Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 14, 2016 – Germany’s Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst advanced to the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games beach volleyball semifinals when they defeated Canada’s Heather Bansley and Sarah Pavan 2-0 (21-14, 21-14) at the Copacabana Beach Arena on Sunday.
Here’s what they said after the match….
Laura Ludwig, Germany
“I’m afraid it was too good, but a lot of things went very well. Serving went way better than the other games and I think our crew prepared us really well with our strategy.
“I think we’ve almost always lost to them before, so we definitely wanted to change a little bit and there was a big focus on that from the beginning to the end. I’m just pleased we can play two more matches on this court.
“The boys (London 2012 gold medallists Jonas Reckermann and Julius Brink, Germany) did it well. I was there in the stadium and the feeling was ‘if they can do it, I want to work hard to do it as well’. Now we have the chance, but we still have to go from game to game. There are lots of good teams left.”
Sarah Pavan, Canada
“Right now I think they’re the team to beat. Everybody on Tour (FIVB World Tour) has been struggling to beat them this year and if they play the way the just did I think they can win it all.
“Everything has come together for them this year. They’re really good from the baseline with their serving. Offensively both are them are very versatile and rangy and it is hard to get a handle on them. Kira is great at the net and she has a great defender behind her.”
Heather Bansley, Canada
“Germany served really well and I struggled with passing and side-out and was not nearly as consistent as I had been in the rest of the tournament and that really hurt us.”