PARIS: Women’s beach volleyball favorites Brazil resolutely ended the Olympic hopes of their Latvian opponents in the women’s quarter-finals Wednesday, continuing their unbeaten streak in a defiant Paris Games.
Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Eduarda Santos Lisboa fought Latvian pair Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova in a game which showcased their deserved reputation as world-class players.
The pair took a while to find their footing, however, making clunky errors in the opening minutes that saw the Latvians claim an easy first six points — before the fightback began.
The top-seeded Brazilians quickly regained and overtook lost ground to secure the first set, and by the second set there was no doubt who was in charge.
The duo made it look easy as they romped to victory in just 32 minutes, winning the second set 21/10 to the delight of an army of Brazilian fans filling the stands of the stadium in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
Supporters in green and yellow T-shirts, hats and wigs waved flags, whooping and whistling every point as though it was a gold medal.
The Brazilian victors ran around the stadium after the game, posing for photos and high-fiving fans who lingered despite the best efforts of security to usher them out.
Silva Ramos and Santos Lisboa first teamed up in 2014 to win the gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games, but competed with different partners in Tokyo 2020 — with less successful results — and decided to reunite again for Paris.
They will now face Tokyo 2020 silver medallists Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar from Australia in the semifinals on Thursday at 9:00 p.m. (1900 GMT).
In the day’s earlier quarter-final, Spain’s Daniela Alvarez Mendoza and Tania Moreno Matveeva took on a dominant Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson from Canada.
Every point hard was fought-for as the score sheet crawled up matching point by point, with fans on their feet as an ecstatic Canadian pair snatched victory to secure the final point.
Wearing distinctive one-shoulder white bikinis and colorful reflective sunglasses, Humana-Paredes and Swiss-born Wilkerson bettered their Tokyo record, where they made it as far as the quarter-finals.
They will now play Switzerland’s Tanja Hueberli and Nina Brunner in the earlier semifinal on Thursday evening.
The first two women’s quarter-finals were played Tuesday in a tense session where Hueberli and Brunner ended the campaign of the women’s world champions, US duo Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng.
The second round of the men’s quarter finals will be played later Wednesday.
Brazilians smash beach volleyball opponents in Olympic march
https://arab.news/9refw
Brazilians smash beach volleyball opponents in Olympic march
- The top-seeded Brazilians quickly regained and overtook lost ground to secure the first set
- The duo made it look easy as they romped to victory in just 32 minutes
Canada’s Lee sets pace, Kim in the hunt for LIV Golf wild card spots
- LIV Golf Promotions in Florida offers top 3 finishers a chance to play in 2026 regular season
LECANTO: Canada’s Richard T. Lee has proved the player to watch during the first three days at LIV Golf Promotions and is now well-placed for a wild-card spot in the 2026 LIV Golf season.
Anthony Kim, meanwhile, found another gear on the back nine on Saturday, putting him in a better position to return to full-time status in the league.
The final 18 holes of the 36-hole shootout at Black Diamond Ranch take place on Sunday with a potentially career-changing reward for the top three finishers — guaranteed LIV Golf wild-card status for 2026. In addition, the top 10 and ties earn exemptions into the Asian Tour’s International Series.
For the second time this week, Lee led the field with a bogey-free 6-under 64. The 35-year-old will take a two-shot lead over his closest pursuers going into Sunday, giving him a significant advantage. However, he does not plan to take his foot off the gas.
“Honestly, I don’t think it would be comfortable for any player to have a two-shot lead on the last day,” said Lee, who has two eagles, 13 birdies and just one bogey in his 54 competitive holes this week. “I’ll just put my hat on and just play my golf.”
Kim is among three players who are tied for second after shooting a bogey-free 4-under 66, along with South Africa’s Oliver Bekker and Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond. Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard is solo fifth after his 3-under 67, with five other players lurking at 1 under.
Kim, who played as a wild card in the past two seasons following his return to competitive golf after a 12-year retirement, was just 1 under through 12 holes on Saturday. But he made consecutive lengthy birdie putts at the 13th and 14th holes, birdied the par-5 16th, then saved par with a 15-footer at the par-4 18th that circled the cup before dropping.
“I have an opportunity to get one of those spots,” said the 40-year-old, the only American to advance to the weekend. “That’s what I asked for coming into this week and put myself in a good position. Now I’ve just got to go finish.”
Kim would not be in this position had he not made an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th on Friday to make the cut on the number.
“I knew that if I didn’t make birdie on 18 [Friday] that my chances of playing on LIV next year were gone, and to me that’s a big deal,” Kim said. “I’d like to play at the highest level against the best players. It meant a lot to me.”
Bekker was part of LIV Golf’s inaugural field at the 2022 London tournament. Four seasons later, he’s excited about the opportunity to return to the league as a full-time member.
“Thinking back on it now, I had the opportunity to play a few more events, and now I’m like, well, maybe I should have played them,” he said. “The water was a bit rough at that stage and didn’t know what was going to happen, so I played it a bit safe. Luckily, I’ve been given another opportunity this week, and hopefully I can take it.”
Janewattananond won four tournaments in 2019 when he became a top 50 world player and, aged 30, still has years left in his competitive career. After shooting a second-round 67 to advance to the weekend, he shot a 66 on Saturday that included four birdies in a six-hole stretch to end his front nine.
“It’s a very big prize at the end of the day,” he said. “Those three spots up for grabs, it would give me freedom to play wherever I want and security for my family.”
The 34-year-old Bjerregaard, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, said earning full-time LIV Golf status would be career-changing.
“Where I am in my career right now, it’s probably that or retirement,” he said. “Yeah, that would mean a lot for sure.”
Although nothing is guaranteed, Lee has played so well this week that there may be just two spots available for the remainder of the field.
“We’re not playing for one spot,” said Janewattananond. “I don’t have to worry about him. I just have to worry about myself.”
“He played great today,” added Bjerregaard, playing in the same group as Lee on Saturday. “But I would be happy with any of the other two spots, so that’s fine. I can finish third. I wouldn’t mind.”
