Women’s Olympic medal winners maintain pace as attention turns to Round of 16

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 12, 2016 - When elimination play opens here Saturday in the women’s beach volleyball competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic, three players are still competing for a return visit to the podium while one team is seeking to better their previous finish in the “Summer” Games.

Three-time Olympic champion Kerri Walsh Jennings along with London 2012 medal winners April Ross (silver) and Larissa Franca (bronze) will be competing with different partners this time around.  The Spanish team of Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez will be seeking to improve their ninth-place finish at the Horse Guards Parade event four years ago.

Larissa is now playing with Talita Antunes for Brazil as the pair is the top-seeded team in the Rio quadrennial. Walsh Jennings and Ross are now combining their talents for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Both “new” teams won their Rio Olympic pools

Here is the women’s Round of 16 schedule that will be played Friday and Saturday.

Friday, August 12

11.00 local time - Fan Wang/Yuan Yue, China (No. 15 seed overall) vs. Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas, Brazil (2)

16.00 - Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca, Brazil (1) vs. Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, Germany (8)

19.00  - 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

12.00 - Heather Bansley/Sarah Pavan, Canada (5) vs. Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas, Canada (16)

15.00 - Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre, Switzerland (10) vs. Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst, Germany (4)

20.00 - Madelein Meppelink/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands (6) vs. Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland (17)

23.00 - Monika Brzostek/Kinga Kolosinska, Poland (12) vs. Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy, Australia (7)


Quick links - Beach volleyball:
Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Beach volleyball
Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Beach volleyball schedule
Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Beach volleyball - Teams - Men
Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Beach volleyball - Teams - Women
Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Beach volleyball - Media Guide
Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Beach volleyball history