FIVB官方文章
Olympic Gold Medallists Return to Athens in Force
奥运会冠军以实力重返雅典 [/COLOR]
Athens, Greece, 1 June, 2006 C Top-seeded Misty May and Kerri Walsh advanced to the third round at the Infote Athens Open of the 2006 Swatch-FIVB World Tour, here Thursday, scoring close but decisive victories over Norway and China, in the same venue were they had won the Olympic Gold medal two years earlier. But the Americans had a tough evening in Round II, against China’s Zhang Xi and Xue Chen, winners of the Shanghai Open, last week, going all the way before coming away with a tie-break victory.
2006年6月1日 希腊雅典――头号种子Misty May和Kerri Walsh星期四在这里举行的2006 Swatch-FIVB世界巡回赛Infote雅典公开赛中步入第三轮;比分接近战胜了挪威和中国,她们在两年前曾经在此场地赢得奥运会金牌。但是美国人在第二轮对抗中国的张希和薛晨中遭遇顽强的抵抗最终获得不易的胜利,后者上星期刚刚获得上海公开赛的冠军。[/COLOR]
Also through to Round III, are second-seeded Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa França of Brazil, who had upset May and Walsh in the final of the opening tournament of the season, at Modena.
Natalie Cook and Nicole Sanderson of Australia, fourth at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens also remain undefeated, as does Elaine Youngs, who was teamed with Holly McPeak in winning the bronze medal in Athens 2004, and is now playing here with Rachel Wacholder.
The hosts too had cause to celebrate, albeit in an unexpected team. Home favourites, the reigning European Champions and top-ranked European team in the world, Vasso Karadassiou and Vicky Arvaniti, lost in Round III to Brazil’s Carolina and Maria Clara Salgado sisters. But the second Greek team, of Thalia Koutroumanidou and Maria Tsiartsiani scored two victories in their opening matches and will keep the crowds coming.
Completing the Round III roster are 22nd-seeded Austria’s Doris and Stefanie Schweiger sisters, who scored successive upsets over the Netherlands’ Rebekka Kadijk / Merel Mooren (seeded 11th) and over the USA’s Nancy Mason / Jennifer Boss (seeded 6th).
Play at the Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre of Athens resumes Friday, with morning and evening sessions, beginning at 10:00 local time (07:00 GMT). The finals of the $200,000 event are scheduled for Sunday evening, with the winning team earning $32,000 in prize money.