The sport of beach volleyball could really use some good rivalries to engage new fans. Magic Johnson vs Larry Bird, Real Madrid vs Barcelona, Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal… Some people are fans of basketball, soccer and tennis, but for those that aren’t huge fans, these rivalries still drew them in. The Elite 16 format was perfectly designed to create and foster these kind of rivalries.
The Bash Brothers and The Beachvolley Vikings have already created a much needed rivalry story line in just the second tournament. They battled for the third time this season today in Pool B. Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen got the better of Anders Mol and Christain Sorum twice in Rosarito, Mexico, but the Norwegians struck back today in pool C with a thrilling 19-21, 21-15, 18-16 win. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them meet again in the later stages in Ostrava.
That was just one of 24 matches played in Ostrava today.
The old steal works complex in Ostrava’s Lower Vitkovice industrial heritage site must be the most bizarre place these pros have ever played, but once again the Czechs are hosting a great event. Yesterday four teams from each gender battled through the qualifiers. Today, the main draw started with full pool play.
Every team gets three pool matches. Half the field goes to bed tonight with two results in the books while the other half get a double dose tomorrow.
Already into the quarterfinals
Mol and Sorum guaranteed a place in the quarters with their two wins on the day. That is also true for Alison and Guto. The Brazilians opened their Ostrava experience with a huge win over Ahmed and Cherif of Qatar. They easily dispatched Americans Tri Bourne & Trevor Crabb in their second match to ensure a place in the knockout phase. In both matches, Guto was the smallest man on the court but consistently came up with biggest plays.
In Women’s pool A, top seeds Raisa Schoon & Katja Stam showed they are deserving of their world number one rank. They won two matches against Brazilian teams, including a 21-18, 21-19 victory over Barbara and Carol. The Brazilian pair are currently number two in the world and have won two challenge events this season. Pool D confirmed two teams in the quarterfinals with Swiss women Nina Brunner & Tanja Huberli and Brazil’s Talita Antunes & Rebecca Cavalcanti both going 2-0 on the day. Nina and Tanja started the season as the top ranked team, but have slipped in the rankings. They are on the right track now after winning the qualifiers yesterday and breaking pool today. They’ll meet tomorrow to determine position in the knockout bracket but both are into the next phase.
Home stars stumble out of the gate
The last two times the World Tour stopped in Ostrava, Ondrej Perusic & David Schweiner thrilled the home fans by winning silver medals. This year they are the number one rank in Pool A as the home team. Their opening match was against hot Brazilian duo Renato & Vitor Felipe and after winning the first set, they dropped the next two in a close battle (21-17, 17-21, 19-21. The Czech men made a spectacular scramble play to save match point when trailing 16-17. Schweiner got a block soon after that and it seemed the home fans would be rewarded, but Renato and Vitor Felipe held their nerve. Vitor Felipe sided out to save match point and then picked up two digs on consecutive points. He didn’t get clean transition kills either time, but the Brazilians won both extended rallies for the final win.
Also in Group A are Spain’s Adrian Gavira & Pablo Herrera who came out of the qualifiers yesterday to beat Italians Adrian Carambula & Enrico Rossi. With two matches to go, every one of these teams has a chance to advance.
Other pool leaders
Andre Loyola & George Wanderley have won three of the last four international tournaments they’ve played in. They started pool D with a win along with Poland’s Michal Bryl & Bartosz Losiak who have started their new partnership on absolute fire. Poland narrowly escaped with a victory over Italian qualifiers Samuele Cottafava & Paolo Nicolai Italy (21-13, 18-21, 23-21). Brazil beat Czech wildcards Tomas Semerad & Jakub Sepka.
Duda & Ana Patricia Silva are expected to be the top team in the world very soon and they opened with a win against American qualifiers Terese Cannon & Sarah Sponcil (21-18, 21-10). Pool B also includes Tina Graudina & Anastasija Kravcenoka (Latvia) who beat Australians Mariafe Artacho & Taliqua Clancy in a tight 21-18, 21-19 encounter.
In what I consider the pool of death, Sara Hughes & Kelley Kolinske beat Tokyo bronze medalists Joana Heidrich & Anouk Vergé-Dépré and Germany’s Svenja Muller & Cinja Tillmann topped world champions Melissa Humana-Paredes & Sarah Pavan Canada of Canada. Both those matches went three sets. Look for some dramatic twists and turns in this pool tomorrow as they battle for a place in the knockout rounds.