August 4, 2021
Aussie duo Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar stunned the beach volleyball world by downing the current world champions in a sudden-death Olympic quarterfinal clash on Tuesday night.
Clancy and Artacho del Solar had faced Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes, from Canada, in international competitions previously but had only beaten them once.
The Aussies came out with all guns firing in the first set, which they secured 21-15.
The second set was closer, with the rattled Canadians gaining dominance for a while midway through the set before the Australians rallied.
Canada took the the second set 21-19, setting up the race to 15 points in the deciding third set.
Clancy and Artacho del Solar again began strongly and quickly gained a four-point advantage over the Canadians.
In the end, the Aussies won 15-12.
The 2-1 victory has put Clancy and Artacho del Solar into a semi-final clash against Anastasija Kravčenoka and Tīna Graudiņa, from Latvia.
Earlier on Tuesday evening, the Latvian pair powered to a 2-1 victory over another Canadian duo, Brandie Wilkerson and Heather Bansley.
The semi-final is due to be played at 11:00am on Thursday at Tokyo’s Shiokaze Park.
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