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China Clinches Two Semifinal Berths in 1to1 energy Grand Slam
中国两队组合进入瑞士1to1 Energy大满贯赛事半决赛
GSTAAD, SWITZERLAND, July 25, 2008 - China advanced two women's teams to the 1to1 energy Grand Slam semifinals, marking the second straight Grand Slam event that has happened. In Moscow earlier this month, the two Chinese teams had to play each other in the semifinals, but both teams ended up medaling. Here in Gstaad the two teams are in different semifinal matches, giving hope to the country hosting next month's Olympics for a possible all-China Gold Medal match, something which has happened three times before.
Top-seeded Jia Tian and Jie Wang have yet to give up more than 16 points against any of their Gstaad opponents so far. They advanced to their 26th "final four," including for the fourth time in the five Grand Slams of 2008. This season the duo has garnered two Silver Medals, in Osaka and Berlin, but has not been able to add to their three SWATCH titles they have won together over the past three years.
The semifinal match-up for the top-seeded team will be sixth-seeded Tamsin Barnett and Natalie Cook of Australia. In Seoul in 2007, playing together for just the third event, Barnett and Cook won the tournament, but have been unable to return to the podium since then. To reach the semifinals, the Aussies had to overcome a huge deficit against third-seeded Maria Antonelli and Vanilda Leao of Brazil. The Brazilians won the first set 21-14, then threatened to put the match away before Barnett and Cook evened the match with a 22-20 win. In the third set, Australia claimed a 15-9 win to advance to their third semifinal in the partnership's history.
The fourth-seeded Chinese team of Chen Xue and Xi Zhang have been on a roll as of late. In the Grand Slam event in Stavanger at the end of June, the duo lost three consecutive matches. Since that time, however, they have won 12 straight matches, winning the Gold Medal in Moscow's Grand Slam during the process. Not until the final match of Friday, to get into the semifinals, did they even lose a single set during that run.
Brazilian sisters Carolina and Maria Clara Salgado won their first four matches in the 1to1 energy Grand Slam. They entered the event with momentum from their Bronze-Medal performance in Marseille last week. Taking centre court against Xue and Zhang to end the day, the Brazilians won the first set 21-19. But in the second set China came out strong and won 21-14. The third set proved to be tight, and was not decided until Zhang served an ace to make the score 16-14 in favor of China.
"They are a very strong team," Xue said of the young Brazilians. "Their serving is very good. Since Stavanger, our attitude is better. We haven't really changed anything. We are excited about the Olympics, and this gives us confidence going into it."
Brazil has an impressive streak going in Gstaad as the country has won at least one medal in the Swiss Alps village for eight consecutive years since the stop was added to the SWATCH FIVB World Tour schedule. In order for that streak to continue, second-seeded Shelda Bede and Ana Paula Connelly will need to win one of their two matches on Saturday. Advancing to the semifinals for the sixth time this season, the Brazilian duo have won all five of their matches in Gstaad.
Friday morning's match turned out the be the toughest for Shelda and Ana Paula, who went three sets with Italy's Daniela Gioria and Giulia Momoli despite winning the first set 21-9. After a 21-19 Italian win, Shelda and Ana Paula won 15-10 in the tiebreaker. In the evening match for the right to go to the semifinals, the Brazilians defeated Sweden's Angelica Ljungquist and Karin Lundquist 21-14, 21-16.
In the second round of the elimination bracket, there was just one upset in the eight matches. Switzerland's Simone Kuhn and Lea Schwer, seeded 10th, edged eighth-seeded Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig of Germany 22-24, 24-26. That marked their second straight victory over a German team in the top 10. However, their next match was against top-seeded Jia Tian and Jie Wang, and the Chinese won 21-15, 21-16 to eliminate the last Swiss team remaining. Kuhn and Schwer finished in fifth place, which is their best Grand Slam placing ever and best finish on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour since 2005, their first year of their partnership.
In the first semifinal, Tian and Jie Wang will play against Barnett and Cook, who have won two of the three meetings between the two teams. Xue and Zhang will play against Shelda and Ana Paula following that match. The Chinese have won three of the four meetings, all of which have happened this season.
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