Australia’s Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho Del Solar are setting themselves for a beach volleyball bronze medal battle after suffering semi-final heartbreak in Paris. Looking to eclipse their Tokyo silver, the veteran pair lost a three-set thriller against Brazil’s Ana Patricia Ramos and Eduarda Santos Lisboa (Duda) 20-22-20, 15-21, 12-15. Playing in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower as the sun went down, the teams produced a high-quality battle, which made the loss even tougher to take for the triple Olympians.
“Down to the final four, every team is good so it’s just those little moments and unfortunately, they didn’t turn in our way at times,” said 32-year-old Clancy. “It’s the beauty of sport though, you can play the best f**king game of your life and you still lose.” While the Australians scrapped and clawed to stay in the fight, Brazil seemed to have their measure, even in the opening set when the first time the green and gold duo were in front was at set point.
The Brazilians, who now hold a 7-3 head-to-head record against Clancy and Artacho Del Solar, roared through the second set to take the match to a decider. The highlight of the third came at 4-4 when there was a marathon rally with 13 cross-overs before Brazil won the point, with three of the four players left laying on the sand gasping for air and the crowd on their feet. The teams were still locked at 12-12, setting up an electric finale but the Brazilians broke the deadlock and surged ahead t.