Rio-bound girls not having it all their own way in the Pool Play

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Gallay/Klug won both of their matches in the Pool Play. Photocredit: Bernhard Horst

Without a doubt the biggest story on day two of the A1 Major Klagenfurt was the wins for American wildcards Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes over two teams heading to Rio next week!

The youngsters stunned top seeds from Germany Ludwig/Walkenhorst in their opening match of the day and their debut in the Swatch Major Series tasted even sweeter when they put Canadians Broder/Valjas to the sword late on a wet Wednesday afternoon.

There are 12 women’s teams heading to Rio on the shores of Lake Wörthersee this week and those flying to South America had a mixed day on a dramatic day of Pool Play.

Yesterday we highlighted Pool C as the group of death as it contained no less than three Olympic-bound teams. Polish pair Brzostek/Kolosinska ended the day smiling after two wins from two but Australians Laird/Artacho weren’t feeling the love after two defeats.

Many of the soon-to-be-Olympians had to settle for one win and one defeat on Wednesday, including Australians Bawden/Clancy, Czech duo Hermannová/Slukova, Forrer/Vergé-Dépré of Switzerland and Spain’s Liliana/Elsa.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom on a stormy day in Carinthia as Germany’s Borger/Büthe and Argentina’s Gallay/Klug won both of their matches to put them in pole position for a place in the second elimination around – as did Poreč Major gold medalists Laboureur/Sude.

Of course the beauty of beach volleyball means that can all change tomorrow – but Wednesday belonged to Kelly and Sara. Sleep well, girls! Good job!