David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig were one of the biggest Swedish gold hopes before the Olympics.
But in the group stage, they had a tough time at times, losing two out of three games.
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Early four point lead
But now they seem to have found the form. In today’s quarter-final against Brazil’s Evandro Gozales Oliviera Junior and Arthur Diego Mariano Lanci, the duo impressed greatly.
They got off to a dream start and went straight up 4–0, a lead they never relinquished – and they won the first set 21–17.
Good defensive
Also in the second set, they took an early lead, and were quickly up at 4–1.
And thanks to some incredibly impressive saves in defense (see the video above for perhaps the best example)and a nice and varied attacking game, they managed to keep the lead all the way to the set win 21–16 – and the match win with 2–0 in the set.
– It is absolutely incredible! It’s something we’ve dreamed of since we started playing together. To go this far in an Olympics, it’s every beach volleyball player’s dream – every athlete’s dream, says David Åhman to SVT Sport.
Can be the USA in the semi
The semi-finals will be played on Thursday. Waiting there are either the Americans Miles Partain and Andy Benesh or Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, the Qataris who defeated Åhman/Hellvig in the group stage.
– Regardless of which team it will be, it will be a very, very tough match. Both teams have looked very strong this tournament, says Åhman.