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TunisiaPress release
Latvian duo fight back to reach last four
Martins Plavins celebrated reaching the London 2012 semifinals after he and Janis Smedins beat Jacob Gibb and Sean Rosenthal
London, Great Britain, August 6, 2012 – Latvian duo Martins Plavins and Janis Smedins found their best form to knock Jacob Gibb and Sean Rosenthal out of the London 2012 Olympic Games with a 19-21, 21-18, 15-11 victory.
It means they will now play FIVB world champions Emanuel Rego and Alison Cerutti for a place in the final at Horse Guard’s Parade on Thursday.
“It’s unbelievable,” Plavins said. I have no words to say. Every win at the Olympic Games is a huge victory for all of Latvia. Now we have five. It’s huge. We don’t want to finish fourth so we will keep on fighting.”
Gibb and Rosenthal were in control for the majority of the first set, but they displayed uncharacteristic nerves which allowed the Latvians to stay in contention. Plavins and Smedins saved two set points, but on the third Plavins over hit a shot that dropped out and gave the Americans the opening set.
Throughout the second set both teams matched each other point for point. Gibb and Rosenthal showed glimpses of the form that allowed them to win two grand slam gold medals on the FIVB SWATCH World Tour this year, while Plavins and Smedins demonstrated why they reached the semifinals at the 2011 FIVB World Championships. At 19-19, a Plavins’ spike gave the Latvians set point and he repeated the move to draw them level.
They kept up their form in the third set and didn’t allow Gibb and Rosenthal the chance to settle into their rhythm. The Americans saved one match point at 15-10, but Plavins and Smedins took their second to reach the last four.
“To play these guys and beat them on centre court in front of 15,000 people is amazing,” Plavins added. “We have to play like that again and not be scared and be confident.”
For Gibb and Rosenthal their quarterfinal exit matches their result from Beijing 2008, but they were disappointed with how they had gone out.
“I didn’t see their defence and usually I’m better at picking up on it,” Gibb said. “We nearly came back and we had a few opportunities. I thought we would come back the whole way through, but I’m not sure what went wrong.”
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It means they will now play FIVB world champions Emanuel Rego and Alison Cerutti for a place in the final at Horse Guard’s Parade on Thursday.
“It’s unbelievable,” Plavins said. I have no words to say. Every win at the Olympic Games is a huge victory for all of Latvia. Now we have five. It’s huge. We don’t want to finish fourth so we will keep on fighting.”
Gibb and Rosenthal were in control for the majority of the first set, but they displayed uncharacteristic nerves which allowed the Latvians to stay in contention. Plavins and Smedins saved two set points, but on the third Plavins over hit a shot that dropped out and gave the Americans the opening set.
Throughout the second set both teams matched each other point for point. Gibb and Rosenthal showed glimpses of the form that allowed them to win two grand slam gold medals on the FIVB SWATCH World Tour this year, while Plavins and Smedins demonstrated why they reached the semifinals at the 2011 FIVB World Championships. At 19-19, a Plavins’ spike gave the Latvians set point and he repeated the move to draw them level.
They kept up their form in the third set and didn’t allow Gibb and Rosenthal the chance to settle into their rhythm. The Americans saved one match point at 15-10, but Plavins and Smedins took their second to reach the last four.
“To play these guys and beat them on centre court in front of 15,000 people is amazing,” Plavins added. “We have to play like that again and not be scared and be confident.”
For Gibb and Rosenthal their quarterfinal exit matches their result from Beijing 2008, but they were disappointed with how they had gone out.
“I didn’t see their defence and usually I’m better at picking up on it,” Gibb said. “We nearly came back and we had a few opportunities. I thought we would come back the whole way through, but I’m not sure what went wrong.”
Download highresolution
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