Austrian Schwaiger sisters claim their first win of the 2012 London Olympics – Volleyball News
The pairing of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Schwaiger and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefanie_Schwaiger from Austria broke the ice at the 2012 London Olympic Women’s Beach Volleyball Tournament with their first victory against Australia’s Natalie Cook and Tamsin Hinchley on Monday.
The Austrian pair posted 2-1 (18-21, 22-20, 15-10) win over Australian counterparts, while the Horse Guards Parade in central London hosted the cracking action of beach volleyball. The affair lasted for about 53 minutes.
It was a comeback victory for Schwaiger Sisters as they dropped their first match of the Olympic tournament. Czech Republic’s 10th-seeded Slukova-Kolocova edged out the Team Schwaiger in the first fixture on Saturday.
However, the team worked hard and immensely improved in the next match. Doris - Stefanie did not catch a good start in the second match as Cook-Hinchley claimed the opening frame. The competition remained close until the Aussie duo played fast and stretched
out the gap of points.
Following the loss of set-1, AUT tandem put up a valiant effort. They complimented each other and committed only a fewer mistakes. Better attack and defence allowed the Austrian pair to level the game score at 1-1 by winning second set with two points.
In the decisive third set, Schwaiger Sisters proved to be better and seized final-set victory with good margin of five points. Aussies tried to resist and used different tactics, but eventually dropped the match decision.
According to Stefanie Schwaiger, both teams played with certain degree of nervousness. In her post-match comments, she stated: “We were shaking a bit, but so were they and neither side had a good match. It was important we won so that we can progress, but
we knew that if we lost we would probably not be able to go through.”
She also explained the reason of failure in the first set. She said: “In the first set we had many chances, but made a lot of mistakes. We were having trouble maintaining the level of our play, but we grew in confidence, which was important for the third
set because it is so quick, you never know what is going to happen.”
Next up, the Schwaiger Sisters have a bigger challenge to face 3rd-seeded American pairing of Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor on Wednesday. The US Olympic gold medallist duo is enjoying a great form and has already captured the first two matches
in straight sets. Team Austria will be required to demonstrate a flawless performance, in order to overcome the rivals.
Nevertheless, it is still a mystery until the two teams come face to face on the centre court. Visit again to know about the result of this crucial match.
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