2016-03-10 14:54:00 CEST
German women effortlessly break down Brazil’s stronghold
There will be no-one left unopposed Photo Credit (Preview and Main Article Pic) : Andreas Langreiter
The Rio Grand Slam kicked off yesterday as champion teams from across the globe competed in the first of the Rio Grand Slam pool matches.
No surprises as reigning men’s FIVB World Tour champions, Brazilian duo: Alison/Bruno Schmidt defeated their USA counterparts (Olsen/Casebeer) by a staggering 2-0 (21-11, 21-13) victory. This is a small victory added to the pairs growing list of achievements including boasting the titles of “Most Outstanding Player” and “Best Defensive Player” respectively.
The girls brought the fire as well as current women’s FIVB World Tour champions: Larissa/Talita slayed their Chinese (Xue/X. Y. Xia) and Swiss (Heidrich/Zumkehr) challengers with an impressive 2-0 and 2-1 win. This just forms part of their road to the Rio Olympics where they have reportedly “devoted [themselves] to training” toward and the pair are certainly on track.
Otherwise, German female sides dominated and won the most matches (according to country) and more specifically pair: Borger/Büthe who managed to beat current Maceio Open winners: Eduarda “Duda” Lisboa and Elize Maia. This loss adds to a rather poor start for the ladies who also conceded a loss in a 45-minute match to Dutch team Meppelink/Van Iersel by a disappointing 0-2 (19-21, 19-21). It looks like the girls may let go of their advance to the next round. Luckily, they have a fighting chance with their last match thanks to the new rules that were implemented by the FIVB this year.
Later today
Final pool match for Eduarda “Duda” Lisboa and Elize Maia against Czech’s Slukova/Hermannova – the Czech team ranked 17th at the Maceio Open – perhaps it’s a chance for a rematch?
Austrian male duo Doppler/Horst play two games against USA’s Brunner/Rosenthal and Canada’s Schalk/Saxton.
The Rio Grand Slam is offering teams’ a chance to take home a hefty part of the total USD 800,000 prize money as well as another opportunity to gather points in order to qualify for one of the last remaining spots for the Rio Summer Olympics held later this year. Teams who didn’t perform to gain automatic entry will be fighting tooth and nail to ensure their participation.
There will be lots more to look forward to at the Rio Grand Slam where all the elite stars and familiar faces from the Swatch Major Series meet again perhaps as friends or as foes?