, Clancy took charge and provided all the scoring in leading her team to a 12-5 lead.
Both teams return to action Monday with Bawden and Clancy playing Norisbeth Agudo and Olaya Pazo of Venezuela, who earned their spot in the Rio Olympics by winning the South American confederation’s Continental Cup competition in Argentina at the end of June. The Costa Ricans play Pool F’s top seeds, Madelein Meppelink and Marleen Van Iersel of the Netherlands.
