Paris Olympics 2024: Aussie volleyballers seek bronze after gold chance goes
Australia’s Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho Del Solar are setting themselves for a beach volleyball bronze medal battle after suffering semi-final heartbreak in Paris.
Looking to eclipse their Tokyo silver, the veteran pair lost a three-set thriller against Brazil’s Ana Patricia Ramos and Eduarda Santos Lisboa (Duda) 20-22-20, 15-21, 12-15.
Playing in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower as the sun went down, the teams produced a high-quality battle, which made the loss even tougher to take for the triple Olympians.
“Down to the final four, every team is good so it’s just those little moments and unfortunately, they didn’t turn in our way at times,” said 32-year-old Clancy.
“It’s the beauty of sport though, you can play the best f**king game of your life and you still lose.”
While the Australians scrapped and clawed to stay in the fight, Brazil seemed to have their measure, even in the opening set when the first time the green and gold duo were in front was at set point.
The Brazilians, who now hold a 7-3 head-to-head record against Clancy and Artacho Del Solar, roared through the second set to take the match to a decider.
The highlight of the third came at 4-4 when there was a marathon rally with 13 cross-overs before Brazil won the point, with three of the four players left laying on the sand gasping for air and the crowd on their feet.
The teams were still locked at 12-12, setting up an electric finale but the Brazilians broke the deadlock and surged ahead to seal their spot in the final.
Australia will now take on Switzerland’s Tanja Huberli and Nina Brunner in the bronze medal match on Friday night (local time) before Brazil go for gold against Canada’s Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes.
Artacho Del Solar said they would fire up again on Friday night with a medal still on the line, even if it wasn’t the colour they were after.
“It was a good match and obviously we’re upset as you always want to be in the final,” the 30-year-old Peru-born star said.
“We have another opportunity tomorrow to get on that podium so we’ll take the positives out of that match and the momentum and we’ll come back stronger for it.
“We get an opportunity to get on that podium so we’ll grab that … we’ve already have made it this far in an Olympic Games, it’s huge, but we definitely want to get on that podium.”
The pair broke a 21-year medal drought when they made the final in Tokyo, following in the footsteps of Australia’s golden girls Kerri Pottharst and Natalie Cook, who triumphed in Sydney after an Atlanta bronze.
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