Buenos Aires, Argentina, October 9, 2018 - Beach Volleyball pairs from Germany, Hungary and the United States prevailed in matches between unbeaten teams here Tuesday during the third of six days of pool play at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games.
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The men's tandems of Filip John/Lukas Pfretzschner of Germany (Pool C) and Artur Hajos/Bence Streli of Hungary (Pool G), and the women's pair of Devon Newberry/Lindsey Sparks of the United States (Pool A) each won their second match at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games to gain sole leadership of their groups with one pool play match remaining Thursday.
Silver medal placers at July’s FIVB under-19 World Championships in China, the 30th-seeded John and Pfretzschner posted a 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) win in 21 minutes over 14th-seeded Sheikh Colley/Jahara Koita of Gambia. With an opening win Sunday over a team from Sweden, John and Pfretzschner conclude Pool C play Thursday against winless Micah Glasgow/Enrico Louraine from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the 19th-seeded team.
Lukas Pfretzschner (left) hits against a Gambia opponent as German partner Filip John looks on
Seeded 23rd in the 32-team men’s field, Hajos and Streli posted a 2-0 (21-13, 21-18) Pool G win in 27 minutes over seventh-seeded Alexandre Lezcano/Criforth Lobo of Costa Rica. Hajos and Streli, who defeated a team from Ghana in their opening match, conclude Group action against winless and 26th-seeded Olivier Lanteri/Ludovic Palmaro of Monaco.
Bence Attila Stréli of Hungary dives for the Mikasa as Hungarian partner Artúr Hajós follows the action. (Photo: Copyright of Olympic Information Services)
Newberry and Sparks, who finished fourth in the women’s under-19 world championships, posted their second win Tuesday with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-12) win in 28 minutes over 32nd-seeded Celine Baumann/Mara Betschart of Switzerland. The 16th-seeded Americans end their Pool A schedule playing top-seeded Brenda Churin/Delfina Villar of Argentina.
Churin and Villar rebounded from an opening match setback to Baumann/Betschart Sunday to even their YOG record at 1-1 Tuesday with a 2-0 (21-9, 22-20) win 33 minutes over 17th-seeded Tiaan Smith/Lauren Taylor of Australia.
Other men’s teams winning their second match Tuesday were second-seeded Denis Shekunov/Dmitrii Veretiuk of Russia (Pool B) and sixth-seeded Bintang Akbar/Danang Herlambang of Indonesia (Pool F). Like the German and Hungarian teams, Shekunov/Veretiuk and Akbar/Herlambang are the top pairs in their groups.
Denis Shekunov of Russia
Also winning their second matches in the women’s competition Tuesday were fifth-seeded Nicol Bertozzi/Claudia Scampoli of Italy (Pool E), eighth-seeded Pawarun Chanthawichai/Thatsarida Singchuea of Thailand (Pool H), ninth-seeded Daniela Alvarez/Tania Moreno of Spain (Pool H), 12th-seeded Maria Gonzalez/Allanis Navas of Puerto Rico (Pool 12), 20th-seeded Julia Gierczynska/Patrycja Jundzill of Poland (Pool D) and 29th-seeded Shuting Cao/Jinjin Zeng of China (Pool D).
Thursday’s schedule has 16 pool play contests scheduled with four matches featuring unbeaten men’s team in Pool A (Switzerland vs. Thailand), D (Ecuador vs. Mozambique) and E (England vs. Paraguay), and women’s pairs in Pool F (Aruba vs. Venezuela).
The elimination rounds begin Saturday for both men and women where the top three teams from each pool advance to single-elimination bracket play. Both the men's and women's quarter-finals will be played October 15 followed by the semi-finals October 16 and the medal matches October 17.
