Today was the World Championships day of pain. There are no other major tournaments that eliminate 32 teams in a single day, but today 16 men’s teams and 16 women’s teams had their world championship dreams end. Some of the departing teams were thrilled to have made it this far while others liked their chances of leaving Rome as World Champions. There’s no time to shed tears for the departed though because this tournament just keeps getting better and better.
Switching gears for the final four rounds
The two teams we’ve been following at the World Championships met their fate today. Kusti Nolvak & Mart Tiisaar of Estonia ended Dan Dearing & Sam Schachter wild ride with a comprehensive 21-18, 21-16 win. Our new women’s team, Esmée Böbner & Zoé Vergé-Dépré were on the losing end of a three setter against Joana Heidrich & Anouk Verge-Depre in a close battle of Swiss sisters (20-22, 21-17, 15-7).
I realize that all of you following along are destined for a serious case of whiplash if we keep switching teams every round, so I’m calling it quits on the journey experiment. It was a blast following Sam & Dan and Leila & Lidy while we hardly got to know Esmée & Zoé.
From here on out, the blog will cover the entire World Championships. So lets get started.
Canadian World Champs love facing Brazil
Melissa Humana-Paredes & Sarah Pavan went 3-0 and won their pool. What did that get them? It got them another big dose of Brazil, that’s what. They already got started knocking out South Americans with a win over Taiana & Hegeile (18-21, 21-18, 15-10) in today’s round of 32. Tomorrow they will face Talita Antunes & Rebecca Cavalcant and if they win that, they get the winner of Carol & Barbara Seixas vs. Duda & Ana Patricia.
The bracket couldn’t have come out any worse for the Brazilian federation as they will get a maximum of one team into the semifinals and only if they can beat the World Champs. If you are feeling bad for the Canadians, think again. Their run to the Jurmala Elite 16 crown included three straight matches against the three remaining Brazilian teams and they won them all. If they make the semifinals it may come as a shock to them to see a non-Brazilian team on the other side…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Beach Volley Blog…