Binstock, Schachter earn Canada’s final Olympic berth in beach volleyball

NORTH BAY, Ont. – Josh Binstock and Sam Schachter earned Canada’s final Olympic berth in beach volleyball with a three-set victory over fellow Canadians Sam Pedlow and Grant O’Gorman on Saturday.

Binstock and Schachter, both of Richmond Hill, Ont., bounced back from a 22-20 loss in the first set to defeat Pedlow, of Barrie, Ont., and Toronto’s O’Gorman 21-17 and 15-12 in the next two sets.

“We’re ecstatic for sure,” said Binstock, who played in the 2012 London Olympics with Martin Reader. “We have been in that situation before where we’ve been down, and also have been in other situation being up and lost it, so we know anything can happen.

“Those guys (Pedlow and O’Gorman) are a great team, so if you don’t stay sharp, momentum can swing. So we just stayed poised and optimistic and good things happened.”

Canada will send four beach volleyball teams to Rio including two women’s teams (Sarah Pavan and Heather Bansley, and Jamie Broder and Kristina Valjas) and one other men’s team (Chaim Schalk and Ben Saxton).

Binstock and Schachter and Pedlow and O’Gorman won their semifinal game against Venezuela at the FIVB World Continental Cup in Sochi, Russia last week. The teams split the first two matches before Pedlow and O’Gorman won in a final golden set 15-11.

Saturday’s match pitted the two Canadian teams together for the last spot at the Rio Games.

“I’m disappointed but they played well at the end, so congrats to them,” said O’Gorman.