Today’s blog is a bit of a grab-bag (if you couldn’t already tell from the headline). We’re 3 events into the final 10 of this Olympic quad, and there is a TON to talk about. So let’s go!
Cuba. Cuba. Cuba.
Admittedly, the Cuban Men’s duo of Noslen Diaz Amaro and Jorge Luis Alayo Moliner were not high on my radar a few weeks ago. They were, and probably still are, high on the list of potential teams to grab the NORCECA Olympic qualification spot. However, I didn’t see them having a run like they had in Brazil over the last 10 days.
In Recife, they knocked off a tough Argentina team in the rounnd of 16, then smoked Canada’s Schachter and Dearing in the quarters 21-12, 21-10. They followed that up with a win over an England team (Bello/Bello) that’s playing some great volleyball right now in the semis, and finally took a loss against Evandro and Arthur in the finals who put together one of the most dominant performances I’ve seen from them all quad.
Diaz and Alayo then took that Silver to Saquarema, where they beat Pedro and Guto on their homecourt in 3 in the round of 16, then HANDLED Austria 21-14, 21-17 in the quarters. After a 3 set win over Austria’s 2nd team in the semis, it all set up for a massive finals against, again, Brazil. This time, it was Brazilians George and Andre, the 4th ranked team in the world currently, waiting for them in the finals.
In one of the funnest matches I’ve seen in awhile, Cuba took Brazil to 3 sets, then had three match point opportunities to win gold, only to lose 19-17 in the 3rd set. Maybe the play of the tournament, Cuba waited until 12-12 3rd set, finals, to bust out the Cuban jump set for the first time all tournament.
80 Points
80 points now separates the USA men’s 2nd and 3rd teams in Olympic qualification after two tough results for Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner. While Crabb/Brunner took a 9th in Recife and a 19th in Saquarema, Miles Evans and Chase Budinger took a 4th and a 5th. Runner up for Bet The Beach play of the tournament in Saquarema goes to Miles and Chase, in a point they lost in a round of 16 win against Norway’s 2nd team.
One final thought on the USA men’s race for the Olympics, Tri Bourne and Chaim Schalk put together their best 2 weeks of the quad so far, taking a 5th in Recife and a 17th in Saquarema. Though still not technically out of the running, their current entry points have them missing the qualifiers in the next Elite 16 in Tepic, Mexico later in April. Without a great result in the Guadalajara Challenge event next weekend, Tri and Chaim’s Paris dreams may be all done. If/when that happens, we’ll have a two team race for that final spot, which should be hotly contested all the way through to Ostrava in June.
Laura Ludwig is Back
When Laura Ludwig announced her new partnership with indoor star Louisa Lippmann in August of 2022, the beach volleyball world took note. The 2016 gold medalist was a legend of the game, “Europe’s most decorated player in women’s beach volleyball history.” Then, for much of the quad, Ludwig and Lippmann middled. Their best result was a 3rd at European Championships, but they were not able to get on the podium at a Beach Pro Tour event. They took a 5th at a Challenge in Edmonton, then 3 straight 5ths in Elite 16’s in Hamburg, Paris, and Doha.
That streak is now gone and “Europe’s most decorated player” is back on the podium in a BPT event, securing a silver in Saquarema. In a hotly contested gold medal match against China’s Chen Xue and Xinyi Xia, Germany fell in 3 sets, 25-23, 22-24, 11-15. That result puts Ludwig and Lippman currently in position to secure a point-qualifying place in Paris, once they get their 12th and final finish. (They’re 4th in the main draw in Guadalajara next weekend.)
Latvia has Arrived
Latvia’s Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova ended their 2023 season and then started the 2024 season with their hottest streak of results so far. After taking gold in December at the Challenge in Nuvali, they then took a 4th at the Elite 16 in Doha (their best result so far) and followed that up with another Gold at the Challenge in Recife. This is likely not a surprise to anyone who followed Tina’s NCAA career, but a definite statement to the world that they’re not just looking to qualify for the Olympics in Paris, but to podium.
Women’s Olympic Race
Below, you’ll find the current Olympic Points totals, courtesy of fivb.com. The seventeen teams that have secured a bid via points (or will once they have enough finishes), are highlighted in yellow. The team that has secured their bid via World Championship gold is highlighted in blue. Teams that are out via country quota (max two teams per country can qualify) are highlighted in red. Teams that receive the host country bid (France) are highlighted in green.
Men’s Olympic Race
Below, you’ll find the current Olympic Points totals, courtesy of fivb.com. The seventeen teams that have secured a bid via points (or will once they have enough finishes), are highlighted in yellow. The team that has secured their bid via World Championship gold is highlighted in blue. Teams that are out via country quota (max two teams per country can qualify) are highlighted in red. Teams that receive the host country bid (France) are highlighted in green.
We’ll talk about all this tonight, (Tuesday 4/2/24 at 7pm ET) live on our YouTube channel. Super spike sessions, episode #2. International Circuit, 1st attempt. If you missed our first episode, you can catch up here.
Chris DeTurk – April 2, 2024
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