Who knew that we were already headed back to the beach? It snuck up on me a little, though part of that is being sans computer for the better part of 2 weeks.
This is the first FIVB Open of the season. There are eight of them, four for both genders and four for women only. This is a double-gender event. Offseason rule changes mean that Opens strictly speaking aren’t part of the FIVB World Tour anymore. The 2013 World Tour will now comprise only the ten Grand Slams and the World Championships. But in another rule change, all FIVB beach events this year will have the same format — pool play followed by a single-elimination tournament. Previously, Opens jumped straight into a double-elimination tournament, once things like qualifiers and country quota were addressed.
Qualifiers for the men took place yesterday, and there were a couple of notable upsets. The Austrian duo of Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst, top seeds for the qualifier and silver medallists at last year’s Stare Jablonki Grand Slam, lost to a French team and did not advance. Similarly, the new tandem of Jānis Pēdā and Mārtiņš Pļaviņš, containing half of last year’s Olympic bronze medallists, also lost and did not advance.
But there was another team present that involved a London Olympic medallist. They weren’t relegated to the qualifier, but they did play in the first match I was able to see in full.
Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen (NED) vs. Julius Brink/Sebastian Fuchs (GER)
It was the Dutch team who led early, 5-2 at the first side change, but the Germans slowly chipped away, closing to 8-6 at the second and 11-10 at the third. Sideouts being far more common in beach than they are in indoor (and they’re not exactly rare in indoor), chipping away is usually all you can really do if you find yourself in a hole. They drew it even again (after 0-0) at 12’s, and then a nice service ace from Brink that just sunk and died in front of the Dutch duo put them ahead for the first time. The Dutch team went ahead again at 15-14 and then an ace of their own put them back on top at 17-15. A solo block against Fuchs gave them a three-point edge, and the Germans called their timeout. From 19-16, the Germans came up with a point on service reception and then another ace, for Fuchs this time, made it a one-point set again at the Dutch team’s timeout. A kill for Meeuwsen off the block got the Dutch team their first set point, and after a long rally Brouwer put it away.
Brouwer and Meeuwsen were quite noticeably the louder of the two teams, with one of them shouting out “Yes!” or “Heyyy!” or “Yeahhh!” after pretty much every point they won. It was audible ever when they were on the far end of the court away from the camera. They again led at the first side change of the second set, 4-3 this time as Brouwer’s service error narrowly flew long to keep it from being the same score after 7 points as the first set. Despite Sebastian Fuchs being by quite a bit the larger of the two on the German team, the Dutch mostly served him and not Brink, perhaps suggesting that they were targetting the lesser experienced player rather than the less physically imposing player. Also of interest were Brink’s sets, the majority of which were overhand. You usually don’t see that on the beach (Phil Dalhausser is about the only beach player I can think of who usually does overhand sets), with doubles being called a lot more tightly on the beach than indoors. Most setters will do bump sets and bump sets only.
Whatever strategy the Dutch team were choosing to employ was working like a charm in set 2, as the Germans called time facing a bigger-than-you-might-think 10-6 deficit. It was sideout after sideout to the third side change at 12-9. From there, the Dutch team really started to pull away, extending to 16-9 on Meeuwsen’s serve (and block….and set….pretty impressive display from the big man). Fuchs finally got the Germans the sideout there, at 16-10, but the damage was done. After a quick timeout at 19-13, the final was 21-14. Match point was probably one of the best points of the match, as Brink frantically made a great dig on the left side to keep the ball alive, but Meeuwsen just emphatically denied the return attempt.
But honestly, the Germans looked like they had some growing pains to work through. It’s obviously way too soon to say if Jonas Reckermann’s medically forced retirement means Brink’s days in the limelight are likewise done, but this was not a great first(-ish) outing for the Olympic champion’s new tandem.
Sean Rosenthal/Phil Dalhausser (USA) vs. Maksim Hudyakov/Alexey Pastukhov (RUS)
You don’t need me to tell you who were the favourites in this match. Hudyakov and Pastukhov had to play in yesterday’s qualifier to advance this far, and this match was the #2 vs. #31 in terms of overall seeds.
A hard-fought first rally went to the Russians, on serve, with some great defence on both ends. As if proving me both right and wrong, Dalhausser indeed performed his usual overhand sets but so too did the Russian team. After that great first rally, the Americans rattled off six straight, including an awkward hit from Dalhausser that looked like it should have been a lift (though lifts are called a bit looser in beach, just as doubles are called tighter) and an ace for Rosenthal. It was 6-1 at the side change, at which point you really could already say that the Americans should have this one in the bag. They went up six for the first time at 8-2, at which point the Russians went on a brief run over their own to make it back within three. But it was 9-5 at the second side change and 14-7 at the third, and the Americans were never really threatened. The lead got as high as 9 at 18-9, and the final was 21-15 after the Russians staved off a couple of set points.
And the second set just hammered home the wide gulf in talent between the two sides. The Russians did a single point better at the first side change than they did in set number one, with it coming at 5-2, but they still posed no real threat to Dalhausser and Rosenthal. The Russians served Rosenthal religiously (Dalhausser is almost never served), but along with Rosenthal’s own hitting effectiveness, any time a rally lasted multiple hits the Americans were able to work in hitting opportunities for the Thin Beast, and the Russians just could not dig him. At all. They also made some pretty cringe-inducing unforced errors, including one their one service attempt in what was otherwise a 6 or 7 point run for the Americans. It was 11-3 at the second side change and then 15-6 at the third, making me wonder a little if there would even be a fourth side change. There was, at 19-9, but the match was quickly over afterwards, a Dalhausser ace finishing off the second set at a dominant 21-10. Even when the Americans seemed to let up on the gas a little, they extended their lead. They’re looking pretty good.
Takemi Nishibori/Sayaka Mizoe (JPN) vs. Daniela Gioria/Laura Giombini (ITA)
It’s still ‘day zero’ for the ladies (qualification), but the camera to which I was tuned went to a women’s match at this point. With the men all playing twice today, there needed to be a at least a couple of hours in between matches, so something would be necessary to space it out. That something comes in the form of two teams I really don’t know much about.
I took notice in this match of the fact that the Italian ladies wore shirts while the Japanese team did not. I believe the men are required to wear shirts (as ridiculous as that is), so all previous teams doing so didn’t mean much. The flags in the background were waving pretty briskly, showing there to be a breeze at courtside and, if apparel choices mean anything, something of a chill as well.
There was a briefly contentious point at 3-2 when a hit from the Japanese side was called out by the flagger despite pretty obviously landing on the line. The up referee overruled the flagger, making what sure looked to be the correct call. The first set started out mostly sideout after sideout. The Japanese briefly took the first 2-point lead at 7-5, but the Italians answered with five straight to go up 10-7, before the Japanese got the sideout. The Italian roll continued unabated, with a service ace splitting the human uprights to take us to 13-8 at the third side change. The first point after that side change had me audibly saying “Wow!” as both Italian girls laid out for the ball to frantically keep it alive. Their return was basically a free-ball, but it landed right between the two Japanese players. The lead got as high as 17-9 (that’s a 10-2 run….you don’t see runs like that much in beach volleyball). The Japanese team got as close again as 18-14 (itself not a bad run), but the Italians finished off the first set 21-15.
The Italians jumped out to the early advantage in set 2, making that 7-7 deadlock in the first even more curious. They led 6-1 at the first side change following just a terrible hitting attempt by the Japanese (it was a good 10 feet long) and never really looked back. The Japanese called time at 8-2, and the set was more even after that, but when ‘even’ actually means ‘even after already having a 6-point deficit’ it obviously greatly favours one side over the other. And that was basically the story, with 21-14 the second-set final.
Tanja Goricanec/Tanja Hüberli (SUI) vs. Tatyana Mashkova/Irina Tsimbalova (KAZ)
The Kazakh ladies’ names ring a bell. They played a match against Jen Kessy and April Ross at the FIVB Bangsaen last year that I was able to see. They were pretty outmatched by the Olympic runners-up, but simply being there, and having had a bye in the Fuzhou qualification tournament, made me think they could be expected to be the favourites here.
Both of these teams played in basic bikinis, despite the wind not seeming to have died down much, if at all. The Swiss tandem took the first couple of points, but afterward the Kazakhs off five straight to lead by three at the first side change. It was very close and even from that point, with the second side change at 8-6 and the third at 12-9. The fourth group of seven points involved the Kazakhs taking a big lead, with a hitting error into the net on the Swiss side putting the Kazakhs up 16-10, and prompting the Swiss to call time. It had no real effect, as the Kazakh duo finished off the first set 21-14.
The Swiss came out much stronger in set 2, pulling ahead at the first side change and prompting the Kazakhs to call time trailing 8-3, seemingly setting the stage for the first race to 15 I’d see today. You know, I’ve never really believed in momentum as a real thing that makes much of a difference, but time and again you see how a simple stoppage of play makes the side that was on top lose a bit of steam. And so it happened here. The Kazakhs scored three straight after the timeout to close back to within two at the second side change. The set came even again at 10’s, with the Kazakhs edging ahead at the third side change. The Kazakhs took their first 2-point lead of the set with a service ace to make it 13-11 and took a 3-point lead at 17-14 and the Swiss team’s timeout. It was an impressive turnaround by the clearly superior team. They got match point at 20-17, and put it away on their first attempt.
All the quick matches on court 2 left them a good 20 minutes ahead of schedule, so I switched over to court 1 at this point, both because there was active action and because I was more interested in (what I thought was) the next centre court match than in the next outer court match. While waiting for that next centre court match, I got to see countrywomen Jamie Broder and Kristina Valjas erase a set deficit to win a three-setter over the Dutch tandem of Jolien Sinnema and Michelle Stiekema. The first two sets both had the same 21-18 score, with the second ending on a great block for the Canadian side. It was decided pretty quickly in the 3rd. After a 2-2 start, the Canadians ran out to 5-2 at the Dutch team’s timeout, 7-3 at the side change, and 12-4 later in the set. Third set final was 15-7.
Maria Clara Salgado Rufino/Carolina Solberg Salgado (BRA) vs. Zara Dampney/Lucy Boulton (GBR)
Oh.
This wasn’t the match I thought I switched for, but as it happens court 1 was running well behind schedule, as if in parallel to court 2 running well ahead. This one should have started over an hour prior to when it did.
But, no real point in switching back, so I stayed here. The British gals played in regular bikinis while the Brazilians wore shirts, as the air started to look a little misty in Fuzhou. There’s a really stupid joke to be had there, and insert it yourself if you like, but I’m passing. Dampney and Boulton seized control in the first set, winning the first five points on serve before the Brazilians at last sided out. It was 5-2 at the first side change, and the Brazilians ate into the lead a bit, closing to 8-6 at the second and 11-10 at the third. But later in the set the British duo started to pull away a bit again, opening up a 4-point lead first at 17-13 and putting the set away on service at 21-16.
The crowd, however large or small they were (the camera didn’t show) seemed audibly stunned by that result, with a plainly perceptible “Ohhh!” as the last ball fell after the British block. Set 2 started off with the Brazilians going on a run, though only to 3 in this case, and it was just as quickly knotted again by a British run. Brazil got the sideout to go up 4-3 at the side change. The back-and-forth play continued, making it 7-7 at the second side change. The third set of seven went staunchly to the Brits, putting them up 12-9 at the ‘technical’ timeout and priming them for the upset. The Brazilians countered with a 4-1 run to draw even. Really this was a very entertaining match (that I stumbled into watching) and I’m not really doing it justice.
After the Brazilians went ahead 17-15, the British got the sideout and then a great point at the net for….actually I’m not sure which one it was, but she played the block touch into a hitting attempt pretty adeptly (not so easy to do in beach considering the block touch counts as a touch….the ball had to rebound off the opponent first) and down onto unoccupied court. It was 18-17 Great Britain at the fifth side change, whereupon Brazil called their timeout. Brazil took the lead again at 19-18 with a left-side block, before the British got the sideout at 19-all. 19-all was as good a point as you’re ever gonna see in beach volleyball, ending with the British putting it away to secure match point, and they were audibly psyched about that. The shouting and jumping up and down continued when a service ace finished it, securing the British team the minor upset and moving them into the main draw.
And I think I’ll stop here. Full day’s results will come in the next post, as this one is already well over 2,000 words despite only covering about half the day’s action.
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