June 30-04
Volleyball Canada

Road to Athens Proving to be Bumpy for Canadian Beach Players

This is the second to last of the FIVB World Tour events that are being used as Olympic Qualifiers this season, and the road to Athens is proving to be rough for our Canadian beach players.

Guylaine Dumont & Annie Martin is the only pair to really be guaranteed a ticket to the Summer Games at this time. Two-time Olympians John Child & Mark Heese have found themselves in a real hunt, currently holding the last qualification spot due to injuries the past two seasons - they will have to fend off a hot team from Estonia who is only 36 points behind.

The final pairing of Conrad Leinemann and Jody Holden reunited with hopes to qualify, but after an opening round loss to Italy’s Giuseppe Patriarca & Daniele Desiderio 21-16, 19-21, 14-16, the probability of this happening is becoming less with only one event remaining.

In women’s action, Canucks Marie-Andrée Lessard and partner Sarah Maxwell were defeated by Germany’s Helke Claasen & Martina Stoof 17-21, 21-18, 15-11. Fellow Canadians Gabriele Jobst & Tricia Stragliotto defeated Latvia’s Inguna Minusa & Inga Pulina 21-19, 21-17, but could not get past Mexico’s Hilda Gaxiola & Celina Garcia dropping in straight sets 21-18, 21-17.

reprinted with permission