FIVB官方文章
All-Chinese Phuket Thailand Open Finale
[COLOR="Blue"]泰国Phuket公开赛决赛清一色中国[/COLOR]
Phuket, Thailand, November 4, 2006 - China will end its most successful season on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour after two of the Asian country?s women?s teams posted semi-final wins in the US$200,000 Phuket Thailand Open here Saturday afternoon on the Karon Beach centre court.
While second-seeded Tian Jia and Wang Jie advanced to their fourth SWATCH gold medal match this season with a win 21-19, 19-21 and 15-9 win in 63 minutes over fourth-seeded Nila Ann Hakedal and Ingrid Torlen of Norway, the play of third-seeded Xue Chen and Zhang Xi highlighted Phuket Thailand Open play Saturday.
In a pair of matches against the top two teams from the United States, Xue Chen and Zhang Xi scored a 25-23 and 21-19 semi-final-qualifying win in 53 minutes over eighth-seeded Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs before upsetting reigning Olympic and SWATCH-FIVB World champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh 21-18 and 21-18 in 40 minutes.
It was the second-time this season that the Xue Chen and the Zhang Xi have posted ?quality? wins on same day over teams from a Beach Volleyball power. Enroute to their gold medal finish in Shanghai, Xue Chen and Zhang Xi upset three Brazilian teams on May 27 before defeating Tian Jia and Wang Jie the next day for the SWATCH title in China.
?We just played hard today and made very few mistakes,? said 17-year old Xue Chen, the youngest player ever to win a major Beach Volleyball gold medal. ?We are striving to improve with each match. We felt very comfortable today against the Americans and controlled our emotions. We look forward to playing our Chinese rivals tomorrow.?
After losing to Xue Chen and Zhang Xi in Shanghai, Tian Jia and Wang Jie have won the next seven matches meetings between the two teams, including a 21-16, 10-21 and 20-18 decision Friday in a semi-final-qualifying match. Tian Jia and Wang Jie avenged the Shanghai setback by defeating Xue Chen and Wang Jie 22-20 and 21-17 for the Warsaw gold medal two months ago in Poland.
With the top two spots on the Phuket Thailand Open podium guaranteed, China will finish the season with 13 SWATCH women?s podiums, including four gold medals, five silvers and four bronzes. Prior to this season, the Chinese women had combined to claim eight medals (two gold, one silver and five bronze medals) in the previous 14 seasons of women?s international Beach Volleyball competition.
Both Chinese teams will finish as the second- and third-ranked teams on the SWATCH circuit as the Phuket Thailand Open is the 15th and final stop on the 2006 FIVB calendar. Brazil?s Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca top the list (7,060 points) followed by Tian Jia/Wang Jie (5,820) and Xue Chen/Zhang Xi (5,060). May-Treanor and Walsh are fourth (4,640) and Hakedal and Torlen eighth (3,600).
While the Chinese women have had their best-ever SWATCH season, Penggen Wu and Linyin Xu became the first men?s team from the Asian country to medal in the 20-year history of FIVB Beach Volleyball competition along with finishing the 2006 campaign with back-to-back ?final four? finishes.
Wu and Xu, who finished as the sixth-ranked men?s team in 2006, captured the bronze medal at August?s Poland stop where they defeated Brazilian world champions Marcio Araujo and Fabio Magalhaes for third-place.
The inaugural Phuket Thailand Open concludes Sunday with the medal matches as the final two teams compete for the $32,000 first-place prize. The men?s SWATCH season ended last week in Acapulco where Xu and Wu placed fourth.
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