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The Road to Rio runs through North Bay

"North Bay puts on a world-class event"

With one final men's beach volleyball berth on the line, Canadian beach volleyball royalty descended on the Canor Molson Sand Centre. Top-ranked Canadians Chaim Schalk & Ben Saxton had already punched their ticket to the 2016 Rio Olympics.

For the teams of Josh Binstock & Sam Shachter (the favourites) and Grant O'Gorman & Sam Pedlow, the match Saturday was a winner-takes-all affair, with only one duo taking their talents to Rio.

These same two teams spent last weekend in Sochi, Russia, combining to earn Canada a second qualifying spot in the Olympics. This also marks the first time that Canada would be sending two men's and two women's teams to the same Olympics.

Amadeo Bernardi and his team really put on a great party, and Saturday was no different. There was not an empty seat in the house, as the Canor Molson Sand Centre played host to high-level Volleyball Canada officials, and many visitors from Southern Ontario where the players hail from.

The crowd was raucous, the music was pumping, and the slight underdogs, O'Gorman & Pedlow fed off the energy of the crowd with an emotionally-charged first set win (22-20).

In the second set, the 2012 Olympian Binstock (who then competed with Martin Reader) took over, his veteran presence seeming to calm the less-experienced Schachter. The duo raced out to a lead that they wouldn't relinquish, rallying at the end of the second frame to quell a spirited O'Gorman & Pedlow rally.

The deciding set provided scintillating sporting feats of the sort that this city has not seen in some time. Men's volleyball tends to be a power game, with quick points. This third set showed the two teams' familiarity with one another, where strategy and veteran wiles eventually won out over the younger challengers, and with Binstock & Schachter advancing to the Rio Olympics by a 15-12 margin.

After embracing at the net, the two teams, spent from exertion were resigned to their fates.

Sam Pedlow, the bearded ball of energy from Barrie, and a huge crowd favourite in his visits to North Bay said after the match that this would not be the duo's last attempt to qualify for the Olympics. "Grant and I have played together for five years, and I don't foresee anything changing. We're just hitting our stride, trying to break through on the world tour, it takes some time."

"I could see Grant and I qualifying as a top-15 (automatic entry) in four years, and avoiding a match such as this," continued Pedlow.

"They played better than us today, but I am not disappointed with our performance. A few breaks made the difference. We hold our heads high and fly to Austria next week for the next one," said Pedlow.

As far as the North Bay crowd support, Pedlow said "It's a reflection of playing free. It's not forced, it's not made up, it's just who we are. When we are playing our best, the fire comes out."

As far as the winners, when asked if this was his last Olympics, the 35-year-old Binstock replied "I said that after London in 2012, and here I am, so we'll evaluate after this season."

Schachter, beaming from ear-to-ear, asked of his thoughts said "Excitement. I'm just really excited and proud."


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Stu Campaigne

About the Author: Stu Campaigne

Stu Campaigne is a full-time news reporter for BayToday.ca, focusing on local politics and sharing our community's compelling human interest stories.
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