April 12, 2018
UPDATE: Taliqua and Mariafe brought home the Silver Medal after a nail-biting Grand Final match. The Aussies lost the first set by the narrowest of margins, 21-19, and pushed the second set to 22-20 before finally going down to the top-ranked Canadians.
Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho Del Solar face a tough Grand Final game this evening (April 12) against Canadian pair Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes in the Commonwealth Games beach volleyball competition.
Humana-Paredes and Pavan are currently ranked No 1 in the world by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the world governing body for the sport.
The Aussie duo earned their place in the Gold Medal game after a winning a gruelling three-set semi-final contest against Vanuatu’s Miller Pata and Linline Matauatu on Wednesday night.
Clancy and Artacho Del Solar enjoyed easy victories in their Pool games earlier this week but encountered a determined Vanuatu pair keen to win the first gold medal for their country at a Commonwealth Games.
The Aussies won the first set 21-19 before losing 21-16 in the second.
Pata and Matauatu served more aces than the Australians and made fewer service faults.
But in the all-important third set, the Australians finally shook off the Vanuatuans to win 15-9.
The contest lasted just short of an hour and all four women were showing the signs of battle when the match was over.
Along the way, both Clancy and Artacho Del Solar suffered minor knocks to the head: Clancy when crashing into one of the net poles, and Artacho Del Solar who looked briefly stunned by a knock from the ball.
The Australians face a very tough challenge when they step out onto the sand tonight at Coolangatta Beach.
The Canadians have been the top-ranking team in the tournament for aces, serving up 39 so far compared with the Aussies’ 29; and are also clear leaders in blocks: 24 to the Australians’ nine.
The Gold Medal game is scheduled to get under way at 8:30pm.
