Rio de Janeiro, August 11, 2016 – Germany’s Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst beat Italy’s Marta Menegatti and Laura Giombini 2-1 (21-18, 18-21, 15-8) to top their pool at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games, at Copacabana Beach Arena on Thursday.
Here’s what they said after the match…
Laura Ludwig, Canada
“Now the tournament starts. We are happy we have found our rhythm. The third match wasn’t really what we thought we wanted to do. We made a lot of mistakes, especially in our service game and normally it is our strength.
“We are really satisfied that we worked really hard in the rallies and fought for every point.
“We struggled in a lot of elements in the game. Normally passing, serving, setting especially. I think we can do this better, but I think it was a good game to make us get our focus back. Sometimes if it is too easy in the pool in the first single elimination, it can be over suddenly.”
Marta Menegatti, Italy
“We feel good, we have now passed the preliminary round among the two best teams in third position, so this is good news since we won't have to play tonight (in the lucky losers matches).
“We played very good in defense and the service worked well and Laura was with me all the time, being very aggressive. We enjoyed playing.
“There are still a few things we need to adjust, but every time we go on the court we add something.”