Precisely how long is the “honeymoon phase” of a beach volleyball partnership? One season? One tournament? One road trip’s worth of tournaments?
There is no exact answer, although Kerri Pottharst, a three-time Olympian who won both a bronze and gold medal for Australia in 1996 and 2000, respectively, has declared the honeymoon phase to be definitively over for Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes.
“They have arrived,” Pottharst said on Saturday evening in Torquay, Australia.
They’ve arrived, all right. That night, Cheng and Hughes put the final exclamation point on their debut stretch of tournaments, a three-event November swing that saw them win an AVP Tour Series in Huntington Beach, a Challenge in Torquay, and then an Elite 16 in Torquay — all without losing a single set.
“We’re going to take these two wins, proudly go home, show off our gold medals, enjoy Christmas with our families,” Hughes said afterwards. “Most importantly, we’re going to get back to work because we’ve got a big year next year.”
Hughes and Cheng will undoubtedly begin the 2023 season as the favorites in the eyes of most to qualify for the Paris Olympics, particularly given the fact that their route to gold in Torquay included victories over Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth in the semifinals, and Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles in the finals.
“We’re ready,” Cheng said of being the hunted come 2023. “We’re very ready.”
Torquay Elite 16 Notebook
The other Torquay honeymoon: There was another honeymoon phase in Australia, this one enjoyed by Flint, Cheng’s former partner, and Scoles, the rookie who has had a standout season on both the AVP and Beach Pro Tour. Unlike Cheng and Hughes, Flint and Scoles did not have two tournaments of experience heading into the Elite 16, yet they were equally as dominant prior to the finals, sweeping five straight opponents, including Germany’s No. 2 duo of Julia Sude and Isabel Schneider in pool play and Australia’s top pair in Mariafe Artacho and Taliqua Clancy in the semifinals. In just four international tournaments, Scoles has advanced to the medal rounds in three, winning bronze in Dubai with Katie Horton and silver in Torquay with Flint.
More honeymooning! Torquay, though windy and rainy and gray and sometimes cold and sometimes warm, was quite the honeymoon destination for Americans this fall. Joining…
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