Debuting at the Olympics is always a special experience for athletes and eight female beach volleyball players will be able to share that feeling in Pool D at the Tokyo Games which is composed of four teams that have never been at the event before.
Brazil’s Ana Patricia Ramos/Rebecca Cavalcanti, USA’s Kelly Claes/Sarah Sponcil, Latvia’s Tina Graudina/Anastasija Kravcenoka and Kenya’s Gaudencia Makokha/Brackcides Khadambi will all be Olympic rookies in Tokyo and that should provide intense and even competition for the Round of 16 spots.
The pool was formed on Monday, when the Tokyo 2020 Beach Volleyball tournament drawing of lots ceremony took place in Moscow, Russia. And for the 23-year-old Ana Patricia, its composition should provide some exciting duels in Tokyo later this month.
“It’s the biggest tournament for our sport, so we knew good teams would be coming our way regardless of how the drawing of lots played out,” she said. “The Americans are very strong, they are both very skilled as is typical for teams from their country. The Latvians bring the strong tradition of European beach volleyball and even though we don’t know much about the Kenyan team, if they made it to the Olympics, they for sure deserve all our respect.”
Ana Patricia and her partner Rebecca followed the draw from Gstaad, Switzerland, where they will play in their last tournament before the Olympics, an FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 4-star event. The Brazilians are guaranteed a place in the main draw and will only play on Wednesday, but are making the most of each day of practice in the Swiss Alps to work on their preparation for the Olympics.
“We are preparing to go to Tokyo and perform as well as we can,” Ana Patricia added. “Knowing our opponents and studying the way they play is obviously very important, but to make sure we’re in a position to play our best game every single match is even more crucial.”
In Gstaad, Ana Patricia and Rebecca, who won three World Tour gold medals between 2018 and 2019, may have to play their American or Latvian Tokyo opponents, who are both also entered in the tournament.
For the Brazilian pair, however, the most important goal is to test the results of their hard work in training in real matches. The pair did not compete in the World Tour events in Sochi and Ostrava and are confident they’ll be able to show a strong game on their return to international competition.
“Being able to play in Gstaad just a few weeks before the Olympics is a fantastic opportunity,” Ana Patricia said. “We made the decision to not play the last two events as we felt we needed to take a step back and work on some areas of our game that needed improvement. And now it’s time for us to show that on the court. This is a very special event and if we could get a good result to finish our Olympic preparation, that would be fantastic.”
Quick links:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour - Gstaad
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
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