FIVB官方文章
Brazilians and Chinese Seek 1to1 energy Grand Slam “Final Four” Berths Versus Americans
巴西和中国争夺一对一能源大奖赛“四强”席位与美国对抗[/COLOR]
Gstaad, Switzerland, June 22, 2006 - The top women’s Beach Volleyball pairs from Brazil and China will compete against two teams from the United States for the first two berths in Saturday’s 1to1 energy Grand Slam semi-finals after all four tandems captured winner’s bracket matches here Thursday.
Second-seeded Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larrisa Franca of Brazil and fourth-seeded Wang Jie and Tian Jia of China will face the Americans for the “final four” spots after defeating teams from their country in a pair of three-setters Thursday in the third-round of the winner’s bracket.
Before Juliana and Larrisa play 30th-seeded Nicole Branagh and Holly McPeak, Wang Jie and Tian Jia challenge top-seeded Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh for the first semi-final berth. The Brazil/USA match will be the first meeting between the two teams as Branagh and McPeak have upset higher-seeded teams from the United States, the Netherlands and Greece to reach the finals of the winner’s bracket.
The Chinese will be facing May-Treanor and Walsh for the second-time this season as Wang Jie and Tian Jia dropped a semi-final match to the Americans 21-15 and 21-17 last month in Modena, Italy. May-Treanor and Walsh have won three 1to1 energy Grand Slam titles (2002, 2003 and 2004).
Juliana and Larrisa, the defending 1to1 energy Grand Slam champions after defeating Tian Jia and Wang Fei for the 2005 Gstaad gold medal, advanced with a 21-19, 24-26 and 15-6 win over seventh-seeded Brazilian rivals Renata Ribeiro and Talita Antunes. It was the seventh SWATCH win in eight matches for Juliana and Larissa over Renata and Talita.
Wang Jie and Tian Jia avenged a gold medal defeat to Xue Chen and Zhang Xi in Shanghai last month to defeat their young Chinese rivals 21-15, 16-21 and 23-21. In the China finale, Xue Chen and Zhang Xi posted a 23-21 and 21-14 victory.
May-Treanor and Walsh, who defeated Branagh and McPeak in an American domestic finale Sunday in Sacramento, Calif., advanced to Friday’s play with a 21-17 and 21-12 win over eighth-seeded Simone Kuhn and Lea Schwer of Switzerland. It was the reigning Olympic and World champion’s 24th-straight win on Gstaad sand.
After upsetting third-seeded Rachel Wacholder/Elaine Youngs of the United States and 14th-seeded Merel Mooren/Rebekka Kadijk of the Netherlands Wednesday, Branagh and McPeak continued their success by defeating sixth-seeded Vasso Karadassiou and Vassiliki Arvaniti 21-19 and 21-12.
Four other teams remain in the double-elimination competition and will play contender’s bracket matches after the “battle of the undefeated” Friday. Mooren and Kadijk play 21st-seeded Xue Chen and Zhang Xi of China with the winner playing the loser of the Brazil/USA match for the third spot in the semi-finals. The 17-year old Xue Chen and Zhang Xi won Shanghai stop last month.
Two more of Branagh/McPeak’s victims in the fourth women’s event on the 2006 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour calendar will compete in another opening elimination match as Wacholder and Youngs face Karadassiou and Arvaniti with the winner playing the losers of the USA/China match.
The first of seven-straight double gender events on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour schedule, the women’s competition concludes Saturday with the semi-final and medal matches. The men’s competition ends Sunday with the “final four” matches. The gold medal teams in both genders will share the $41,500 first-place prizes.
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