Beach Volleyball

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Women’s Olympic beach volleyball pool breakdown
Pool B: The Pool of Death
In any major world-class competition in which pool play is the format, there is an inevitable pool of death. For the women, that is, by a long shot, Pool B, featuring world No. 2 Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth; China’s Chen Xue, now a four-time Olympian and a bronze medalist in the Beijing Games, and Xinyi Xia; Tokyo silver medalists Mariafe Artacho and Taliqua Clancy of Australia; and Canada’s Heather Bansley, now a three-time Olympian and a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, and Sophie Bukovec, who punched their Paris ticket by winning the NORCECA Continental Cup.



How tough is this pool? The only team without Olympic experience is the one seeded at the top. Australia was always going to be a land mine, due to Clancy sitting out much of the year with an injury. Same goes for Bukovec and Bansley who, had they played together for the entirety of the Olympic cycle, likely would have qualified via points rather than the Continental Cup. Alas, they were a shotgun marriage, with Bukovec splitting with Sarah Pavan and Bansley coming out of retirement in the middle of the qualification cycle. They narrowly missed on points, and emerged from an undefeated Continental Cup. Every match in Pool B will be must-watch TV.

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