Beijing, China, August 13, 2008 - Cristine “Saka” Santanna and Andrezza “Rtvelo” Martins of Georgia rallied from a first set setback and saved a match point in the second set to defeat Alexandra Shiryaeva and Natalya Uryadova of Russia 10-21, 22-20 and 15-12 at Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground here Wednesday.

Competing for a berth in the 16-team elimination bracket with the loser being eliminated from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games to place 19th in the competition, the Russians dominated the first set of the Pool C match. In the second set, Shiryaeva and Uryadova had a match point at 20-19, but Saka and Rtvelo scored the final three points to force a third and deciding set. In the third set, Georgia broke from a 5-5 tie to take control of the match at 10-7. Shiryaeva and Uryadova cut the deficit to 12-11 as the Brazilian-born pair Saka and Rtvelo finished the set by scoring three of the next four points.

It was the first meeting between the two teams as both pairs were competing in their first-ever Olympic Games. Here are comments from the players.

On hugging the Russian players after the match, Cristine “Saka” Santanna of Georgia said that "I wanted to show that the Olympics are above politics and I wanted to display a sign of peace. It was a very important match, because we needed to win to stay in the competition. We did our job today. It was good."

Alexandra Shiryaeva of Russia said "This is the first time for our country to have a team in the Beach Volleyball. We played well, but not well enough. It was close but we were not good enough to win."

Natalya Uryadova of Russia said "Today's competition was outstanding. Our opposition performed quite well. We regret the result, we were not lucky today."