So much like one day in Fuzhou last week, I was cut off from seeing the first few slates of matches today because of NCAA action. I happened to join in to Shanghai today right in time to see the USA's Kessy and Ross finish off Brazil's Lili/Seixas in a pretty dominant sweep win to secure a knockout stage bye on the women's side.
Of course the knockout stage started today for the men, and I missed the eliminations of some 8 teams. But, if yesterday was anything to go by, there was still a long way to go in this day's action, and the first match I got to see in full was
Brouwer/Meeuwsen (NED) vs. Vitor Felipe/Evandro (BRA)
This was a second-round knockout stage match, Brouwer and Meeuwsen having been ticketed there directly by winning their pool and the Brazilian duo, about whom I don't know much, advancing with a win earlier in the day over Austria's Doppler/Horst.
Neither side blinked through the first 7 points, Netherlands leading 4-3 on service at the switch. Brazil took the first 'true' lead of the match shortly after the switch, getting the sideout to tie the set again at 4, an ace, a hitting error off the hand of Brouwer, and then another ace to make it 7-4. They led 8-6 on reception at the second side change, but a block for Brouwer (the smaller of the partnership, but no shrimp at 6-foot-6) brought them back to within one. The Brazilians got the point back on their serve at 10-8, finding a block against, again, Brouwer, to go up three once more. Meeuwsen finally worked his name into the recap with a block on the Dutch serve at 11-9 to make it a one point set at the midway timeout.
The Brazilians led out with four of seven to lead by two on receive after four changes. A service ace from the Dutch side made it a one-point set once again, but it was one on the Dutch serve, meaning Brazil still had 'sideout to victory' as a possibility. They sided out to set point but put it away with a kill on serve at 21-18.
It was an even split through 8 points again in the 2nd set. This time it was the Dutch team who edged ahead with 3 straight, but their advantage didn't last long as the Brazilians quickly responded with the eaqualiser to 8-all, and then added two more to edge ahead 10-8. It was 11-10 Brazil, on reception, at the halfway point, and they added a third point to their advantage in there in the midst of a match with really high sideout percentages on each side (even for beach volleyball). Two points was a run in this match. At 18-15, the Brazilians added a fourth with a tricky little serve creeping over the net to find sand for an ace. A Meeuwsen hitting error on match point made the final margin five, as the Brazilians successfully turned a minor upset.
Fijalek/Prudel vs. Nicolai/Lupo
The Poles started this one out strong, taking five of the first seven in advance of the side change. Nicolai's middle block kept them from making it six of eight, and added another block on 6-4 to pull the Italians back within a point. His subsequent whiff on service reception at 8-5 made the points effectively cancel each other out. Lupo used a much more conventional serving form in this match than he did when last I saw this team, and even got an ace, but the Italians had trouble closing the gap entirely. They'd get it to within one, and the Poles had the response. They led 12-9 at the halfway point.
That trend continued after the timeout. The Italians never could quite get over the hump despite pulling within a point several times. On serve at 14-12, the Poles added one to their advantage to go up by an equal match-high of 3. That held up to set point at 20-17 and, just as predictably, the 21-18 final.
After the Polish team again took five of seven to start, Lupo went back to his moonball serves. Can somebody help me understand the advantage to these? Because I'm just not seeing it. Either the ball hovers in the air so long the passer has literally no trouble getting to it, or if you didn't put enough forward momentum on the ball, it lands on your side for the stupidest service error in the history of ever.
Lupo actually did get one point on his moonball serve, but only just the one, and after the Poles sided out they continued to pour on the pressure, forcing and Italian timeout at 8-4. Managing little better than sideout after sideout, the halfway point again came at 12-9 Poland in set 2. After another stretch of sideouts, the Italians took a point back on Lupo's (conventional) serve to get to within 16-14. His next attempt from the service line landed long, but just when it started to look like the Italians were running out of road, they got it to within one point at 17-16 to prompt the Poles to call time. They reached match point at 20-18, but at this point the Italians looked like they wanted to be there for really the first time all match, with Nicolai's left-side block staving off the second of Poland's two opportunities to close out the match, sending us to extras. The Poles came up with a block of their own (sounds like a movie title) to end it at 23-21, eliminating Nicolai/Lupo a lot earlier than I would have guessed they'd go.
Jin/Miao vs. Van der Vlist/Wesselink
Women's knockout play followed the last match. There was actually an Austria/Netherlands match first that I….half-slept through :$ So I made sure to pay better attention to this one. It's between two teams with whom I'm really not familiar, and two teams who, by the seedlines, should not have made it this far. The Chinese team are the #31 seeds, the Dutch #28. The Chinese team actually won two matches in pool play, though, over Keizer/Van Iersel and Ukolova/Chaika.
And it was indeed the ladies from the host nation who took the early advantage, applying some good pressure at the net to force some rather frantic offence on the Dutch side and find the sand themselves. They led 5-2 at the first side switch, but the Dutch ran it back even at 5's before losing serve. China held on to an 8-6 lead at the second change, sneaking their hit on the last rally beforehand just inside the lines. They extended back out to a 3-point lead at 10-7, after a long-ish rally, and that elicited the Dutch team's timeout. The margin held steady to the halfway timeout, coming at 12-9.
The Dutch team took one back on serve on the rally ending 13-12 as it appeared the Chinese played a ball that was going to land well out of bounds. China got it back on the first point after the fourth side change, to go ahead three again at 16-13. The Dutch team came even again at 17's, finding the sand for an ace on a serve that the Chinese were content to let drop a good few inches in bounds. After taking their timeout, the Dutch team took their first lead of the match at 18-17, before the Chinese at last sided out to remain in striking distance. The Dutch reached set point first at 20-19 after a Chinese service error, but they did not convert on their first attempt. They got their second at 21-20 after the Chinese were whistled for a ball-handling fault, but the Chinese saved that one with a crosscourt kill. Finally they got it on their third try to "steal" a set they trailed most of the way.
China again led early in set 2, but the Dutch team kept it closer than they had in the early part of set 1, within a single point on sideout rather than two or three. An ace on the last serve before the second side change knotted the set at 7-all. They took the lead earlier in set 2 than they had in set 1 as well, going up 11-9 and keeping the sideout advantage lying at 11-10 on reception at the midpoint.
The set drew even once more at 13-all when the Dutch team were called for a double-hit, eliminating 'sideout to victory' from their playbook. China got the sideout to tie the set again at 14 on a play that really demonstrated that beach volleyball is just impossible sometimes (and why sideout percentages are so much higher than indoor) as the trailing Dutch player did the perfectly sensible thing to cover her teammate's block, only to have the Chinese hitter angle her shot in midair to have it land in blissfully unoccupied court. Just nothing you can do about that. The Dutch team had a word with the up official about something before the 28-point side change, but no scoring change was made.
The Chinese scored twice on serve early after the side change, including an ace on 15-all to give them their first lead in a little while at 16-15. That prompted the Dutch team to call time. The margin held to the fifth side change, China on top 18-17. China got to set point at 20-19, and this time no extras were needed as some sterling transition defence got them the kill for set point and sent the match to a deciding 3rd set.
The Dutch team flipped the script from the first two sets and led after the first side change in the 3rd, 3-2 on reception. An ace got them to a three-point lead at 5-2, to their audible delight. On 6-3, China's offence broke down a little, resulting in a free ball to the Dutch side, an opportunity which they did not let pass them by. They led by four at the second side change and extended to five at 9-4, and the Chinese girls were looking just a tiny bit gassed. A Dutch hitting error closed the gap, but they still had a good three-point lead at the third change. That margin held up until the end when the Dutch added two on serve, for a 15-10 final.
Pedro/Bruno vs. Brink/Fuchs
The schedule got a little wonky as the day went on. This was the last match of the day, on centre court. Men's play, and centre court play, resumed at such a time during the previous covered match that it would have been impossible to see the last two matches of the day in their entireties (unless it was like a 21-1, 21-1 match or something). So I saw about half of Gibb/Patterson vs. Vitor Felipe/Evandro, but I got to see all of this Brazil/Germany match.
The German team started with a big run on serve, claiming the match's first 5 points. The Brazilians got the sideout to make it 5-1, but 6-1 at the first change is a rough hole to find yourselves in. Even with a run of three, such as the Brazilians had after the change, you're still down three when it ends, and that itself can be a tough deficit to overcome sometimes. Brink/Fuchs led 8-6 at the second change. Rally scoring can sometimes deceive, because that looks like a convincing turnaround, but really, it's little more than variance. And the Germans made it back to a five-point lead pretty soon after anyway, a service getting them there at 12-7 and then a right-side block making it 13-7. It was 13-8 at the halfway point.
Pedro and Bruno took the first three after the midpoint, and….okay, that's probably not just variance anymore. Germany took their timeout with their lead dwindled to 13-11. An ace and a block back from that timeout, and we were back even again at 13-all. Another ace, one the Germans looked to willingly abandon, gave the Brazilians their first lead of the set. Brink and Fuchs finally sided out to make it 14-all at the fourth change. Brazil went ahead two for the first time at 17-15, establishing a pretty remarkable turnaround after all. They reached set point at 20-18, and a service error by the Germans sealed set number 1 21-19. After leading by 6 as late as 13-7, that's a pretty bad collapse.
Brink and Fuchs again started strong in set 2, scoring four of the first five. On the 4-1 rally, it looked like they were attempting a roll shot, but it landed back on their court. The weird part of it is I don't think it touched the Brazilian blocker. Wasn't a great camera angle, but it seemed to show the German hitter simply holding on to the ball too long. Whoops! They still had a solid 5-2 lead on service at the first side change, and extended it to 8-4 at Brazil's timeout. So they had Germany right where they wanted them. They took five of the next six to get the set back even at 9-all, and it was 11-10 Germany, to receive, at the halfway point.
After a few sideouts, Brazil came even again at 13-all and took the lead at 14-13, prompting Germany's timeout. Brazil played an alert point on 15-all to side out, with their net player reaching over the net after a lazy pass (this is legal to do if it doesn't palpably interfere with the other team's 'honest athletic effort' to set their offence), and they followed that up with two more to go up 17-15. Germany got their sideout and then one of those aces volleyball purists would hate, as the ball drilled the top of the net and just eked over. Nothing at all Brazil could have done about that. The Germans took the lead back, holding an ever-so-slender 18-17 advantage after five side changes. They reached set point at 20-19, but the Brazilians staved it off and then got themselves match point with a block up the middle. My screen went black on match point, so I don't know how the Brazilians won it, but I know they did, right there at 22-20.
Full day's results:
Men
Knockout Round 1
Vitor Felipe/Evandro (BRA) d. Doppler/Horst (AUT) (21-15, 18-21, 15-8)
Dollinger/Windscheif (GER) d. Wu/Wu (CHN) (21-18, 21-19)
Böckermann/Urbatzka (GER) d. Plavins/Peda (LAT) (21-23, 21-18, 15-13)
Dyachenko/Sidorenko (KAZ) d. Lucena/Keenan (USA) (22-20, 24-22)
Chevallier/Kovatsch (SUI) d. Koreng/Walkenhorst (GER) (21-17, 21-19)
Brink/Fuchs (GER) d. Horrem/Eithun (NOR) (21-13, 21-15)
Nicolai/Lupo (ITA) d. Ingrosso/Ingrosso (ITA) (21-14, 21-18)
Ricardo/Álvaro Filho (BRA) d. Xu/Gao (CHN) (21-13, 16-21, 15-10)
Knockout Round 2
Vitor Felipe/Evandro d. Brouwer/Meeuwsen (NED) (21-18, 21-16)
Gibb/Patterson (USA) d. Dollinger/Windscheif (21-14, 27-25)
Böckermann/Urbatzka d. Erdmann/Matysik (GER) (18-21, 21-17, 15-9)
Kadziola/Szalankiewicz (POL) d. Sidorenko/Dyachenko (25-23, 21-16)
Pedro/Bruno (BRA) d. Chevallier/Kovatsch (22-20, 21-4)
Brink/Fuchs d. Smedins/Samoilovs (LAT) (21-16, 17-21, 15-13)
Fijalek/Prudel (POL) d. Nicolai/Lupo (21-18, 23-21)
Ricardo/Álvaro Filho d. Rosenthal/Dalhausser (USA) (21-19, 19-21, 15-13)
Knockout Round 3
Gibb/Patterson d. Vitor Felipe/Evandro (24-22, 20-22, 15-9)
Kadziola/Szalankiewicz d. Böckermann/Urbatzka (21-13, 21-17)
Pedro/Bruno d. Brink/Fuchs (21-19, 22-20)
Ricardo/Álvaro Filho d. Fijalek/Prudel (21-18, 21-17)
Tomorrow's semifinals:
Gibb/Patterson vs. Kadziola/Szalankiewicz
Pedro/Bruno vs. Ricardo/Álvaro Filho
Women
Final day of pool play
Pool A:
Xue/Zhang (CHN) d. Maria Clara/Carolina (BRA) (21-19, 21-17)
Khomyakova/Prokopeva (RUS) d. Dampney/Boulton (GBR) (21-17, 21-16)
Final Pool A standings:
1. Xue/Zhang 3-0
2. Maria Clara/Carolina 2-1
3. Khomyakova/Prokopeva 1-2
4. Dampney/Boulton 0-3
Pool B:
Borger/Büthe (GER) d. Keizer/Van Iersel (NED) (21-14, 24-22)
Jin/Miao (CHN) d. Ukolova/Chaika (RUS) (21-12, 22-20)
Final Pool B standings:
1. Borger/Büthe 2-1
2. Jin/Miao 2-1
3. Keizer/Van Iersel 1-2
4. Ukolova/Chaika 1-2
Pool C:
Ludwig/Walkenhorst (GER) d. Cicolari/Menegatti (ITA) (26-24, 26-24)
Schwaiger/Schwaiger (AUT) d. Day/Hochevar (USA) (22-20, 21-19)
Final Pool C standings:
1. Ludwig/Walkenhorst 2-1
2. Schwaiger/Schwaiger 2-1
3. Cicolari/Menegatti 1-2
4. Day/Hochevar 1-2
Pool D:
Kessy/Ross (USA) d. Lili/Seixas (BRA) (21-17, 21-13) I got to see a little of this match, I'm pleased to say Fopma/Sweat (USA) d. Bawden/Clancy (AUS) (21-18, 26-24)
Final Pool D standings:
1. Kessy/Ross 3-0
2. Lili/Seixas 2-1
3. Fopma/Sweat 1-2
4. Bawden/Clancy 0-3
Pool E:
Holtwick/Semmler (GER) d. Heidrick/Zumkehr (SUI) (17-21, 21-19, 15-8)
Van der Vlist/Wesselink (NED) d. Forrer/Vergé-Dépré (SUI) (19-21, 21-18, 15-11)
Final Pool E standings:
1. Holtwick/Semmler 3-0
2. Zumkehr/Heidrich 1-2
3. Van der Vlist/Wesselink 1-2
4. Forrer/Vergé-Dépré 1-2
Pool F:
Liliana/Baquerizo (ESP) d. Kolocova/Slukova (CZE) (21-15, 21-12)
Fendrick/Branagh (USA) d. Kolosninska/Brzostek (POL) (21-18, 22-20)
Final Pool F standings:
1. Liliana/Baquerizo 3-0
2. Fendrick/Branagh 1-2
3. Kolosninska/Brzostek 1-2
4. Kolocova/Slukova 1-2
Pool G:
Talita/Taiana (BRA) d. Sinnema/Stiekema (NED) (21-9, 21-7)
Nystrom/Nystrom (FIN) d. Maria/Agatha (BRA) (13-21, 21-14, 15-13)
Final Pool G standings:
1. Maria/Agatha 2-1
2. Talita/Taiana 2-1
3. Sinnema/Stiekema 1-2
4. Nystrom/Nystrom 1-2
So after last week when there weren't any teams that got eliminated in pool play despite winning a match, this week it happened to five different teams. That's harsh!
Pool H:
Yue/Ma (CHN) d. Van Gestel/Meppelink (NED) (21-12, 22-24, 16-14)
Broder/Valjas (CAN) d. Bonnerova/Hermannova (CZE) (21-16, 21-17)
Final Pool H standings:
1. Yue/Ma 3-0
2. Van Gestel/Meppelink 2-1
3. Broder/Valjas 1-2
4. Bonnerova/Hermannova 0-3
Knockout stage round 1
Keizer/Van Iersel d. Heidrich/Zumkehr (21-14, 21-16)
Maria Clara/Carolina d. Cicolari/Menegatti (21-19, 18-21, 15-12) Not such a hot start to the season for this vaunted Italian pair
Lili/Seixas d. Broder/Valjas (21-19, 17-21, 15-7)
Talita/Taiana d. Kolosninska/Brzostek (21-14, 21-14)
Van der Vlist/Wesselink d. Jin/Miao (23-21, 19-21, 15-10)
Schwaiger/Schwaiger d. Sinnema/Stiekema (21-19, 21-10)
Khomyakova/Prokopeva d. Fendrick/Branagh (21-16, 21-16)
Van Gestel/Meppelink d. Fopma/Sweat (21-15, 21-18)
Tomorrow's round 2 matchups
Xue/Zhang vs. Keizer/Van Iersel
Maria Clara/Carolina vs. Yue/Ma
Holtwick/Semmler vs. Lili/Seixas
Talita/Taiana vs. Kessy/Ross
Ludwig/Walkenhorst vs. Van der Vlist/Wesselink
Schwaiger/Schwaiger vs. Liliana/Baquerizo
Maria/Agatha vs. Khomyakova/Prokopeva
Van Gestel/Meppelink vs. Borger/Büthe
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