PARIS (AP) — Miles Partain and Andy Benesh failed to stop the slide, leaving the United States without a medal for the first time in the beach volleyball championships at the Paris Olympics.
The 21-14, 21-16 loss to the Qatari team of Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan in the quarterfinals on Wednesday was the first American medal loss without conceding a goal since the sport was added to the Olympic program at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Partain and Benesh carried American hopes as both women’s teams and the other men’s team had already been eliminated from the tournament.
“I wish one of our teams had won a medal,” said Partain. “We did our best.”
Benesh said the lack of American medals in the sport at the Paris Games was not necessarily due to a declining level of the team, but rather to an overall increase in the level of play.
“It’s a little different than it was 20 years ago. There’s a lot of competition around the world,” Benesh said. “As a beach volleyball fan, it’s fun to watch, people play in different styles in men’s and women’s (competitions).”
The American pair led 12-11 in the first set at the Eiffel Tower Stadium, but some sloppy shots allowed the Qataris to pull away. Younousse and Tijan drew cheers from the nighttime crowd with some of their improvised moves.
“Qatar played really well,” Benesh said. “We just didn’t execute as well as they did.”
The Qataris still have a chance to do better than they did three years ago in Tokyo, when they won the bronze medal, the first Olympic medal in beach volleyball for a Middle Eastern country.
“We are living our dream. We have no expectations, we are just dreaming,” said Younousse. “It’s an incredible opportunity to play here in front of the Eiffel Tower in this incredible atmosphere.”
Defending champions Anders Berntsen Mol and Christian Sandlie Sorum from Norway also impressed under the floodlights, winning 21:16, 21:17 to defeat Pablo Herrera Allepuz – silver medalist at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens – and Adrian Gavira Collado from Spain.
Mol showed some football skills that would have made fellow countryman Erling Haaland proud, rescuing what seemed like a lost point with a deft strike of his right foot. The ball bounced high and Soerum won the point, then hugged Mol.
Norway won the first set when Mol jumped on the net and made a clever block. Soerum’s smash on the net then decided the match as a breeze cooled the fans after the intense heat in the French capital. Mol celebrated with a spectacular backflip and Sorum didn’t even try to match it, settling for a comical backflip.
In the semifinals on Thursday they will face the German duo Clemens Wickler and Nils Ehlers, while the Qataris will play against the Swedish jump set specialists David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig.
In the women’s quarterfinals, the top-ranked Brazilian team consisting of Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Eduarda Santos Lisboa beat Anastasija Samoilova and Tina Graudina from Latvia 21:16 and 21:10 on Wednesday.
The Brazilians fell to their knees and embraced after winning the second match point when Samoilova’s serve hit the net.
“It was difficult to read her serve, there were a lot of variations,” Silva Ramos said through an interpreter. “But we recovered well.”
The Latvian pair took an early 6-0 lead against the Brazilians, but it did not last.
“As a team they are obviously better and have reached their level again,” said Graudina.
Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson of Canada reached the semifinals by defeating Daniela Alvarez Mendoza and Tania Moreno Matveeva of Spain 21-18, 21-18.
Canada won the first set in a back-and-forth affair when Moreno Matveeva served long. After winning their second match point, the Canadians dove under the net and celebrated in front of a handful of their flag-waving fans.
In Thursday’s semifinals, the Brazilians will face the Australian team of Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy – silver medalists at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago – while the Canadians will face Nina Brunner and Tanja Hueberli from Switzerland.
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