Beijing, China, August 15, 2008 - The “Elite Eight” for the women’s Beach Volleyball competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is set with a lot of familiar faces, except for the young Austrian sisters after Doris and Stefanie Schwaiger gained a spot for the quarter-finals here Friday by upsetting the 2008 European champions. Two teams each from Brazil, China and the United States are joined by the Austrians and the perennial Olympic contenders from Australia for Sunday’s quarter-finals at the 12,200-seat Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground as Friday’s schedule featured the first eight elimination bracket matches. Seeded 18th in the competition while participating as the first women’s team from their country in the Beach Volleyball Olympics, the Schwaigers finished second in their pool to advance to the single-elimination rounds where the Austrians posted a 23-21, 11-21 and 18-16 win in over ninth-seeded Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig of Germany. With the 55-minute win, the Schwaigers face top-seeded Jia Tian and Jie Wang as the Chinese won their fourth-straight match of the competition by eliminating 11th-seeded Nila Ann Hakedal and Ingrid Torlen of Norway with a 21-13 and 21-15 in 37 minutes. “We just keep playing hard and hoping for the best,’ said the 23-year old Doris Schwaiger. “We have missed qualifying for the quarter-finals in so many events as it seems we are stuck with ninth-place finishes. Tonight, we played very poorly in the second set, but were able to finish out the first and third sets against a very good team. The Germans out-played us for most of the match, but we were able to play very well at the right time. With a fifth-place guaranteed in Beijing, the best previous finishes by the Schwaigers were sevenths on three different occasions, including one during the Olympic qualifying cycle at Stare Jablonki, Poland. The first two sevenths were at 2006 FIVB stops in Italy and Warsaw, Poland. Against Tian and Wang, the Austrians are winless in three matches with no meetings in 2008. Also winning their way to “Elite Eight” spots Friday evening were the teams of fourth-seeded Chen Xue/Xi Zhang of China, and the Brazilian tandems of sixth-seeded Talita Antunes/Renata Ribeiro and third-seeded Ana Paula Connelly/Larissa Franca. Brazil is seeking their fourth-straight trip to the Olympic gold medal match after Sandra Pires and Jackie Silva captured the title in 1996 (Atlanta) while Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede had second-place finishes in 2000 (Sydney) and 2004 (Athens). After the Schwaigers win, Xue and Zhang ousted 17th-seeded Milagros Crespo/Imara Esteves Ribalta of Cuba 21-19 and 21-13 in 42 minutes with Talita and Renata rallied to defeat 12th-seeded Susanne Glesnes and Kathrine Maaseide of Norway 12-21, 21-19 and 15-13 in 51 minutes. Ana Paula and Larissa Franca netted the final quarter-final berth with a 21-18 and 21-14 win in 40 minutes over eighth-seeded Stephanie Pohl and Okka Rau of Germany. American teams earning spots in the “Elite Eight” Friday morning were second-seeded Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh and fifth-seeded Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs. The Australia representative in the quarter-finals will be 10th-seeded Tamsin Barnett and Natalie Cook. The reigning Olympic champions, May-Treanor and Walsh extended their international winning streak to 66-straight victories with a 24-22 and 21-10 triumph in 38 minutes over 13th-seeded Liesbeth Mouha and Liesbet Van Breedam of Belgium. Friday was also Walsh’s 30th birthday. Branagh and Youngs advanced with a 21-15 and 21-13 victory in 38 minutes over 14th-seeded Dalixia Fernandez Grassett and Tamara Larrea Peraza of Cuba. Barnett and Cook out-lasted 16th-seeded Efthalia Koutroumanidou and Maria Tsiartsiani of Greece 22-20, 19-21 and 15-12 in 58 minutes. |
