Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 9, 2016 - The first of two “Movin’ Days” at the 12,000-seat “Coliseu on Copacabana” will be played here Wednesday with the 12-match Beach Volleyball schedule at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games determining the first set of qualifiers for the elimination rounds of the competition.
Two of the 12 matches Wednesday will feature pairs with 2-0 records in women’s Pools B and F with the winners earning the second- and sixth-seeded spot in the 16-team elimination bracket, respectively. The seeds for the losing tandems will be determined at a draw early Friday morning following the playing of the “lucky losers” matches.
The Pool B match of 2-0 teams has 2015 FIVB world champions Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas of Brazil playing Elsa Baquerizo and Liliana Fernandez of Spain. The Brazilians hold a 4-1 edge in the international series between the two teams.
The Pool F confrontation pits Madelein Meppelink and Marleen Van Iersel of The Netherlands against Louise Bawden and Taliqua Clancy of Australia. The team from “down under” has won five of the seven international encounters between the two teams.
One women’s and two men’s team will be in the spotlight as each pair sits alone at the top of their pool with 2-0 records. This includes April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings in women’s Pool C and the men’s tandems of Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri of Italy (Pool A) and Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen of The Netherlands (Pool B).
Men’s Pool F features four teams with 1-1 records where the two victorious teams Wednesday will have to compare scores to determine the group winner. The final pool matches pits Alexander Huber/Robin Seidl of Austria against Jefferson Santos Pereira/Cherif Younousse of Qatar and Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson of the United States meeting Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera of Spain.
Huber and Seidl currently have the edge in plus-minus points with a plus-7 total followed by the Americans (plus-4), the Spaniards (plus-1) and Jefferson/Cherif (minus-12). With only three teams advancing from each group to the knockout rounds, one of the two Pool F losing teams with the worst point ratio will be eliminated from the competition.