Germans slow up Broder’s hopes for beach gold
Beach volleyball, as any doubles situation in sport, is unique.
You are not totally reliant on yourself as in an individual sport, but neither are you surrounded by a pack of teammates. There is just one other person out there with you.
“We stay together as a team and are very close,” said Victoria’s Jamie Broder, of her playing relationship with beach-volleyball partner Kristina Valjas of Toronto. “We support each other.” That bond has carried them to the 2016 Summer Olympics as Canada’s second women’s team in beach volleyball. It will be relied upon Thursday at 11:30 a.m. when Broder and Valjas will face Egypt in their final pool game that will decide if they advance to the knockout stage of the Olympic competition amid the spectacular setting of Copacabana.
If Broder and Valjas were frank about their chances in Pool D at Rio, they would have looked at the games against Italy and Egypt as must-wins, while the contest against world No. 1 Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany was a probable loss. That’s indeed what it turned out to be on Tuesday as the clinical and precise German duo dispatched Broder and Valjas in straight sets 21-17, 21-11.
Broder and Valjas rallied to upset the higher-ranked Italian duo of Laura Giombini and Marta Menegatti 15-21, 21-18, 15-9 to open Pool D on Sunday. So it all comes down to the result of the game against Egypt on Thursday.
Focus is crucial amid the fivering circus which surrounds them.
“Resiliency, and finding balance among the many distractions, [is] the key in an Olympics,” said Broder, making her Games debut.
“We’ve dreamed of this a long time and worked so hard for it.”
The graduate of Claremont Secondary, who played for the Vancouver Island University Mariners before winning two CIS championships with the UBC Thunderbirds, is now 31. That means there’s a lifetime of striving and sweat riding on Thursday’s result against Egypt.
“There have been so many bumps along the way,” Broder said.
But advancing to the next stage in the Olympics would smooth a lot of those.
Meanwhile, the glass slipper smashed to the ground in men’s indoor volleyball. Veteran nationalteam captain Fred Winters of Victoria fell to 1-1 after Canada dropped a 3-1 sets decision Tuesday to host Brazil after opening against the arch-rival U.S. with a stunning upset victory. Canada has returned to the Olympics in men’s volleyball for the first time since Barcelona in 1992.
It’s a big day today for the rowers. Victorians Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee, who won their first race Monday, compete in the semifinals of the women’s lightweight double sculls. The Elk Lake-based men’s four, fourth at the 2015 world championships, were second in their preliminary race Monday to also advance to their semifinals today.
The 2012 London Olympic silver-medallist and 2015 world championship bronze-medallist Canadian women’s eight — with Caileigh Filmer and Christine Roper of Victoria and UVic Vikes product Antje von Seydlitz of Terrace — was a disappointing third in its opening race and must try to advance through the repechage today.
The Canadian men’s field hockey team — with UVic Vikes products Brenden Bissett, Matthew Sarmento and Keegan Pereira — again took it on the chin and fell to 0-3 following Tuesday’s 7-0 loss to the Dutch, who are a hockey powerhouse. That followed Monday’s 3-1 loss to Americas’ heavyweight Argentina and the opening 6-2 loss Saturday against two-time defending Olympic champion Germany.
RIO NOTEBOOK: Wondering about that green water in the Olympic diving pool Tuesday? Rodd McCormick of Victoria, who honed his unique craft on the pool deck of Saanich Commonwealth Place, is there as the venue producer at the Rio Games aquatic centre for diving, synchronized swimming and water polo.
“Yeah, the water turned green. It’s Rio 2016. Why not have something like this happen?” said McCormick. “It’s not like it’s croc infested or anything. It’s simply a maintenance problem that will be fixed. No one will ever admit that they made a mistake with the chlorine balance or likely ever figure out what really happened. But clearly, a mistake was made by well-meaning people overwhelmed with the enormity of the project.”