Zoé Vergé-Dépré/Esmée Böbner continue their winning streak in the Olympic tournament at the start of the knockout phase. The duo defeated China's Xue Chen and Xia Xinyi 29:27, 21:17 in the round of 16.
04.08.2024, 09:57
04.08.2024, 11:26
SDA
Böbner and Vergé-Dépré, who had won all three of their preliminary round matches, got off to a great start against the Asians. They were 8:1 ahead in the first set - only to lose their way against their improving opponents. However, the Lucerne and Bernese players recovered and laid the foundations for progressing by winning the first, drawn-out round.
In the second set, the Swiss kept the Chinese at a constant distance of two or three points early on. They did not relinquish this advantage until the end of the match.
Xue and Xia had reached the round of 16 in third place in their group. However, the Swiss were up against one of the most experienced players in the tournament, 35-year-old Xue, whose greatest successes were some time ago. She won bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing alongside her partner at the time, Zhang Xi, and five years later the pair became world champions in Stare Jablonki in Poland.
Böbner and Vergé-Dépré will face either Brazil's Carolina Salgado and Barbara Seixas or Australia's Mariafe Artacho and Taliqua Clancy in the quarter-finals.
The second Swiss duo, Tanja Hüberli/Nina Brunner, will play Liliana Fernandez/Paula Soria early on Sunday evening for a place in the quarter-finals. The Spaniards finished the preliminary round in second place in Group A.
