Gstaad, Switzerland, July 13, 2013 – Brazil’s players have the chance to finish the Gstaad Grand Slam with gold medals in both the men’s and women’s competitions when the finals take place on Sunday.
They are already guranteed the men’s gold and silver medals as Pedro Salgado and Bruno Oscar Schmidt will take on their compatriots Ricardo Santos and Alvaro Filho in the final match of the tournament.
Their women will have a harder task though. Liliane Maestini and Barbara Seixas are in their first gold medal match as a team, but they must beat the newly crowned world champions Chen Xue and Zhang Xi to win their first gold.
The match is a repeat of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships semifinal, that the Chinese won in straight sets.
World champs set up final clash with Brazilian pair in Gstaad
World champions Chen Xue and Zhang Xi booked themselves a place in the gold medal match with a comfortable win over Talita Antunes and Taiana Lima on Saturday.
The Chinese duo won 2-0 (21-16, 21-17) to set up a clash with another Brazilian pair, Liliane Maestrini and Barbara Seixas. They are in ominous form at the moment since finding their rhythm after they had faltered early at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships.
Liliane and Seixas needed only two sets to beat Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst and reach their first senior FIVB final together, having gone through the qualifying rounds at the start of the tournament.
The Brazilian duo are now guaranteed a medal for a third consecutive tournament having won bronze at the Rome Grand Slam and World Championships.
MORERicardo and Alvaro reverse World Championships result
Ricardo Santos and Alvaro Filho reversed the result from the World Championships final, when they beat Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen to reach the final.
They beat the Dutch pair 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) and will now play compatriots Pedro Salgado and Bruno Oscar Schmidt in the gold medal match.
Pedro and Bruno meanwhile eased into their third final of the year with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) win over USA’s Jacob Gibb and Casey Patterson.
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