Canadians fight back to reach Olympic beach volleyball final / Photo: © AFP
Canadians fight back to reach Olympic beach volleyball final
Canada's Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson came back from the brink on Thursday to set up a women's beach volleyball final against Brazilian pair Ana Patricia Silva and Eduarda Santos.
On a night of surprises at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, defending men's champions Anders Mol and Christian Sorum of Norway lost in three sets to Germany's Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler.
The German pair will face Sweden's top-ranked David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig in the men's final on Saturday.
The seventh-ranked Canadian women's pair started the evening semi-final programme, triumphing 14-21, 22-20, 15-12 against Switzerland's Tanja Hueberli and Nina Brunner.
Switzerland were on the brink of victory in the second set but their opponents dug deep, saving a match point to force a tense decider, which they won.
The ecstatic Canadians fell to the sand after they sealed the win, hugging and laughing before running into the crowd.
"I'm a runner (when I celebrate)," said Humana-Paredes. "It was an out-of-body experience. I think my body just had this huge release and I needed to get that energy out.
"I don't think we've played our best volleyball yet. I think it's somewhere inside and hopefully tomorrow (Friday) we can bring it out."
Brazilian favourites Silva and Santos beat Tokyo silver medallists Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar from Australia but they had to come back from losing the first set, helped by some impressive blocking.
The decider was tight but the Brazilians got over the line, winning 20-22, 21-15, 15-12.
The pair hugged and cried as an army of Brazilian fans flooded down the stadium steps.
- 'Goosebumps and tears' -
In the first men's semi-final, Germany's Ehlers, who stands at 6 feet 11 inches (2.11 metres), used his height and reach to great effect as his team took the first set.
But to the delight of their fans, some wearing Viking helmets, the Norwegian pair battled back to square the match.
After a tight decider, a dramatic review over a net fault went in the Germans' favour.
The winners collapsed on the sand, with the stands shaking to the sound of thunderous stamping.
After the match, which finished 21-13, 17-21, 15-13, a visibly emotional Ehlers said he had "goosebumps and tears in my eyes".
"I almost have no words. We can go for gold. It's incredible."
Qatar's Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan played Sweden's Ahman and Hellvig for the second time at the Paris Games -- the Qataris won the group-stage match.
But this time, the Qatari pair struggled to find their rhythm against the top-ranked Swedish, who are famous for their style of attacking play called the "Swedish jump-set".
Younousse and Tijan rallied after losing the first set but their opponents proved too powerful, easing to a 21-13, 21-17 win.
N.Johns--TNT
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