Canada's Bansley, Bukovec fall to Americans to open Olympic beach volleyball - MASHAHER

Canada’s Heather Bansley and Sophie Bukovec lost their first beach volleyball match of the Paris Olympics Friday, dropping a 2-0 decision to Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth of the U.S.

Canada went 21-17 and 21-14, with Bansley, of London, Ont., scoring 13 attacking points and Toronto’s Bukovec contributing three.

The Canadians gave up 14 points in errors across the two sets, including a run that saw the Americans jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first before Bansley and Bukovec whittled the deficit to a single point at 14-13.

After a day of on-and-off rain, the skies partially cleared ahead of the game, giving fans in the stands at the Eiffel Tower Stadium a spectacular view of a glowing orange sunset with cotton candy-pink clouds behind the iconic landmark.

Many in the late-night crowd stopped to take selfies in front of the picturesque scene before the game began.

As the sun went down, the Tower lit up, then added dazzling white lights that gave it a sparkling effect.

Volleyball de plage 🏐 : les Canadiennes Heather Bansley et Sophie Bukovec 🇨🇦 s’inclinent face aux Américaines 🇺🇲. Les faits saillants 👇<a href=” <a href=” <a href=” <a href=” <a href=”https://t.co/XIPN8mABWB”>pic.twitter.com/XIPN8mABWB</a>

—@RC_Sports

The Eiffel Tower Stadium sits upon the famed Champs de Mars public plaza, directly behind the iconic metal monolith it’s named after.

Its stands showcase not only the 330-metre tall landmark, but the treetops of the Eiffel Tower garden and rooftops of the elegant apartments in Paris’ 7th Arrondissement neighbourhood.

During breaks in play, spectators could spot some of the Eiffel Tower’s lifts ferrying tourists up to various viewing platforms to take in the vast cityscape below.

The temporary stadium can hold up to 11,800 spectators and the stands were mostly full Saturday evening as Brazil’s George Souto Maior Wanderley and Andre Loyola Stein downed Mohammed Abicha and Zouheir Elgraoui of Monaco 2-0, despite the persistent drip of rain. Many fans wore plastic ponchos. A few held-up umbrellas.

On the court, Paris 2024 staff in colourful bucket hats stood in each corner of the sandy surface and used pink towels to dry off balls.

A DJ amped up the enthusiastic crowd, encouraging them to sing along to P. O. D’s 2001 hit “Boom” and rhythmically bounce their arms up and down with every spike.

A slightly smaller crowd took in the Canada-U. S. matchup during the late-night session. A mime clad in a bright orange singlet endeavoured to get the stadium’s energy up before the athletes came out onto the sand.

Canada will be back on the court Sunday when Samuel Schachter of North York, Ont., and Toronto’s Daniel Dearing take on Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner of Czechia.

Bansley and Bukovec will face China’s Xue Chen and Xia Xinyi in group play Monday, while fellow Canadians Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson play Giuliana Poletti and Michelle Sharon Valiente Amarilla of Paraguay the same day

Source Agencies