Commonwealth Games
- Coolangatta Beachfront; Queensland, Australia
- April 6-12, 2017
- Schedule/Results
The top seeded teams came through with victories in the semifinals at the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday with Canada and Australia set to face off for the title on both the men’s and women’s side.
World #1 Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan of Canada will take on No. 19 Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy of Australia in the women’s final.
The Canadians racked up eight aces, six by Humana-Paredes, and five blocks, all by Pavan, in an easy straight-set win to advance.
“We’ve been amping thing up to get to this far and now it’s time to get down to business,” said Pavan. “We’ve played Taliqua and Mariafe before when they were with their previous partners. It’s concerning that we haven’t been super challenged up until now but we’re not worried.”
The Aussies had to fight a bit harder, giving up six aces and making five serving miscues in a three-set win over Vanuatu’s Linline Matauatu/Miller Pata.
“We knew this game wasn’t going to be easy,” Clancy said. “We’ve played them a lot on the Asian tour and we were well aware of the threat they posed.”
On the men’s side, Canada’s Sam Pedlow/Sam Schachter, who are ranked No. 14 in the FIVB World listings, will battle Australia’s No. 20 Christopher McHugh and Damien Schumann for gold.
“We came here to compete for gold,” Schumann said. “There’s been a lot of sleepless nights leading up to this event and I’m sure tonight will be no different. It’s a huge honor to be in the final, in front of the home crowd. We don’t get to play in front of them enough and you can be sure we’ll be giving it a good crack in the final.”
Pedlow/Schachter moved past No. 144 Ben O’Dea/Sam O’Dea of New Zealand in straight sets with help from four aces, two apiece, and six blocks, all by Pedlow. McHugh/Schumann faced England’s No. 59 Chris Gregory/Jake Sheaf, capitalizing on four aces, two apiece, and 16 English miscues in the straight-set affair.
The two losing teams on each side will meet in Thursday’s bronze medal matches. Matches are set to begin at 1:30 a.m. ET beginning with the men’s bronze medal match, followed by men’s gold at 2:30. The women’s bronze will be contested at 5:30 a.m. ET followed by the women’s gold at 6:30.
Men’s Semifinals
Sam Pedlow/Sam Schachter (Canada) def. Sam O’Dea/Ben O’Dea (New Zealand) 21-19, 21-15
Christopher McHugh/Damien Schumann (Australia) def. Chris Gregory/Jake Sheaf (England) 21-13, 21-16
Womens’s Semifinals
Mariafe Artacho del Solar/Taliqua Clancy (Australia) def. Linline Matauatu/Miller Pata (Vanuatu) 21-19, 16-21, 15-9
Melissa Humana-Paredes/Sarah Pavan (Canada) def. Matriota Angelopoulou/Manolina Konstantinou (Cyprus) 21-7, 21-12
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