BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Australia's top beach volleyball duo Louise Bawden and Taliqua Clancy have again gone agonislingly close to the medal rounds at a major event.
Two-time Olympian Bawden and Clancy went down 14-21 19-21 to Brazilian top seeds Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca just missing out on the semi finals in Gstaad.
After progressing through the pool stage with two wins and one loss, the Aussie 14th seeds began the elimination round with a dominant 21-16 21-11 victory over 23rd seeds Tanja Goricanec and Tanja Hüberli of Switzerland.
They then upstaged Italian sixth seeds Viktoria Menegatti and Orsi Toth in straight sets 21-16 21-19 to book the quarter final clash with the classy Brazilians.
Despite it still being over 12 months away, recent strong results have put Bawden and Clancy well in the mix to qualify for the Rio Olympic Games.
The pair are currently ranked fifth in the world with the top fifteen ranked nations as of June 2016 automatically qualifying for the highly anticipated tournament on the iconic shores of Copacabana.
Bawden and Clancy progress in Gstaad
10 July 2015
BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Aussies Louise Bawden and Taliqua Clancy have bounced back from an opening match loss to progress through to the knockout phase of the Gstaad Major.
After claiming the first set, the 14th seeds lost their first clash to 19th seeded Germans 21-17 13-21 12-15.
They then dominated Japanese qualifiers Sayaka Mizoe and Takemi Take winning 21-16 21-11 to keep their tournament hopes alive.
The Aussie pair then booked their spot in the elimination round after upsetting Brazilian third seeds Juliana Felisberta Da Silva and Maria Antonelli 21-19 17-21 15-8.
Bawden and Clancy will next face 23rd seeds Tanja Goricanec and Tanja Hüberli of Switzerland. The winner will book a round of 16 clash with Italian 6th seeds Viktoria Menegatti and Orsi Toth.
Australia's only male representatives Joshua Court and Julien Schumann went down in their first qualifying match and missed the main draw.
Matt Bartolo
Olympics.com.au
