On Thursday afternoon, after a sweeping victory over Brazilians Rebecca Cavalcanti and Talita Antunes in the Volleyball World Hamburg Elite 16, Betsi Flint said she wanted the German crowd full and quiet. What she’s gotten since is even better: A German crowd that is full — and also vocally appreciative of the stellar play of Flint and Kelly Cheng thus far in the northern German city.
Theirs has been an undefeated run as the No. 10 seed, with five consecutive victories, including another two on Saturday afternoon, in the quarterifinals over 16th-seeded Spain’s Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno (28-26, 21-16) and in the semifinals over sixth-seeded Germany’s Karla Borger and Julia Sude (21-17, 21-18).
“They’re awesome and they cheer for good beach volleyball, too, so it was really fun,” Flint said of the atmosphere in the 10,000-seat Rothenbaum, which is typically devoted to tennis but is annually converted into a beach volleyball arena. “It’s not like they were dead quiet. We love playing here. It’s been fun so far and to have some USA fans has been awesome.”
Those fans will have one more opportunity to see Flint and Cheng. They play Switzerland’s Nina Brunner and Tanja Huberli in Sunday’s final at noon local, 3 a.m. Pacific/6 a.m. Eastern, which you can stream at Volleyball TV.
It isn’t the first time Cheng has seen that duo in a final. A little more than a year ago, Cheng, alongside Sarah Sponcil, beat Brunner and Huberli for gold in Sochi, Russia, all but assuring them of the berth in the Tokyo Olympics that established Cheng and Sponcil as the youngest Olympic team in United States history. With that win in Sochi, Cheng extended her winning streak against Brunner and Huberli to five, although they have not yet played in 2022.
“It’s super exciting for us. It’s something that we have been working towards,” Cheng said after the semifinal win over Borger and Sude, the team that knocked them out of the World Championships in Rome two months ago.
“We want to do well internationally. It’s been fun making finals domestically but our eyes are set on the Olympics so you have to be able to medal and play well against the best in the world. That’s what we’re hoping to do tomorrow.”
Already, Cheng and Flint are assured of bringing home the first American medal in an Elite 16 event this season….
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