Thomas Hodges and Zachery Schubert are still alive in the Men’s Beach Volleyball after securing their first win of the Paris Olympics at the Eiffel Tower Stadium.
In front of a vocal French crowd eager to get their opponents Remi Bassereau and Julien Lyneel over the line, Thomas and Zachery were composed under pressure to win in straight sets 2-0 (21-16, 22-20).
They will play Americans Miles Evans and former NBA basketballer Chase Budinger in the Lucky Losers round at 7am AEST. The winner will advance to the quarter finals.
The Aussies came out firing in the first set, racing to a 4-0 lead before maintaining their advantage throughout the remainder of the set to take it 21-16.
The second set was a much tighter affair that sent the enthusiastic home crowd firing.
After a tight first half, the Aussies looked to have opened a big enough gap to ensure the victory by holding an 18-14 advantage.
However, Bassereau and Lyneel wouldn’t go down without a fight, storming back into the contest with the next six points to lead 20-18 with set point.
In true Aussie spirit, Thomas and Zachery held on, with a clutch point from Thomas bringing the score to 20-19, and an ace by Zachery with scores level at 20-20 handing the Aussies match point.
It would be the only one they needed, with an error by the French pair giving the victory to the Aussies.
Both were jubilant after the match and thrilled to get their first victory at the Olympics.
“It was pretty incredible,” Zachary said.
“We wanted to win so bad, we're up a few points, and next thing you know, we're actually down.
“To go back to the baseline and to serve and like that, we just had to go for it.
“There's nothing to lose and everything to gain, and we did.”
Thomas added the atmosphere of the crowd added to the occasion.
“It makes you so much more emotional winning our first Olympic game,” he said.
“We're unbelievably excited.
“Playing France against France. At the beginning of the game when they were getting announced, the crowd is incredible.
“The amount of French flags out there and the energy inside the venue is crazy.”
This article was originally written for The Australian Olympic Team. You can read the published version here
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