Rio de Janeiro, August 6, 2016 – The Netherland’s Marlene van Iersel and Madelein Meppelink began their Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games campaign by beating Venezuela’s Olaya Pazo and Norisbeth Gonzalez 2-0 (21-17, 21-11) at the Copacabana Beach Arena on Saturday.
Here’s what they said after the match….
Marlene van Iersel, the Netherlands
“We are happy that we finally got to play as we had to wait for so long. It was a good game to start with.
“In the beginning we had nerves in the first set. You could see it in the score. We made some unnecessary errors but at the end of the first set we picked it up and did what we had to do and that was enough.”
Madelein Meppelink, the Netherlands
“I think we learned a lot from the World Champs last year. It was the same rhythm and I think it was a general prep. I think the key is on the days off to take them off. Of course you are going to train, training never stops. But mentally you need to take a day off and refocus next time.
“For me it starts three hours before a game and that when I need to start concentrating and focusing. I think that is the big thing I learned compared to London. In London it was two hard weeks and I was exhausted after that and I don’t want to be exhausted.”