F I V B FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE VOLLEYBALL
[COLOR="Blue"]国际排联[/COLOR]
PRESS RELEASE 08.07.2007
[COLOR="blue"]2007年7月7日发表[/COLOR]
07, 07, 07 UNLUCKY FOR BRAZILIAN MONTREAL OPEN WOMEN’S EFFORT
[COLOR="blue"]07，07，07对参加蒙特利尔公开赛的巴西女沙不吉利[/COLOR]
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Montreal, Canada, July 7, 2007 - For the first-time in eight FIVB-sanctioned stops in Canada, a Brazilian women’s team will not reach the finals of an international Beach Volleyball event as tandems from the United States and China captured the US$400,000 Montreal Open semi-final matches here Saturday evening at Stade Uniprix in Jarry Park.
Reigning Olympic and SWATCH-FIVB World champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the United States eliminated the first Brazilian team from gold medal contention with a 21-14 and 21-16 win in 37 minutes over fourth-seeded Leila Barros and Ana Paula Connelly in the fifth meeting between the two teams.
The young Chinese pair of Chen Xue and Xi Zhang (combined age of 40) completed the South American sweep by posting a 27-25 and 24-22 victory in 61 minutes over legendary Brazilians and fifth-seeded Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede (combined age of 72) to break the series deadlock at four wins each entering the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour semi-final.
The top-seeded May-Treanor and Walsh, who captured the inaugural Montreal Open at Stade Uniprix in 2002, will be playing the sixth-seeded Chinese for the fourth-time with Xue and Zhang capturing the last match with a 21-18 and 21-18 semi-final win over the Americans last November in Thailand. May-Treanor and Walsh captured the first two meetings, including a “final four” at the 2006 Swiss grand slam in Gstaad.
“Despite my cold, I feel pretty good,” said May-Treanor after winning for the fourth-time over Leila and Ana Paula. “I was having some difficulty breathing, but I play with a great partner that made several plays to help me conserve my energy. I am glad we had only one match today.”
While the Americans earned their way into the semi-finals Friday evening with a victory over Adriana and Shelda, Leila and Ana Paula had to win elimination matches earlier Saturday over teams from Norway and Greece to advance to “final four” where the Brazilians were seeking to successfully defend their 2006 last Montreal Open gold medal.
“Misty and Kerri played extremely well today,” said the 35-year old Ana Paula, “but it is tough to play three very competitive matches in a six-hour period. They were a lot fresher and we just could not generate any offense. To beat Misty and Kerri, you have to be very aggressive and put pressure on them with a strong service game.”
The 18-year old Xue, the youngest player ever to win an international Beach Volleyball event, and Zhang will be seeking their third SWATCH-FIVB World Tour title while the Americans will be seeking their 26th since forming their partnership at the start of the 2001 season.
“We are looking forward to our match with the Chinese,” Walsh added. “China is fielding three very strong teams on the tour as their country prepares for the Beijing Olympics. Both those ladies are very strong and are improving with every competition. Obviously, we would like to avenge our setback to them in Phuket last November.”
The fifth of 13 double gender events on the 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour calendar, the Montreal Open continues through Sunday when the final two teams in both genders will compete for the $32,000 first-place prizes. Brazil is guaranteed a men’s medal with two teams (Emanuel Rego/Ricardo Santos and Harley Marques/Pedro Salgado) playing the first semi-final. Australians Andrew Schacht and Joshua Slack face Jochem De Gruijter and Gijs Ronnes of the Netherlands in the second “final four” match Saturday.
The only North American stop on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour this year, the Montreal Open is also part of the qualifying process for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The international Beach Volleyball circuit returns to Europe next week for the third of five “major” events in Berlin followed by a stop in Marseille before the $1-million SWATCH-FIVB World Championships in Gstaad, Switzerland.
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