PARIS (AP) — Former NBA player Chase Budinger and partner Miles Evans were the last team to reach the knockout stage of the beach volleyball tournament at the Paris Olympics.
Next up could be their hardest match yet.
The American first-time Olympians beat Australia in straight sets in the final match of the lucky loser round on Saturday night to earn the right to face Tokyo gold medalists Norway in the round of 16 on Monday.
“They’re the best team in the world,” Budinger said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us, for sure.”
The Americans lost two of their three preliminary matches and finished third in the group, forcing them to beat the Aussies to move on. They won the first set 21-19, scoring five of the last six points after trailing 18-16, and then pulled ahead midway through the second to win 21-17.
“It just felt good to play better,” Budinger said. “Our last two matches, we just weren’t ourselves. And it felt good to just get back to being ourselves. So if we can continue doing that, I’ll be happy no matter what happens after this.”
Earlier on Saturday night, Japan beat France in the other women’s lucky loser matchup, eliminating the last of the host teams from the tournament.
France’s two men’s and two women’s teams won only one of 13 matches and only four sets total, but played in front of joyous crowds at the Eiffel Tower Stadium, including President Emmanuel Macron, soccer star Zinedine Zidane and oodles of celebrities and Instagram-posting fans.
Alexia Richard was sobbing as she entered the mix zone to talk to reporters.
“We are super sad right now, but not a lot of athletes have an opportunity to play their first Olympics at home, in a sport like ours,” said her partner, Lezana Placette. “I think when we will take one step back, we will enjoy it. But for now the frustration takes a big part.”
France had not placed a women’s team in the Olympic beach volleyball field since Sydney or a men’s team since Athens.
“We didn’t have the opportunity to watch French girls perform and enjoy and play in an Olympic Games,” Placette said. “So we hope we give this opportunity to younger players and maybe inspire some little girl. And, even if it’s just one girl, that will be a success for us.”
In the other women’s lucky loser match, Canadians Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson played themselves into the final 16 five hours after losing their final match of the pool stage to fall into the lucky loser round.
The Canadians, who were fourth on the Olympic qualification points list, lost to Latvia in straight sets in the 5 p.m. match and then were back on the sand at 10 p.m., when they beat Czechia 21-15, 21-12.
“It’s a new tournament now. Whatever happened is in the past and now we just move forward,” said Wilkerson, who also came out of the lucky loser bracket at the Tokyo Games and upset a third-seeded American team.
“When you’re having a hard go and what we experienced just a few hours ago, it really helps lean into the gratitude of what we’re doing here,” she said, “and to be able to show up and appreciate just what that moment is.”
Czech Barbora Hermannova played in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and qualified for Tokyo but never made it to the sand because her partner tested positive for COVID-19. Their Olympics over, the Czechs gave each other a prolonged hug and smiled.
“Even though we lost, we had good times here,” Hermannova said. “We are definitely heartbroken now. But why not laugh if you are in an amazing stadium in front of so many people who are loving volleyball.”
Her partner, Marie-Sara Stochlova, was at her first Olympics.
“We were also definitely crying,” she said. “But even losing, it was a blast.”
In the afternoon, Chile advanced to the knockout round when Canada’s Dan Dearing withdrew from their lucky loser match after three points because of a back injury.
“That’s part of sport. Sometimes injuries happen. Obviously horrific timing,” said Dearing’s partner, Sam Schachter. “It’s a nightmare for Dan and me, and we want to be able to share that moment with our families and the crowd and get that Olympic spirit. But, obviously, it didn’t happen today.”
Dearing sustained the injury during practice on Saturday morning. He and Schachter took the sand for the match that pits third-place teams from pool play against each other to fill out the final spots in the round of 16.
After three points, with Chile winning two, it became obvious to Dearing that he couldn’t continue.
“Obviously, we’re frustrated,” Schachter said. “We want to be able to compete. It’s super disappointing that we weren’t able to get Dan’s back to a place where he can compete. But we really tried our hardest.”
Chile advances to the round of 16 against one of the pool winners. Esteban Grimalt, who teams with his cousin, Marco Grimalt, said the teams are friends who trained together when they first arrived in Paris.
“It’s not the best way, of course. It’s a shame,” Esteban Grimalt said. “It was really unexpected and really sad, actually, because we saw the pain — not just the physical pain, also the emotional pain. And it’s hard to see a friend like that. So we hope, fast recovery and play again and in the next years.”
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