FIVB官方文章
China Joins Brazil & USA in 1to1 energy Grand Slam “Final Four”
中国进入一对一能源大奖赛对阵巴西和美国的半决赛[/COLOR]
Gstaad, Switzerland, June 23, 2006 - After Brazil and the United States grabbed the first two semi-final berths here Friday, a pair of women’s teams from China snared the next two “final four” spots in the US$580,000 1to1 energy Grand Slam.
After eliminating two American tandems, the Chinese teams of fourth-seeded Wang Jie/Tian Jia and 21st-seeded Xue Chen/Zhang Xi each advanced to their third and second SWATCH-FIVB World Tour semi-finals this season, respectively.
Brazilians Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca and Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh of the United States continued their string of “final four” appearances earlier Friday as each team completed winner’s bracket play with 4-0 match marks. For Juliana and Larissa, it marked their ninth-straight SWATCH semi-final appearance while the Americans now have 11-straight “final four” finishes.
With their 21-18 and 21-19 win in 42 minutes over 30th-seeded Nicole Branagh and Holly McPeak, Xue Chen and Zhang Xi now challenge top-seeded Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the United States in the first semi-final Saturday. In the only meeting between the two teams, the Americans posted a 21-13, 32-34 and 17-15 win over Xue Chen and Zhang Xi three weeks ago in Greece.
The 17-year old Xue Chen, who became the youngest player to win an international Beach Volleyball event last month in Shanghai, and Zhang Xi advanced to the finals of the elimination bracket with a 21-17 and 21-16 win over 14th-seeded Merel Mooren/Rebekka Kadijk of the Netherlands.
Xue Chen and Zhang Xi’s only setback in the 1to1 energy Grand Slam was to Wang Jie and Tian Jia Thursday 21-15, 15-21 and 23-21. However, the young Chinese team defeated Wang Jie and Tian Jia for the Shanghai gold medal after upsetting Juliana and Larissa in the China semi-finals.
After losing 21-17 and 21-17 to May-Treanor and Walsh in their first match Friday, Wang Jie and Tian Jia gained a “final four” berth by ousting third-seeded Rachel Wacholder and Elaine Youngs of the United States 21-16 and 21-19. It was the second win this season for the Chinese over Wacholder and Youngs after defeating the Americans for the bronze medal in the SWATCH season opener last month in Modena, Italy.
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 double-elimination event ends Sunday. The gold medal teams in both genders will share the $42,300 first-place prizes.
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