Xiamen, China, April 23, 2017 – Brazil’s Barbara Seixas De Freitas and Fernanda Alves take their first FIVB World Tour title together beating China’s Fan Wang and Yue Yuan at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Xiamen Open 2017.
The packed stadium at Guanyinshan Gold Beach witnessed a fierce final between Barbara/Fernanda and China’s Fan Wang and Yue Yuan. Blustery wind was the theme of the day providing an additional challenge for every team.
Impressive net play Fernanda helped the Brazilians take the edge in the first set, but the Yuan’s ever dangerous serve brought China back into play in the second. As the match was sent into the tiebreak to the delight of the home crowd, a nail biting fight to the finish ensued.
Wang’s block saved two match points, before another was saved with an exciting scrambling point. Barbara made sure of the third and the Brazilian pair earned their first gold together since teaming up at the beginning of the season, 2-1 (21-12, 19-21, 16-14).
“We feel really happy, we had some really tough matches to get here. We needed this result and we are so happy, because we are getting better and better. This is our first title, so it’s very special for us,” said Barbara.
“China started a little bit down and we started strong but then they recovered during the game and Yue Yuan has a really hard serve and in this wind, it was really difficult. You just need to have patience to do one ball after one ball,” said Fernanda.
“China are at home so all the crowd is in favour for them and they know the wind, the weather, so it was really hard, but it worked,” said Barbara.“I think it means a great start because it gives us confidence, motivation for us and also for the points because we have a lot of tough Brazilian fighting for a spot in the ranking and to get a spot in the world championship also so it means a lot,” said Barbara.
https://twitter.com/FIVBBeach/status/856068003531677697The silver medal for Wang/Yue is their second FIVB World Tour silver, the first they also won in Xiamen in 2014.
“I’m really happy to get silver. We never played in such a fierce match before, so this match has great significance for us,” said Yue.
“We’re really happy, even we lost, we worked really hard. Since this Brazilian team is newly formed, this is the first time we have played them. The Brazilian team have a well formed plan and deal with the key points well. We gave them a lot of pressure and we struggled in defense,” said Wang.
“We don’t feel pressure playing in China and we hope to improve our technique at the net,” said Yue.
Germany’s Victoria Bieneck and Isabel Schneider earned the bronze medal after a determined performance against Brazil’s Maria Antonelli and Carolina Horta Maximo.
Bieneck/Schneider came out solidly and gained confidence in the second set developing a momentum that took the German team to their first FIVB World Tour medal with bronze, playing in only their third tournament together, 2-0 (21-16, 21-19).
“It’s almost our first tournament, against Brazil, they’re always good, so we’re really happy that we own this,” said Bieneck.
“I’m totally happy to, we stayed good together in the end and during the whole game. In the end it was very close, but we stayed really focused and we really want this medal, so we showed that we really wanted it and give everything and now we’re happy. I’ll miss my flight, but for the awarding ceremony, it’s ok,” said Schneider.
“We both had a long semifinal, we were the first one, so we had a bit more time to rest. So it was really important to be focused and motivated and we really wanted to get this medal. There was also a big mental part in this match because both were maybe a bit disappointed about the loss. We both came out and tried to fight, they also played good and they wanted to make it so we’re happy that we could get the medal,” said Beineck.
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