Last week on Bet The Beach Live, we talked about the USA Men’s race for that 2nd Olympic Qualification spot. Hours earlier, Trevor and Theo saw an opportunity lost in a straight set, (21-18, 21-13) loss to Norway’s Mol/Berntsen in the preliminary round of the Espinho Elite 16 qualifier.

Meanwhile, American’s Chase Budinger and Miles Evans took advantage of the #1 overall seed in the qualifier and a friendly draw in Wild Card Portugal’s second team. Winning the preliminary round in straight sets over Portugal (21-14, 21-15), Chase and Miles took on Argentina’s Capogrosso brothers in the final round of the qualifiers. After dropping the first set 19-21, the American’s took the second set 21-18 and advanced to the main draw with an all-important 15-12 3rd set victory.

Chase and Miles would go on to win their pool (Brazil, Brazil, Portugal) with an emphatic win over the #3 team in the world, Brazil’s George and Andre, guaranteeing them a quarterfinal berth, a finish no worse than 5th place, and a usable points result. They would go on to lose to eventual Silver medalists German’s Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler in straight sets in the quarterfinals, (21-14, 21-14).

What does this mean for Trevor and Theo? What do they need to overtake Chase and Miles? Thanks to the points wizard Travis Mewhirter and the fantastic Road to Paris Series on Sandcast YouTube, we have the answer. “…Trevor and Theo still need a gold medal in Poland and then a 5th or better in Ostrava, out of the qualifier.”

As for the rest of the weekend, possibly the biggest story for the USA is another gold for Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss, following a second place last weekend at AVP Huntington and a Silver medal in the Brasilia Elite 16 earlier in the month. Along the way, they beat the #1 team in the world, Brazil’s Ana Patricia and Duda, in straight sets (21-17, 21-15) in the quarterfinals. It was the 10th time these two teams have faced off, and the first win for TKN.

Sweden took gold on the men’s side over Germany, winning in straight sets (21-16, 21-13) to the delight of me, who took them as set spread (-1.5) favorites over Germany. With Anders Mol sidelined for the last 6 weeks with a fracture in his foot, Sweden has now moved very solidly into the #1 spot in the world on the men’s side.

Speaking of gambling… don’t look now but we are RED HOT.

9 picks out of 11 correct on the weekend for 82% correct, up $56.10 on the weekend and up $75.62 since we started placing bets 6 weeks ago. Set spread favorites were the darlings of the weekend, going 4-0.

A great weekend on the sand, a great weekend for the bank account. Let’s keep it rolling this weekend at the Challenge event in Stare Jablonki, Poland.

Chris DeTurk – May 28, 2024