Pavan and Humana-Paredes bounce back in Gstaad

Reigning world champions Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes were on the wrong side of the biggest upset of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 4-star event in Gstaad on Wednesday, but one day later, things are back on track for the Canadians.

Pavan and Humana-Paredes, who dropped their opening match to Spanish qualifiers Daniela Alvarez and Angela Lobato, found their way out of pool E with a 2-1 (13-21, 21-18, 15-11) victory over Dutch Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam on Thursday.

“We didn’t play well enough against Spain yesterday,” Pavan commented. “We were not happy about it, but I like that we rebounded against a very good team to stay alive in a very high-pressure moment.”

The meeting between them and the Dutch is one that’s set to happen again shortly as both teams will be part of Pool A at the Tokyo Olympics. The Canadians will now enter the match in Japan with a 3-0 advantage over the Europeans but each of the three meetings, which all happened within the last 35 days, has gone to three sets.

“It’s always really hard against them,” Humana-Paredes said. “Especially now that everyone is playing at their best and gearing up for the Olympics, every match is really hard.”

Pavan and Humana-Paredes, who won the World Tour event in Gstaad back in 2018, are one of 16 women’s teams guaranteed in the Round of 24 in the Swiss Alps and will now face Germany's Chantal Laboureur and Cinja Tillmann. The eight pool winners, however, go straight to the Round of 16.

Home favourites Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre topped pool A with their 2-1 (18-21, 22-20, 15-12) win over Laboureur and Tillmann. Fellow Swiss Nina Betschart and Tanja Huberli were pool H winners after they defeated Russians Nadezda Makgroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina in two sets (21-16, 21-16).

"We're very happy," Heidrich reflected. "There is certainly some room for improvement in certain areas of our game but our fighting spirit and our level of performance have been very good."

Pool B final also featured a match that’s set to happen shortly in Tokyo and Brazilians Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa prevailed over Canadians Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson in three sets (17-21, 21-15, 15-12). Germans Karla Borger and Julia Sude triumphed in Pool C after they downed Brazilians Talita Antunes and Maria Elisa Antonelli 2-0 (21-14, 21-12).

In Pool D, the decider was between Americans Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil and Brazilians Carolina Salgado and Barbara Seixas, who came out on top with a 2-1 (21-18, 28-30, 16-14) win. Dutch Sanne Keizer and Madelein Meppelink were Pool E winners as they defeated Alvarez and Lobato in straight sets (21-12, 21-16).

Two European teams topped Pool F and G respectively with Germany’s Laura Ludwig/Margareta Kozuch defeating Brazil’s Ana Patricia Ramos/Rebecca Cavalcanti 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) and Latvia’s Tina Graudina/Anastasija Kravcenoka upsetting Australia’s Taliqua Clancy/Mariafe Artacho in three sets (21-17, 17-21, 15-12).

Friday’s schedule for the women in Gstaad features the Round of 24 and the Round of 16. The quarterfinals are set to happen on Satuday while the semifinals and medal matches end the tournament on Sunday.

Quick links:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour - Gstaad
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
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