August 5, 2021
Kingaroy’s Taliqua Clancy and her on-court partner Mariafe Artacho del Solar are guaranteed either a silver or gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics after a stunning two-set victory in the beach volleyball semi-finals on Thursday morning.
The fifth-seeded Aussies took on Latvians Anastasija Kravčenoka and Tīna Graudiņa at the Shiokaze Park courts near Tokyo Bay.
Clancy and Artacho del Solar went into the match as favourites after beating world champions Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes to earn their spot in the semi-final.
However, the Latvians, who were seeded 16th, also came into the match brimming with confidence after downing Canadians Brandie Wilkerson and Heather Bansley on Tuesday night.
The Aussie duo started strongly in the semi and built up a solid lead in the first set – including landing three aces – before the Latvians hauled them back.
But Clancy and Artacho del Solar showed their skills, closing down the set 23-21.
The Latvians opened the second set strongly and took an early three-point lead, but the Aussies stuck to their game plan and worked to level the scores at 10-all.
They then opened a break, sitting comfortably with eight match points.
The Latvians tried hard and saved one match point but a fault on their last serve gave the set to the Aussies 21-13, and the game 2-0.
The Australians will now face the experienced US pair of Alix Klineman and April Ross in the gold medal game, to be played at 12:30pm on Friday.
The Latvians will go into a play-off for the bronze medal.
Related articles:
