PARIS (AP) — Switzerland ousted Americans Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes from the beach volleyball tournament at the Paris Games on Tuesday night, ending the chances of bringing a fifth women’s gold in the last six Olympics back to the sport’s birthplace.
Nina Brunner and Tanja Hueberli won 21-18 and 21-19 to advance to the semifinals at the Eiffel Tower Stadium. The other American women’s team, Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth, were eliminated in the round of 16 on Monday.
Top-ranked David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden jump-set their way into the semifinals earlier Tuesday, beating Evandro and Arthur of Brazil 21-17, 21-16. Germany beat the Netherlands in straight sets to reach the final four, where one win guarantees it a gold or silver medal, and even a loss would leave it with a chance for the bronze.
“We were quite nervous, but I screamed everything out, every ‘nervosity’ — is that a word?” said the 6-foot-11 German Nils Ehlers after he and Clemens Wickler won 22-20, 21-15. “I was very nervous, for sure. It’s amazing to play here in front of this crowd, and I’m so happy that we have the chance to play two times more.”
Only traditional beach volleyball powers Brazil and the United States, along with host France, placed the maximum allowed two teams in each of the men’s and women’s brackets. The Americans still have the men’s team of Andy Benesh and Miles Partain; they play Qatar, the Tokyo bronze medalists, in the second set of quarterfinals on Wednesday.
None of the French teams made it out of the group stage.
Brazil’s loss means the sport’s spiritual home will not win a men’s medal for the second straight Olympics. The Brazilian men took gold in Rio de Janeiro and Athens and three other medals in between.
Ana Patricia and Duda play Latvia on Wednesday, hoping to avoid Brazil’s second shutout ever, and second in a row.
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