Walsh and May-Treanor defend women’s Olympic beach volleyball gold medal to deny China
August 21, 2008
The women’s defending champions from the Athens Olympics, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh have become the first beach pairing to win two Olympic beach volleyball gold medals.
In today’s final played in heavy rain at the Chaoyang Park beach volleyball stadium the USA team were too good for the no. 1 seeded Chinese team of Tian Jia and Wang Jie. The final score was 21-18, 21-18.
Both sets were tight affairs however the USA pairing played the big points better to pull off the win. The first set was pretty much point for point and had reached 17-17. It was here that May-Treanor and Walsh won three straight points to make it 20-17. The Chinese pulled one back however that was the best they could do.
In the second set the US pairing took the early lead going out to 3-0. The margin was much the same as the score went to 6-3. The US team got their lead through good defence.
China now mounted a comeback thanks to some good serving and a good block or dig. Consecutive aces by Tian saw them take the lead at 9-8. Both teams then swapped the lead several times before the US got a slight advantage to lead 18-16.
Two errors from the US including a missed serve saw the scores back level at 18-18. Here was a crucial time. Could the Chinese push ahead to level the match at a set a piece or would the US grab the gold?
The 18-18 point had a huge rally where the Chinese were on top. After getting a good pickup Tian decided to bump the ball over deep to try for the win. May-Treanor was too good for this and got the dig and then put away the winner. After that play the US took the next three points and a Kerri Walsh spike saw them take the gold.
The difference between gold and silver to me was the better positional play of May-Treanor. She picked up some good digs playing in the shadow of the Walsh block. The digs were converted into vital points. The Chinese also could have picked up a few more points if the overhead skills of Wang were improved. Several times as she backed of the net she had the chance to play at the ball however the ball normally would fly off her hands and out of court.
Overall the Chinese can feel happy to see their players claim silver and bronze in a sport that has only recently seen them rise towards the top. Obviously for the US it was another great result in a sport that has its origins on the sands of southern California.
The gold medal in women’s beach volleyball has now been won by Brazil in 1996, Australia in 2000 and the USA in 2004 and 2008. Will 2012 be the turn of China or will another country emerge?
China wins first Olympic beach volleyball medal
August 21, 2008
China has made beach volleyball history by winning their first Olympic beach volleyball medal as Xue Chen and Zhang Xi defeated the Brazilian pairing of Renata Ribeiro and Talita Rocha in the bronze medal playoff.
The final score was 21-19, 21-17. In the first set it was a close tussle. The biggest lead came at 15-12 in favour of the Chinese. The Brazilians then ran off four straight points to lead 16-15. It then went point for point until 19-19. Here the Chinese grabbed two points to take the first set.
The second set saw the Chinese play from in front. It got as close as 18-17 late in the set before they took the last three points to make history as the first Chinese pairing to win a medal in beach volleyball at the Olympics.
Beach volleyball over the years has been dominated by teams from the USA and Brazil.
The final involves top seeds Tian Jia and Wang Jie of China playing the no. 2 seeds Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the United States.
Defending Olympic champs bumped from beach volleyball semis
August 20, 2008
The men’s beach volleyball defending champions from the Athens 2004 Olympics have gone down in a tight semifinal match against their fellow Brazilians.
The pairing of Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego were one match away from defending the gold. In today’s match Fabio Magalhaes and Marcio Araujo were too good on the day and took the match 22-20, 21-18.
Ricardo and Emanuel were up against it in the first set after falling behind at 5-10. This margin was slowly reduced and both teams found themselves level at 19-19. It was then 20-20 before the younger and taller pairing took the last two points to take the crucial first set.
In the second set the defending champions took the first point however after that they were always fighting to catch their opponents. Late in the set it was 18-19 for Ricardo/Emanuel. They were not able to score again and the pairing of Marcio Araujo/Fabio Luiz closed out the match.
They will meet the USA pairing of Philip Dalhausser and Todd Rogers who easily defeated Jorge Terceiro and Renato Gomes of Georgia 21-11, 21-13 in the first semifinal.
The men’s beach volleyball gold medal match is scheduled to take place at 11am on August 22 at the Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground.
If you don’t like to party stay away from the beach volleyball
August 19, 2008
Last night I got to experience beach volleyball Olympic style. It is a real party atmosphere and has changed a lot from the days when I played.
Every moment that the players are not in action there is a party song pumping out of the sound system. Any break in play you get to see the dancing girls strut their stuff. Even in the hey days of the AVP tour in the USA you did not get all this.
Some might say it is a bit over the top, others love it. The main event is watching the beach volleyball and there was plenty of action on the courts last night.
In the first match the Brazilian pairing of Marcio Araujo/Fabio Luiz took on Florian Gosch and Alexander Horst. The first set was tight and could have gone either way when the score was 20-20. It was however the more experiend Brazilians who took the set 22-20.
In the second set the Brazilians always held a slight advantage and they were able to use that to win the second set and a spot in the semi-finals as they completed a 22-20, 21-17 win. The Austrian’s had chances to win and played well.
In the second match the stadium came alive. It was the traditional showdown between the US and Brazil. The 2004 gold medal winners from the Athens games, Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego faced off against Sean Rosenthal and Jacob Gibb.
Gibb is just over 2 metres tall and put up some pretty big blocks for his Brazilian opponents to hit past. The shorter Brazilian’s also did pretty well in the blocking department and the crowd witnessed some huge blocks and huge spikes. Throw in some great defence and we had a great match.
The strong USA-Brazil following in the crowd added to the atmosphere. The US team pushed the defending champions in the first set and were at one stage just 18-17 down. Ricardo and Emanuel were able to hold it together and claimed the first set 21-18.
In the second set the Brazilian team slowly edged away from the USA team despite several errors coming in their play. Santos missed quite a few serves and sent some spikes long or wide by large margins. To counter this he also came up with many crucial blocks and good digs.
The match was taken 21-18, 21-16 by the big time Brazilian players. They are looking good to defend the gold medal.
One semifinal is an all Brazilian affair with the winners from the above matches meeting each other. In the other semi the USA’s Rogers/Dalhausser meet the surprise semifinalist’s of Geor/Gia from Georgia.
Cook and Barnett pull off good win over Brazilians in Beijing Beach Volleyball
August 13, 2008
Australian beach volleyball duo of Natalie Cook and Tamsin Barnett have defeated the highly rated Brazilian pair of Ana Paula and Larissa. The Brazilians were world champions in 2005 and 2007 and have been the top ranking pairing on the FIVB world tour in 2005-2006-2007.
This match was a real test for the medal aspirations of the Australians and it was one that they emerged with high hopes for the days ahead. The score was 23-21, 23-21 to the Aussie underdogs. It could not have been closer than that.
Larissa’s seven service faults helped the Australian’s to victory although this was almost offset by five service errors from Barnett. Probably the key stat for the Australians was the dig successes with 5. This allowed Cook and Barnett to edge ahead of their opponents.
The win today leaves the Australian’s undefeated after the pool stage. They topped the pool with a 3-0 record. The Brazilians took second spot. The Aussies now move into the knockout phase and will play their next match on August 16 at 9.00am against a team that places third in one of the pools.
Chinese duo overcome tough Belgium resistance in beach volleyball
August 11, 2008
Wang Jie and Tian Jia have worked hard on the Chaoyang Olympic beach volleyball stadium sands to defeat the Belgium pairing of Liesbeth Mouha and van Liesbet van Breedam in three sets.
The final score was 18-21, 21-19, 15-13. The Belgium team had several service errors at the end of the deciding third set. This helped push the Chinese over the line. In fact the match point came following a long serve from the Belgium’s.
The match had many exciting rallies with both teams throwing themselves around on the sand. You could see the players were all quite fatigued in the latter stages of the match.
In the end it was probably just the service errors that cost the Belgium pair the match.
The Chinese pairing are currently ranked as the third team on the World Beach Volleyball tour. They have won three world tour titles while playing as a pairing, the most recent came in Shanghai in 2007.
Wang Jie and Tian Jia are now 2-0 in their pool A matches while Liesbeth Mouha and van Liesbet van Breedam are 0-2.
You can view all the results and pool standings at the Beijing2008 site.
Aussie Beach Volleyball girl’s off to winning start
August 9, 2008
The Sydney Olympic gold medallist in beach volleyball, Natalie Cook, with her new partner, Tamsin Barnett has started the Beijing beach volleyball tournament with a hard fought victory over Russian pair of Uryadova/Shiryaeva.
The final score was 21-8 , 19-21, 15-12. The match was played in the heat of the day and would have been tough going for both teams. The sand temperature was close to 30 degrees celcius, while the temperature in the shade was a touch over 30. Combine this with the Beijing humidity and it is not the most pleasant weather for beach volleyball.
Cook previously won a bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics with former partner Kerrie Pottharst and gold at the Sydney Olympics also with Pottharst.
Barnett has the distinction of being a dual Olympian but in both forms of the sport. She was part of the indoor volleyball team that represented Australia at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Does the smog favor some athletes?
August 6, 2008
Earlier today I was reading an article about Australian tennis player Sam Stosur. She was saying that Beijing will be the most brutal tennis tournament in terms of the weather.
The Australian Open is hot but without the humidity. Here in Beijing you get the heat with humid conditions thrown in. Stosur said she was training and the smog haze probably kept it cooler as you did not have to contend with the extra sting from direct sunlight.
For this reason it may actually help some players when they are out in the hot Beijing weather. I can talk from personal experience that when the skies are clear and the sun is beating down it feels a lot more oppressive than when the smog filters the sunshine.
Any athlete here for the Beijing Olympics that is competing outside is going to find it tough. I can see plenty of heat related withdrawals happening in the tennis tournament. If players have not prepared for hot humid conditions they are going to struggle.
Yesterday I was watching the Australian hockey team training under the hot Beijing sun. I remember reading an article about the team in the past where they said the pollution is not the worry in Beijing it is the heat. As part of the preparation the team has been working with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
The AIS have come up with a small rice sized thermometer that the players actually swallow. The thermometer reading is then read from a scanner against the stomach of the player. This reading gives an accurate core body temperature reading. If the players are getting too hot corrective action can be taken before it is too late.
On the local Beijing news last night they were showing the beach volleyball venue in Chaoyang Park. There is nowhere to hide on the sand from the fierce playing conditions, it can be a bit like a furnace at times. They showed some fine mist sprinklers that will be used to try to help the players keep cool. I would imagine socks might be worn to protect the players feet.
I know from my playing days on the beach volleyball tour that the conditions here in Beijing are what most players hate. There are a few exceptions as some players love hot humid conditions but they are crazy if you ask me. I remember playing at Hamilton Island in Australia during summer and the heat and humidity hit you hard.
It will be an interesting two weeks. It is tough enough being a spectator. There will be long waits in security checkpoint queues and plenty of walking to get to the venues. I know Sydney was a lot more pleasant from both an athletes perspective and that of a spectator.
What do you think about the conditions in Beijing? Leave a comment below.
Olympic beach volleyball draw decided
July 31, 2008
In Lausanne on July 30 the teams to play in the Beijing Olympic beach volleyball tournament found out who they will face in first round action.
The tournament is to be held at the impressive 12,000 seat stadium in Chaoyang Park.
Both gold medallists from the Athens Olympics will be in Beijing to defend their title. USA’s Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh will open their defence with a match against Japan’s Mika Teru Saiki and Chiaki Kusuhara on Sunday, August 10, at 09:00 Beijing time. The men’s gold medallists Emanuel and Ricardo of Brazil serve it up against Angola’s Emanuel Fernandes and Morais Abreu on Saturday, August 9, at 13:00 local time.
After having been in Beijing for a day I can say it will be tough work for the beach volleyballers. The humidity will make for a sticky situation on the Chaoyang Park sands.
The Sydney Olympics women’s champion Natalie Cook will team up with her new partner Tamsin Barnett to take on Russian pairing of Uryadova and Shiryaeva.
Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh will be tested by some of the Chinese pairings who will be hoping to use the home court advantage to lift their play to a higher level and claim gold as did Pottharst and Cook in Sydney.
In the men’s event it will likely be a USA team or a Brazilian pairing who claim gold. Rogers-Dalhausser were the top team in the Olympic qualifying list. They play Samoilovs and Plavins from Latvia in their first match.
I have tickets for one session of beach volleyball so I am looking forward to checking out the action then.
Aussie beach volleyballers all set for China Olympics
July 20, 2008
The Australians who will be representing the country in the China Olympics beach volleyball tournament to be held in Beijing have been announced. One women’s pairing and one men’s pairing have qualified. The teams are:
Tamsin Barnett (VIC) and Natalie Cook (QLD)
Andrew Schacht (SA) and Joshua Slack (QLD)
Cook who is one half of the most successful Australian Olympic beach volleyball duo now makes her way to her fourth consecutive Olympics. In Atlanta, Sydney and Athens Cook teamed up with Kerri Pottharst to win a bronze medal in 1996 and a gold in front of their home crowed at the 2000 games played on Bondi Beach.
Pottharst has retired from the sport and 33-year old Cook now plays with 28-year old Tamsin Barnett. The duo have had success since pairing up and won an FIVB tour event in Seoul last year. This was just their third outing together. Since pairing up they have been consistent top ten finishers. In the 2008 season they picked up a fourth place finnish in Osaka.
Barnett has successfully made a transition from indoor volleyball to the beach as she represented Australia indoors at the Sydney Olympics. Barnett who is 193cm was voted the most improved player on the FIVB tour last year. She first started on the FIVB world beach tour in 2005.
Cook and Barnett would have to be given a good chance to take a medal home from the China Olympics.
In the men’s competition 35-year old Andrew Schacht and 31-Joshua Slack look to improve on their Athens 9th place finnish. Slack is playing his third Olympic beach volleyball tournament having also played in the Sydney Olympics with Matt Grinlaubs.
Last year at the beach volleyball world championships Schacht and Slack showed the volleyball world that they are a top class pairing as they took the bronze medal. Since then their form has been a bit up and down as they have placed 17th, 7th, 17th and 3rd in the four FIVB tournaments contested in 2008. In 2007 the Aussie’s also went well in the Montreal FIVB event taking second spot. They went close to snatching the tournament win, going down in the third set 18-16.
Going into the Beijing Olympic beach volleyball tournament Slack and Schacht would have to be given a chance of grabbing an Olympic medal. The conditions will be tough at the Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground.
I have managed to get a ticket to one of the Olympic beach volleyball sessions. With a bit of luck I will get to see some Aussie’s in action.
