Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 12, 2016 – Russia’s Ekaterina Birlova and Evgenia Ukolova progressed to the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games quarterfinals after they defeated Spain’s Liliana Fernandez and Elsa Baquerizo 2-0 (23-21, 24-22) at the Copacabana Beach Arena on Friday.
Here’s what they said after the match…
Evgenia Ukolova, Russia
“It was a tough game because everybody was playing with a good side-out. I think the Spanish girls made a few more mistakes than we did. We had a good serve to finish the game and our block came good at some important moments.
“We said to be relaxed and to focus on our side-out on the next ball. Also, some strategy like always.
“I hope that tomorrow will be good because the other Russian men’s team (Nikita Liamin and Dimitri Barsuk) play tomorrow and they play against a strong Brazilian team (Pedro Salgado and Evandro Goncalves). We hope that they will beat them, then it will be the best Russian beach volleyball result.”
Elsa Baquerizo, Spain
“I think we suffered a little more than in other matches, we weren’t having as much fun as in other matches and we were a little more pressured. It was a tight match, but at some points we could have made a difference, but they played a good match.”
Liliana Fernandez, Spain
“The pool phase was just amazing and I enjoyed it so much. It was a shame I couldn’t enjoy this match like I did the other three.”
Quick links - Beach volleyball: