The Swedish beach volleyball duo is world number one and came to the games in Paris with an incredible winning streak. The 18th straight victory came in the premiere, but the streak ended there.
We’re actually playing a good match and it’s super tight, we could just as easily have won. We save several match points and also have some of our own, says David Åhman after 1–2 in the set against Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan.
The ranking lies
The Qatari couple are ranked 14th in the world, but that’s a number that lies, says Jonatan Hellvig. Younousse/Tijan are reigning Olympic bronze medalists and also won the opener against the Italian duo Samuele Cottafava and Paolo Nicolai.
Qatar is much better than their ranking says. They have had some injury concerns and have not been able to play as many tournaments as they would have liked. We knew it would be very tough, says Hellvig.
In the first set, most things worked for Sweden. And their unique “jump set” technique is hard for any team to defend against.
In short, it means that Åhman/Hellvig can decide already on the second set – the opponents don’t know whether the Swedes will smash or pass after receiving the serve – and the first set ended with Hellvig smashing in 21-15 in just that way.
We were super happy with how we played that set, says Hellvig.
It is mainly our serving reception that causes us to lose the match. We play quite well, but the few points we give away are what make the difference in tight matches like this, says Åhman.
Italy next
Qatar took the second set 21–19 and the deciding set was a thriller. Sweden got match point at 14–13 (deciding set goes to 15) but Qatar saved. Qatar then shook off three match points – at 15–14, 16–15 and 17–16 – but Sweden saved them all.
The next match ball went to Sweden, but that wasn’t the deciding factor either.
Instead, the Qataris got another chance, took it and won the final set 20–18.
Åhman and Hellvig finish the group stage on Thursday against Cottafava/Nicolai from Italy.