Switzerland and the Netherlands are one step away from qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics in beach volleyball as the countries are the finalists of the European Continental Cup Finals, which are taking place in the Dutch coastal city of The Hague.
Switzerland and the Netherlands clash for Olympic spot
The nations will play each other on the last day of the European Continental Cup Finals
Published 09:54, 25 Jun 2021
The two nations will clash on Saturday with two matches set to take place in the afternoon. The first will see Dutchmen Yorick de Groot and Stefan Boermans meet Swiss Adrian Heidrich and Mirco Gerson, while the second will feature hosts Christiaan Varenhorst and Ruben Penninga against Marco Krattiger and Florian Breer. If the countries split wins, a golden match will be needed and each nation will be able to name any team for it.
Switzerland are trying to return to the Olympics after missing out on the Rio Games and the country took an important step forward on Friday with a clean victory over Germany. Krattiger and Breer opened the day with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) win over Alexander Walkenhorst and Sven Winter and Heidrich and Gerson followed it up with another straight-set (21-13, 21-17) victory, this one against Nils Ehlers and Lars Fluggen, to make it to the final.
“We are lucky to be one of the few nations to have two strong teams at such an important competition,” Heidrich, whose sister Joana has qualified for Tokyo, said. “It is a big plus for us. Qualifying for the Olympics would mean everything, it’s my biggest dream.”
Boermans and De Groot started the day well for the Netherlands (Photo: CEV)
The Netherlands, who are looking for a second spot in Tokyo after Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen secured one via the Olympic rankings, had a tougher day, but also made it through in front of their home fans. De Groot and Boermans started the day strong, posting a 2-0 (21-13, 21-6) win against young Latvians Arturs Rinkevics and Ardis Bedritis, but temporary partners Varenhorst and Penninga had to sweat more to prevail in three sets (18-21, 24-22, 17-15) over Latvian stars Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins.
“I love playing these matches,” Varenhorst, a Rio 2016 Olympian, commented. “Ruben is only 22, but his style of play is of a more mature player. As for tomorrow’s match, the winner takes all. I would really like to go to Tokyo, so our team will, for sure, give everything."
Australia, Indonesia, Iran and New Zealand in the semis in Asia
The Asian Continental Cup Finals started on Friday and after the first day of competition in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, teams from Australia, Indonesia, Iran and New Zealand survived the quarterfinals to make it to the final four.
The biggest surprise of the first day of the tournament was Indonesia’s golden match victory against China, which eliminated the Chinese from the event. The nation will now meet New Zealand in the semifinals after the Kiwis, led by the O’Dea brothers Sam and Ben, knocked hosts Thailand out with a pair of wins.
Candra and Ashfiya played a key role in Indonesia's upset of China (Photo: AVC)
The other semifinal will see a meeting between continent heavyweights Iran, who counted on the best from veterans Rahman Raoufi and Abolhamed Mirzaali to down Qatar in the golden match, and Australia, who were led by 2018 Commonwealth Games winners Damien Schumann and Christopher McHugh and had a clean, two-match victory against Oman.
Gambia, Ghana, Morocco and Mozambique in contention in Africa
Africa is guaranteed to send a new country to the men’s Olympic tournament in Tokyo as Gambia, Ghana, Morocco and Mozambique, who have never appeared at the Games, are in the semifinals of the region’s Continental Cup Finals in Agadir, Morocco.
Morocco had a dramatic day as the hosts saw 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship veterans Mohamed Abicha and Zouheir Elgraoui step up to hand the country a golden match victory against Egypt. Their next opponents, Gambia, had lighter work to do as they ousted Rwanda with two victories.
Ghana cruised past Tunisia with a pair of straight-set wins (Photo: CAVB)
On the other side of the bracket, Ghana and Mozambique were dominant, advancing with a pair of straight-set victories against Tunisia and Kenya, respectively.
Nicaragua and Puerto Rico advance in Colima
The six-country Continental Cup Finals for the NORCECA (North, Central America and the Caribbean) region started on Friday and saw Nicaragua and Puerto Rico advance to meet Canada and hosts Mexico respectively in the semifinals.
Nicaragua counted on a strong effort of their top team, Dany Lopez/Ruben Mora, who won a match and a golden set against the Virgin Islands, to advance while Puerto Rico saw Kevin Rodriguez and Kevin Encarnacion emerge victoriously from the golden set against Guatemala to move forward.
