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Last week, U.S. pairs took home two medals at BPT Futures Halifax. This week, competition is underway in the U19 Beach World Championships. All four pairs entered advanced past the qualification phase into the main draw. We also look ahead to upcoming beach events to finish out the month.
There are several beach events on the calendar over the next few weeks, including the Beach U19 World Championships and World University Championships. The Beach Pro Tour also resumes with a slate of post-Olympic events.
The U.S. men’s beach team of Miles Partain and Andy Benesh completed their Olympic run in Paris in the quarterfinals with a 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) loss to Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan of Qatar on Wednesday. Partain and Benesh, the youngest U.S. men’s beach team in Olympic history, ran off three consecutive wins to reach the quarters.
The U.S. women’s beach team of Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng finished fifth at the Paris Olympics after dropping their quarterfinal match to the Swiss combination of Tanja Hüberli and Nina Brunner, 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) on Tuesday. The 2023 world champions ended the Olympics with a 4-1 record.
The U.S. beach team of Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss came from behind late in both sets on Monday before falling to Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson of Canada in the Paris Round of 16, 2-0 (21-19, 21-18). Kloth/Nuss posted a 3-1 record in their first Olympic appearance and finished ninth.
Running its option offense with great effectiveness, the U.S. beach team of Miles Partain and Andy Benesh defeated Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava of Italy, 2-0 (21-17, 21-18) on Monday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics.
The U.S. beach team of Miles Evans and Chase Budinger fell to the defending Olympic gold medalists Anders Mol and Christian Sørum of Norway, 2-0 (21-16, 21-14) in the Round of 16 in Paris on Monday. Evans/Budinger earned a pair of wins and placed ninth in their first Olympic appearance.
The third-seeded U.S. beach team of Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng had all they could handle from 12th-seeded Valentina Gottardi and Marta Menegatti of Italy before coming away with a 2-1 (21-18, 17-21, 15-12) win in the Paris Round of 16 on Sunday.
Playing to stay alive in the Paris Olympics, the U.S. beach team of Miles Evans and Chase Budinger pulled out a 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) victory over Thomas Hodges and Zachery Schubert of Australia in the “Lucky Loser” round on Saturday.
The U.S. beach team of Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng defeated Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann of Germany, 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) in a matchup of undefeated teams to finish 3-0 in pool play on Friday. Both teams advanced to the Round of 16 at the Paris Olympics.
