BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Australia has two female teams who will don the green and gold on the white sands of Copacabana Beach at the Rio beach volleyball competition.
Our best medal hopes are Louise Bawden and Taliqua Clancy,who are seeded seventh in the tournament. Bawden has Olympic experience, both on the beach in London and amazingly from 16-years-ago in Sydney when she competed with the indoor team. She has teamed with Clancy, 11-years her junior, who will make her debut at Rio.
Under-23 beach volleyball world champions Nicole Laird and Mariafe Artacho del Solar will round out Australia's two-team female contingent when they contest their debut Olympics.
The Rio 2016 competition features six pools of four teams.After teams have contested their pools, the top two teams from each pool and the top four highest placed third-ranked teams progress to the quarter-finals. The winners of the two semi-finals play off for gold and the losers of the two semi-finals play off for bronze.
Bawden and Clancy have been drawn in Pool F alongside Costa Rica, the Netherlands and Venezuela.
Laird and Artacho del Solar have been draw in Pool C alongside the United States, Switzerland and China.
Our Aussie beach volleyball athletes tell us their thoughts on the nations they will face at Rio 2016.
Group Games for Bawden and Clancy
The Netherlands - Madelein Meppelink andMarleen van Iersel
World ranking: 14th
Best Olympic Games result: Meppelink – 9th London 2012; van Iersel - 9th London 2012
London 2012 result: Meppelink – equal 9th; van Iersel – equal 9th
Recent results v Australia: Meppelink/Van Iersel 0 – Bawden/Clancy 2 (2016 Gstaad Major Series)
Bawden: “We have a history matching up against that Dutch team – playing them in Gstaad and Hamburg this year, as well as the world champs and Stavanger last year. I also played Meppelink in another combination at London 2012! The Dutch are strong competitors who play a physical game with quality serving, so we expect a tough battle against them at the Olympics.”
Costa Rica – Karen Cope Charles and Natalia Alfaro
World ranking: 72nd
Best Olympic Games result: Rio 2016 will be Olympic debut
Recent results v Australia: Never met previously
Venezuela – Olaya Perez Pazo and Norisbeth Agudo Gonzalez
World ranking: Unranked
Best Olympic Games result: Rio 2016 will be Olympic debut
Recent results v Australia: Never met previously Bawden: “The other two teams in our pool, Costa Rica and Venezuela, are new match-ups for us, with both teams playing limited world tour and qualifying for the Olympics via the Continental Cup format. We will be well prepared, though, with our coaches already preparing scouting and video analysis to help with our winning strategies.”
Group Games for Laird and Artacho del Solar
United States – Kerri Walsh and April Ross
World ranking: 3rd
Best Olympic Games result: Walsh – gold Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012; Ross – silver London 2012
London 2012 result: Walsh - gold; Ross – silver
Recent results v Australia: Walsh/Ross 2 – Laird/Artacho del Solar 1 (2015 World Championships)
Laird: “We have played the American team before at our senior world championships last year and had a really competitive game against them, losing 15-12 in the third set. I think we match up really well against them and it will be an incredible opportunity to play against the three-time Olympic gold medallist in front of a Brazilian crowd.”
Switzerland – Isabella Forrer and Anouk Vergé-Dépré
World ranking: 7th
Best Olympic Games result: Rio 2016 will be Olympic debut
Recent results v Australia: Never met previously
China – Fan Wang and Yuan Yue
World ranking: 29th
Best Olympic Games result: Rio 2016 will be Olympic debut
Recent results v Australia: Wang/Yue 2 – Laird/Artacho del Solar 0 (2015 Xiamen Open)
Laird: “We have played against the Chinese team before… and we've never played the Swiss team. All three of the teams in our pool qualified through being ranked in the top 15 in the world but as far as we are concerned the Olympic Games is a completely different ball game and it will all come down to who is ready to tackle the experience head on. We have an awesome opportunity to play three competitive games in our pool and cause some damage.”
If either of the Aussie teams make it to the finals, they are likely to face the host nation and top seeded team in Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes.
Brazil – Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes
World ranking: 5th
Best Olympic Games result: Franca – Bronze London 2012; Antunes – 9th London
London 2012 result: Franca - bronze; Antunes – equal 9th London
Recent results v Australia: Frana/Antunes 2 – Bawden/Clancy 0 (2016 Vitoria Open)
Frana/Antunes 2 – Laird/Artacho del Solar 0 (2015 World Championships)
Franca is the all-time leader of beach volleyball titles with 58 career gold medals, but the 34-year-old has never won an Olympic gold. She claimed bronze at the London Games with former partner Juliana Felisberta. Franca and Antunes linked up in 2014 and won last year's World Tour finals. They will be hard to beat with the home advantage.
Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au
