The 40 or so minutes in which Chase Budinger and Miles Evans played Spain’s Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera in their final match of pool play was, for all intents and purposes, a 40-minute plea for help.
After opening the Paris Olympic Games with a thorough sweep over France’s Arnaud Gauthier-Rat and Youssef Krou (21-14, 21-11), Budinger and Evans have twice been swept just as thoroughly. First it was Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot, the top duo from the Netherlands, who dominated, 21-13, 21-15.
Then, on Friday afternoon in Paris, it was Spain, who ended a two-match losing skid to Budinger and Evans with a 21-18, 21-11 win.
Which meant that Budinger and Evans, in order to break pool and advance into the playoffs, required help.
In the current format, three teams from each pool advance into the playoffs. For Budinger and Evans to advance, they now required the services of Boermans and de Groot to do what they were heavily favored to do: beat Gauthier-Rat and Krou. Otherwise, it would come down to a tiebreak, decided by point and set differential, which were no longer too favorable for Budinger and Evans.
No tiebreak was needed. Boermans and de Groot did what was expected, sweeping France, 21-15, 21-16, to claim the top spot in pool. The win relegated Spain to No. 2 and Budinger and Evans to No. 3.
Budinger and Evans will break pool, though they will begin not in the ninth-place round of 16, but the lucky loser. Sweden’s David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig took an unexpected third in Pool A, though one of their losses came in three, which puts them ahead of Budinger and Evans. The same applies to Brazil’s George and Andre, who similarly lost in three sets, which also gives them the edge.
This story will be updated with final results after Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes play their late-night match against Germans Svenja Muller and Cinja Tillmann.
Friday’s Olympics beach volleyball results
Akiko/Ishii (Japan) def. Paulikiene/Raupelyte (Lithuania) 21-11, 21-5
Grimalt/Grimalt (Chile) def. Ranghieri/Carambula (Italy) 21-15, 23-21
Schachter/Dearing (Canada) def. Horl/Horst (Austria) 21-16, 21-15
Hermannova/Stochlova def. Viera/Chamereau (France) 21-13, 18-21, 15-9
Herrera/Gavira (Spain) def. Evans/Budinger (USA) 21-18, 21-11
Boermans/de Groot (Netherlands) def. Krou/Gauthier-Rat (France) 21-15, 21-16
Carol/Barbara (Brazil ) def. Stam/Schoon (Netherlands) 16-21, 21-17,…
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