Olympics-Beach volleyball-Brazil beat Latvia to reach knockouts
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Brazilian duo Evandro Junior and Pedro Solberg left it late to register their first win of the tournament, but squeezed into the last 16 of the men's beach volleyball by beating Latvia's Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins on Thursday.
In front of a raucous crowd on Copacabana beech that cheered every Brazilian point and booed every Latvian serve, Junior and Solberg were forced into a third set but went on to win 21-16 20-22 15-7.
That was enough to secure them automatic passage to the next round, finishing second in Pool D on points difference despite losing their opening two contests to teams from Cuba and Canada.
"Today I served better than the other days which was good for us," Junior told Reuters after a match in which he hit serves reaching 99 kilometers per hour.
The windy conditions, combined with Junior's pace, made things difficult for the Latvians who rued not defending better.
"Now a new Olympics starts for us," Junior said about the last 16.
(Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Toby Davis)
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