Getting charged up for Sunday's quarter-finals is Sarah Pavan of Canada.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 13, 2015 - Women’s pairs from Australia, Canada, Germany and Switzerland captured the last four women’s quarter-final berths here Saturday in the Beach Volleyball competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on iconic Copacabana.
The four countries join two tandems from Brazil and teams from Russia and the United States in the “Elite 8” where the quarter-final matches will be played Sunday to set the field for Tuesday’s semi-finals. The women’s medal matches will be play Wednesday followed by the men’s podium placing confrontations on Thursday.
Winning “Sweet 16” matches Saturday in order were Heather Bansley/Sarah Pavan of Canada, Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst of Germany, Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr of Switzerland and Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy of Australia with the last two contests being three-setters.
Qualifying for the “Elite 8” Friday were Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca and Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas of Brazil, Ekaterina Birlova/Evgeniya Ukolova of Russia and April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings of the United States. Each of those matches were two-setters.
Bansley and Pavan opened women’s play Saturday by eliminating compatriots Jamie Broder and Kristina Valjas of Canada 2-0 (21-16, 21-11) in 36 minutes. Next up was Ludwig and Walkenhorst 2-0 (21-19, 21-10) win in 34 minutes over Isabelle Forrer and Anouk Verge-Depre of Switzerland.
Saturday’s women’s action ended with Heidrich and Zumkehr ousting Madelein Meppelink and Marleen Van Iersel of The Netherlands 2-1 (19-21, 21-13, 15-10) in 58 minutes followed by Bawden and Clancy eliminating Monika Brzostek and Kinga Kolosinska of Poland 2-1 (15-21, 21-16, 15-11) in 51 minutes.
Here is Sunday’s women’s quarter-final schedule (all times local).
4 p.m. - Bansley/Pavan, Canada (No. 5-seeded team) vs. Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst, Germany (4)
5 p.m. - Talita/Larissa, Brazil (1) vs. Heidrich/Zumkehr, Switzerland (17)
11 p.m. - Agatha/Barbara, Brazil (2) vs. Birlova/Ukolova, Russia (24)
11:59 p.m. - Ross/Walsh Jennings, United States (3) vs. Bawden/Clancy, Australia (7)
