Newberry/Sparks lost bronze medal duel at YOG

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, October 17, 2018 – Americans Devon Newberry and Lindsey Sparks lost a fantastic duel to Norway’s Frida Berntsen and Emilie Olimstad in the beach volleyball match for the girls’ bronze medal of the Youth Olympic Games on Wednesday.

The European pair recovered from losing a very close first set and went on to dominate the rest of the encounter 2-1 (18-21, 21-13, 15-9).

The gold medal went to Russians Maria Voronina and Mariia Boncharova who defeated Italians Claudia Scampoli and Nicol Bertozzi 2-0 (21-19, 21-19).

It was the seventh consecutive victory without losses for the gold medal winners who only lost one set during their run to the Dutch pair of Emi van Driel and Raisa Schoon.

Voronina/Boncharova led 20-14 in the second set and resisted a five-point rally by Scampoli/Bertozzi before closing the match.

In the boys’ division, Sweden’s David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig won the gold medal after a 2-0 (22-20, 21-15) victory over Vorick deGroot and Matthew Immers of The Netherlands.

Argentina’s Juan Bautista Amieva and Mauro Zelayeta won the bronze medal with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) victory over Hungary’s Attila Streli and Artur Hajos.