Swiss beat Americans Hughes, Cheng in Olympic beach volleyball; German, Swedish men advance to semis

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United States’ Kelly Cheng reacts after a score in a quarterfinal beach volleyball match against Switzerland at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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Switzerland’s Tanja Hueberli reacts after victory in the women’s quarterfinal beach volleyball match between USA and Switzerland at Eiffel Tower Stadium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

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Switzerland’s Tanja Hueberli, left, and Nina Brunner react after defeating the United States in a quarterfinal beach volleyball match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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United States’ Kelly Cheng, left, and Sara Hughes walk off the court after losing to Switzerland in a quarterfinal beach volleyball match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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Sweden’s David Ahmad, left, watches Jonatan Hellvig return a shot in a quarterfinal beach volleyball match against Brazil at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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Brazil’s Evandro Goncalves Oliveira Junior jumps to hit the ball during the men’s quarterfinal beach volleyball match between Brazil and Sweden at Eiffel Tower Stadium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

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Germany’s Nils Ehlers celebrates during the men’s quarterfinal beach volleyball match between Germany and Netherlands at Eiffel Tower Stadium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

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Brazil’s Evandro Goncalves Oliveira Junior hits the ball during the men’s quarterfinal beach volleyball match between Brazil and Sweden at Eiffel Tower Stadium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

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Netherland’s Yorick de Groot goes low to make the save in a quarterfinal beach volleyball match against Germany at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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Brazil’s Evandro Goncalves Oliveira Junior, left, and Arthur Diego Mariano Lanci react during the men’s quarterfinal beach volleyball match between Brazil and Sweden at Eiffel Tower Stadium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

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Germany’s Clemens Wickler serves in a quarterfinal beach volleyball match against the Netherlands at Eiffel Tower Stadium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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Sweden’s David Ahmad, left, and Jonatan Hellvig strike a celebratory pose after defeating Brazil in a quarterfinal beach volleyball match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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Brazil’s Evandro Goncalves Oliveira Junior goes up for a shot against Sweden’s Jonatan Hellvig in a quarterfinal beach volleyball match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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Sweden’s David Ahman celebrates during the men’s quarterfinal beach volleyball match between Brazil and Sweden at Eiffel Tower Stadium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

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Switzerland’s Esmee Boebner, far left, serves in a quarterfinal beach volleyball match against Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy at Eiffel Tower Stadium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar, left, and Taliqua Clancy celebrate their quarterfinal beach volleyball victory over Switzerland at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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Switzerland’s Zoe Verge-Depre hits the ball during the women’s quaterfinal beach volleyball match between Australia and Switzerland at Eiffel Tower Stadium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

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Switzerland’s Nina Brunner, left, celebrates with Tanja Hueberli in a quarterfinal beach volleyball match against the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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Switzerland’s Nina Brunner hits by United States’ Kelly Cheng in a quarterfinal beach volleyball match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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United States’ Sara Hughes hts against Switzerland’s Tanja Hueberli in a quarterfinal beach volleyball match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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United States’ Kelly Cheng hits against Switzerland’s Tanja Hueberli in a quarterfinal beach volleyball match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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Switzerland’s Tanja Hueberli, right, and Nina Brunner react after victory in the women’s quarterfinal beach volleyball match between USA and Switzerland at Eiffel Tower Stadium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

By JIMMY GOLEN

PARIS (AP) — No more American women left in the beach volleyball field at the Paris Games. No more hope of the U.S. women bringing a gold medal back to the sport’s birthplace for the fifth time in six Olympics.

Switzerland ousted Americans Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes on Tuesday night, a day after the other U.S. women’s team of Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth and American men Chase Budinger and Miles Evans were defeated at Eiffel Tower Stadium.

Only the last remaining U.S. men’s team of Andy Benesh and Miles Partain stand in the way of the first American medal shutout since the sport that was conceived on the coasts of Hawaii and California joined the Summer Games in Atlanta in 1996.

“I so appreciate and I’ve loved to see the legacy of the United States and beach volleyball, and would have loved to continue that legacy,” said Cheng, who made it one round farther than she did in Tokyo. “It wasn’t our time.”

Switzerland’s Nina Brunner and Tanja Hueberli beat the Americans 21-18, 21-19 to advance to the semifinals, winning one point in a back-and-forth second set when Brunner made a kick save with her left foot. When the two arrived in the mix zone, the point was playing on the nearby TV and, they stood there smiling as they watched the replay.

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“We had to enjoy this one again,” Hueberli said.

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In the other women’s quarterfinal on Tuesday night, Australians Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy beat the Swiss team of Esmee Boebner and Zoe Verge-Depre in a tight three-setter, 21-19, 16-21, 15-12.

The Aussies are the defending silver medalists, having lost to Americans April Ross and Alix Klineman in the Tokyo final.

“Look, it definitely stung,” Clancy said. “But we don’t even look back.”

In the men’s matches, top-ranked David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden jump-set their way into the semifinals, beating Evandro and Arthur of Brazil 21-17, 21-16. Germany beat the Netherlands in straight sets to reach the final four, where one win guarantees a gold or silver medal — and even a loss leaves open the chance for the bronze.

“We were quite nervous, but I screamed everything out, every ‘nervosity’ — is that a word?” said the 6-foot-11 German Nils Ehlers after he and Clemens Wickler won 22-20, 21-15. “I was very nervous, for sure. It’s amazing to play here in front of this crowd, and I’m so happy that we have the chance to play two times more.”

Only traditional beach volleyball powers Brazil and the United States, along with host France, placed the maximum allowed two teams in each of the men’s and women’s brackets. Benesh and Partain are the only Americans left; they play Qatar, the Tokyo bronze medalists, in the second set of quarterfinals on Wednesday.

None of the French teams made it out of the group stage.

Brazil’s loss means the sport’s spiritual home will not win a men’s medal for the second straight Olympics. The Brazilian men took gold in Rio de Janeiro and Athens and three other medals in between.

“The levels are getting better each time. Everyone is investing in the sport. A lot of people came to Brazil to study beach volleyball,” Evandro said, noting that of the 24 teams in the men’s field, 23 of them had won on the world tour. “Today there are no favorites in this game. We are talking about an Olympics, everyone can lose and everyone can win. The level today is really hard.”

Ana Patricia and Duda play Latvia on Wednesday, hoping to avoid Brazil’s second shutout ever— and second in a row.

___

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Olympic Hightlights

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FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

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FILE - Ilona Maher of USA is tackled by Sharni Williams of Australia in a semifinal of the Rugby World Cup 7’s championship held in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The main task for Maher, the breakout social media star on TikTok at the Tokyo Olympics, is winning a medal in Paris. (AP Photo/Halden Krog, File)

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FILE - Jacques Freitag of South Africa waves his national flag after he won the Men’s high jump event at the World Athletics Championships, at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

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Sammy Sullivan of USA in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, on May 4, 2024. The anthem played as Army officer Sammy Sullivan stood to attention and saluted beside her U.S. rugby teammates before a gold-medal game in Hong Kong against Olympic champion New Zealand. No prizes for guessing where her mind may have drifted to: Paris in July. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)

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USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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FILE - Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands competes during the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Vienna 2022 men’s semifinal game against Austria at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Van de Velde, convicted and imprisoned eight years ago for raping an underage girl in England has qualified for the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter, File)