Denmark and the United States were the only countries to see teams in both genders advancing from the qualification tournament of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 2-star event in Rubavu, Rwanda, on Wednesday.
Six men’s teams and six women’s duos secured the last main draw spots at the shores of Lake Kivu and among them also were tandems from Brazil, Canada, France, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland.
Okholm Hansen and Anneka Hastings pushed Denmark through the women’s qualification tournament with a solid 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) victory over Israel’s Michal Barannik and Noga Maor. It’s the first tournament in which the two play together and 35-year-old Hastings’ first-ever World Tour appearance.
Americans Corinne Quiggle and Allie Wheeler, the top-seeded women’s team on Wednesday’s qualifier, confirmed their ranking to advance with a straight-set (21-15, 21-16) win over Austria’s Kora Schaberl and Stephanie Wiesmeyr. The second USA team to advance was the one of Aurora Davis and Sarah Schermerhorn, who defeated 16-year-old Malgorzata Ciezkowska and 21-year-old Patrycja Jundzill of Poland in three sets (21-15, 20-22, 15-13).
The other three women’s teams to qualify were Brazil’s Angela Lavalle/Rupia Freitas, New Zealand’s Shaunna Polley/Alice Zeimann and Switzerland’s Melina Hubscher/Janick Schaltegger.
Budinger (left) and Field won their only match in the day in RubavuOn the men’s side, the USA found great success with both of their teams advancing – Chase Budinger and Troy Field downed Israel’s River Day and Eylon Elazar 2-0 (21-10, 21-17) while Billy Allen and Andy Benesh did the same with Congo’s Fernand Phezo and Perpetu Salasala, securing a straight-set (21-12, 21-17) victory.
Danish Kristoffer Abell and Nicolai Hovmann prevailed in one of the closest matches of the day in Rubavu, taking down Switzerland’s Leo Dillier and Simon Hagenbuch in a hard-fought, three-set (23-21, 18-21, 15-11) game. Hovmann took silver in Rubavu in 2019, playing with Jacob Stormly.
Canada’s Liam Kopp/Alexander Russell, France’s Arthur Canet/Teo Rotar and Sweden’s Martin Appelgren/Alexander Hermann were the other three teams to advance.
The six duos qualified in each gender will join other 18 teams pre-qualified on Thursday’s main draw. The medal matches for both men and women will happen on Sunday.
Quick links:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour - Rubavu
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
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