Canada's Saxton, Schalk fall to Dutch in men's beach volleyball
Canadians ousted in straight sets
By Nick Murray, CBC Sports
The luck ran out for the Canadian beach volleyball duo of Ben Saxton and Chaim Schalk. The pair, which won its lucky loser playoff Thursday, was eliminated by the Dutch duo of Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen Saturday in Rio.
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- Sarah Pavan, Heather Bansley survive 'Clash of Canadians,' reach Olympic beach v-ball quarters
The Netherlands' Brouwer and Meeuwsen fed the Canadians a decisive loss in straight sets, 21-12, 21-15, advancing to the quarter-final round.
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CAN?src=hash">#CAN</a> loses straight sets to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NED?src=hash">#NED</a> and will not advance to the quarterfinals at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rio2016?src=hash">#Rio2016</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZnlnPV7gO4">https://t.co/ZnlnPV7gO4</a>
—@CBCOlympicsDespite going into Rio ranked higher than Brouwer and Meeuwsen on the FIVB world tour, Saxton, of Calgary, and Schalk of Red Deer, Alta., couldn't get much going and were outmatched at the net, failing to get a block in the match.
After dropping the first set, the Canadians trailed 10-4 after a mental mistake by Schalk put them in a hole when he let a ball drop which he thought was going out — one of the team's 12 errors on the night.
Saxton and Schalk clawed back though, reducing the gap to 7-9 after Saxton fired a 93 km/h ace, but that's as close as they'd get despite 11 service faults by the Dutch in the match.
BEn Saxton gets the ace with his fastest serve of the tournament <a href="https://t.co/OfGoyoJrXb">https://t.co/OfGoyoJrXb</a>
—@CBCOlympicsThe loss ends Canada's hopes at a men's beach volleyball medal, but the women are still in the hunt. Sarah Pavan and Heather Bansley are on to the quarter-finals after they beat fellow Canadians Kristina Valjas and Jamie Broder Saturday morning.