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Sunday, September 24
Big crowd helps to upset Brazilian pair
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- After Australia's Natalie Cook received
her beach volleyball gold medal, teammate Kerri Pottharst planted a
big smooch on her cheek.
No wonder. Cook's inspired play and repeated waves for the
already frenzied crowd to cheer even louder helped lead to a 12-11,
12-10 victory for the Australians over Brazilian world champions
Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede for the Olympic title Monday.
"In our home country in front of 10,000 people, this win is for
everyone that has helped us and supported us over the last six
years," Cook said.
Earlier, Sandra Pires and Adriana Samuel of Brazil each won
their second Olympic medal, teaming to defeat Yukiko Takahashi and
Teru Saiki of Japan 12-4, 12-6 to take the bronze.
The medal ceremony became a hug-fest for both the winners and
the losers. The gold, achieved with five consecutive match victories, was a
two-medal improvement from the bronze the Australian pair won in
Atlanta four years ago.
Cook and Pottharst delighted the dancing, screaming throng with
inspired play, diving for every shot and finally overcoming the
Brazilians.
"We reminded each other to have fun out there," Pottharst
said. "Keep going, take risks and play with our hearts."
It was the first cloudy day since play began at Bondi Beach on
Sept. 16, but the cool breeze and gray skies failed to subdue a
sellout crowd that roared with every rally.
The gold-medal match required little of the stadium announcer's
usual prompting to cheer and dance, as the flag-waving home crowd
had Australian favorites to support.
Cook and Pottharst came back from an 11-8 deficit with four
consecutive points to win the first game 12-11. Momentum shifted
several times, with Bede and Behar taking advantage of errors by
Pottharst to take the lead, and then the Australians putting on
pressure with hard serving that forced the Brazilians into
mistakes.
The Australians also got some bounces, with Cook's final serve
catching the top of the net and barely dropping over for the
game-winner.
Bede and Behar recovered in the second game, improving their
passing and shot-making to jump to leads of 7-3 and 8-5 as the
match extended past an hour. Once again, the Australians came back,
with Pottharst desperately saving a Bede smash with her right fist,
then smashing the set-up from Cook to tie it at 8.
The Brazilians went ahead again 10-8, and Cook and Pottharst
came back again, with Cook smashing a winner to tie it at 10. A
Pottharst ace on the right boundary made it 11-10, and when Behar
and Bede couldn't reach a final shot by Cook, the crowd exploded
again.
In the bronze-medal game, Samuel and Pires combined power and
style to outclass the sixth-seeded Japanese.
Four years ago at the inaugural Olympic beach volleyball
competition in Atlanta, Pires and Jackie Silva defeated Samuel and
Monica Rodriques for the gold. Playing together this time Pires and
Samuel lost 15-6 in the semifinals to Cook and Pottharst, but
showed no lack of intensity in playing for bronze.
They fell behind 2-0 in the first game but never appeared
threatened, gaining control with flawless passing to set each other
up for easy kills over the shorter Japanese. A seven-point run made
it 10-3 and the Brazilians ended it at 12-4 on a Pires serve that
Takahashi returned wide, her third error after displaying a precise
touch in the quarterfinal and semifinal matches.
Brazil's dominance continued in the second game, again breaking
away after an early deficit with six consecutive points and a 9-3
lead. Both Pires and Samuel dived to save kill attempts by the
Japanese, then exhibited their athleticism with leaping smashes
Takahashi and Saiki were unable to reach.
Takahashi tried to instigate a comeback, serving an ace that
Pires was unable to handle, but Brazilians responded with a Samuel
dig for a point off a Saiki smash to make it 11-5. They completed
the game and match on a Samuel smash the Japanese couldn't handle.
The defeat came on Saiki's 29th birthday, but she wasn't
complaining.
"Yes, we did lose, but we stayed in the tournament until my
birthday so it's the best present I could have," she said.
Takahashi also called the Sydney experience good, even though she
again failed to medal at her fourth Olympics.
She represented Japan in indoor volleyball in Seoul and
Barcelona, and again in beach volleyball in Sydney and Atlanta.
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