Beach Volleyball: Mixed fortune for British pairs in Olympic test

Shauna Mullin of Scotland and Zara Dampney lost to the experienced Brazilian pair of Liliane Maestrini and Angela Vieira in the quarter-finals of the London Prepares Olympic test event at Horse Guards Parade last night.

Edinburgh's Mullin and Dampney had won all of their previous four matches at the event and Dampney was delighted with the week.

She said: "It's been an amazing week for us, we've played our hearts out on the court and we just wanted to show everyone what beach volleyball is all about. It's been the highlight of our season and it's been so much fun.

"It's been an amazing experience for us. We didn't really know what it would be like until we got here, it's been really great how the public have got so involved with the event and got behind us.

"We just want to say thank you to everyone who has come down and supported and we hope they go away with a positive opinion of beach volleyball."

The British pair's fantastic run came to an end as they went down 14-21 20-22.

The other British pair, Denise Johns and Lucy Boulton, reached the semi-finals with a hard-fought victory over Chinese duo Xue Chen and Zhang Xi. A 21-19, 21-18 win in front of a capacity crowd could be seen as a major step forward for Johns and Boulton against the pair ranked fourth in the world and Boulton was happy with the result.

She said: "Our tournament just keeps getting better. To beat opposition as good as the Chinese Olympic medallists today is very special. They're a fantastic pair, really skilful."

Johns and Boulton will face Jennifer Kessy and April Ross of the United States in today's semi-final.