30/07/2012 22:30
Schwaigers open path to knock-out rounds with win over Australians
2012 Olympic Games
London, Great Britain, July 30, 2012. Sisters Stefanie and Doris Schwaiger saved three match points to
start a comeback that earned them a 18-21, 22-20, 15-10 victory,
their first of the London 2012 Olympic Games, over Natalie Cook and
Tamsin Hinchley.The Australians led 20-16 in the second set, but
the Austrians rallied to win the second and then took an early lead in
the third that they held to win. Next up, they must play defending
champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the USA, so they knew a
victory was imperative.
“We were shaking a bit, but so were they
and neither side had a good match,” Stefanie Schwaiger said. “It was
important we won so that we can progress, but we knew that if we lost we
would probably not be able to go through. In the first set we
had many chances, but made a lot of mistakes. We were having trouble
maintaining the level of our play, but we grew in confidence, which was
important for the third set because it is so quick, you never know what
is going to happen".
The result means that five-time Olympian
Cook faces the possibility of marking her final international tournament
before retirement with elimination at the pool play stage. They now
need to beat Czech Republic duo Marketa Slukova and Kristyna Kolocova in
their final pool match to have any chance of reaching the knock-out
rounds. “That was a must win game for us,” she said. “You need
to be in the position where you’ve won one and even if we beat the
Czechs, I don’t know what will happen."
Birthday girl Misty
May-Treanor ensured she was smiling on her birthday after she and Kerri
Walsh secured a second victory at Horse Guards Parade. They were
pushed hard by Slukova and Kolocova, but still won 21-14, 21-19 to
stretch their Olympic matches without losing a set to 14, dating back to
Athens 2004. “There were a couple of things we had to modify and
then I think we got really focused on our own jobs,” Walsh
said. “We trust each other; we dug deep and never, ever stopped trusting
each other.”
China’s
Chen Xue and Zhang Xi got back to winning ways with a three-set victory
over Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkehr, 21-18, 16-21, 15-8. In the
first match of the tournament they slipped to a 21-18, 14-21, 14-16
loss to Russia’s Anastasia Vasina and Anna Vozakova, but appeared to be
close to their best as they beat the Swiss duo. “We wanted to
put all we had into this game,” Zhang Xi said. “We had pressure because
of our previous mistakes in losing to Russia. We played well this time."
Brazil’s
top-seeded Juliana and Larissa had a second straight impressive
performance when they overpowered Germany’s 12th-seeded Katrin Holtwick
and Ilka Semmler, 21-18, 21-13 in 42 minutes.It means the reigning FIVB world champions booked their place in the knock-out rounds without dropping a set in London.“Our
attitude during the game was perfect,” Juliana Felisberta said. “We
think about the next point and discuss how to go about it. I really want
to go to the final, but I’m only thinking about one step after the
next.”
Greece’s 14th-seeded Vasiliki Arvaniti and Maria
Tsiartsiani came from a set down to defeat Russia’s 23rd-seeded
Anastasia Vasina and Anna Vozakova, 18-21, 21-13 and 15-12 in 50 minutes
and record their first win of London 2012.
For more infomration visit www.fivb.org
|