TOKYO (Reuters) – Brazil’s Bruno Schmidt and Evandro Oliveira kickstarted their beach volleyball campaign in Pool E with a hard-fought victory over Chile’s Marco and Esteban Grimalt at Shiokaze Park on Sunday.
Reigning Pan American Games champions, the Grimalt cousins are Chile’s pioneering beach volleyball players, and gave the Brazilian duo a tough fight in a 21-15, 16-21, 15-12 loss.
Schmidt, who won gold in Rio in 2016, was the shortest man on court but kept the ball in play with an impressive 14 digs, combining power and finesse to score points with spikes and use deft touches at the net to evade blocks.
His partner Evandro, the 2017 world champion who stands at 2.10 metres tall, was a force to reckon with at the net, firing five aces with well-placed serves.
Poland’s Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak beat Japan’s Yusuke Ishijima and Katsuhiro Shiratori in straight sets with a 21-15, 21-14 victory in Pool F. Kantor’s presence at the net allowed Poland to win six points off the blocks.
In the women’s draw, Australia’s Mariafe del Solar and Taliqua Clancy were too good for Cuba, winning 21-15, 21-14, both Australians sharing the load in receiving and attacking the ball.
Cuba’s Lidianny Benitez and Leila Ortega attempted to win points with faster serves which cost them six errors instead, while Clancy fired four aces as the Australians opened their account in Pool E.
Earlier, the U.S. pair of April Ross and Alix Klineman also beat China in straight sets in their Pool B match, winning 21-17, 21-19.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Karishma Singh)
