Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 11, 2016 - With one more pool play match for the host country to be played here Thursday, Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca were the only Brazilian men’s or women’s Beach Volleyball team to achieve a “perfect” group record through the first six days of competition at the 12,000-seat “Coliseu on Copacabana”.
Seeded first in the women’s competition, Talita and Larissa completed Pool A action Thursday morning by defeating Monika Brzostek and Kinga Kolosinska of Poland 2-0 (21-10, 21-15) in 32 minutes. The match was the first international meeting between the two teams.
With Thursday being the sixth and final day of pool play for both men and women, Brazilian pairs now have a 7-4 group record with one match left for 0-2 Evandro Goncalves and Pedro Solberg against Latvia in men’s Pool D. Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt (men’s Pool A) and Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas (women’s Pool B) finished second in their groups with 2-1 records.
As three-time Beach Volleyball Olympians for Brazilian Talita and Larissa’s “Summer” Games experience played a factor in the Brazilians’ 3-0 group record as Talita and Larissa posted earlier wins in the competition over pairs from Russia and the United States. The Brazilians average set score was 21-14.
Against Brzostek and Kolosinska, Talita and Larissa never trailed as the Brazilians led 7-1 and 18-7 in the first set. The Poles forced seven ties in the second set and broke open the match segment by breaking a 10-10 tie to gain a 16-11 advantage to control the action.
With both pairs guaranteed a spot in the women’s 16-team elimination bracket prior to the match, Talita and Larissa’s win maintained their No. 1-seed in the knock-round rounds. The women’s draw will be determined late Thursday evening before their midnight “lucky loser” matches to determine the final two berths in the elimination rounds with Talita and Larissa playing one of those teams on either Friday or Saturday.
