Who are Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes' next opponents and when do they compete? Everything about the American pair's schedule at Paris Olympics

By Agnijeeta Majumder

Modified Aug 05, 2024 13:33 GMT

The US women's beach volleyball team of Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng took victory against Valentina Gottardi and Marta Menegatti of Italy, scoring 2-1 in Round 16 at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In a highly contentious match-up, both teams finished with 31 kills but the US team's 12 errors were less than 13 of Italy, which gave the former an edge over the latter. The US women's beach volleyball team will go against Tanja Hüberli and Nina Brunner of Switzerland on August 6 in the quarterfinal round.

The USC Trojans alumni have been a winning combination since the first time they hit the volleyball court together. As juniors, the duo won bronze medals at the 2013 U19 and 2014 U21 World Championships. Their partnership through college, representing USC Trojans, swept 103 consecutive collegiate wins besides leading the Trojans to 2016 and 2017 NCAA Championships.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Cheng is playing in her second Olympic appearance but with Sara Hughes, and the pair has already secured the beach volleyball Round of 16 win against the Italian team of Valentina Gottardi and Marta Menegatti. Kelly Cheng score 21 points on 16, besides three aces and two blocks. Her partner Hughes scored a double-double with 15 kills and 19 digs.

The team will next face the Swiss team of Tanja Hüberli and Nina Brunnerin, the 2023 CEV EuroBeachVolley gold winners, in the quarterfinals on August 6, in pursuit of winning their first Olympic gold, according to the official page of Olympics.com.

Kelly Cheng - "This game is a game of momentum"

The 28-year-old expressed pride in stopping the opponent's momentum in the match since volleyball is 'game of momentum'. She believes that the mindset of 'every point is a new point' is a winning strategy and essential to follow in a beach volleyball match.

"This game is a game of momentum, so really fighting to stop them from having momentum and fighting to get it back.It’s about staying in the present and not letting those runs effect you and just fighting every point. Every point is a new point and you are not worrying about those last ones. That’s really important," Cheng said (via USA Volleyball)

Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng went separate ways in 2018 but reunited in 2022. The same year, they won the 2022 World Tour Finals in Doha. In 2023, Cheng and Hughes achieved a career-high world ranking of No.2. Kelly Cheng qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with her then partner Sarah Sponcil.