Xiamen, China, April 22, 2017 – The performance of the day must be handed to Brazil’s Maria Antonelli and Carolina Horta Maximo who earned a well deserved semifinal position in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Xiamen Open 2017.
In the round of sixteen Maria Antonelli/Carolina Horta took on number two seeded team, fellow Brazilians Josemari Alves and Liliane Maestrini. Familiarity between the teams extended to the fact both Maria Antonelli and Carol Horta have partnered with Lili in previous years. The result was, of course a very close fought match resulting in a 53 minute battle which Maria Antonelli/Carolina Horta shut down in the tie break 2-1 (23-25, 23-21, 15-11).
“I’m very proud of my team, we were focused and had energy to the end of the game. I’m very proud of my partner, she made a lot of good defense and good attacks,” said Maria Antonelli.
“We don’t like to play against our country because we like to meet them in the semifinal or the final, so everyone can get the medal,” said Carol.
https://twitter.com/FIVBBeach/status/855612188807106560The quarterfinal saw Maria Antonelli/Carolina Horta pitted against Russia’s Evgenia Ukolova and Anastasia Barsuk with the Brazilians keeping their momentum to enter the semifinal, 2-0 (21-18, 24-22).
“It’s Carol’s first semifinal on the World Tour, I’m very proud of her, how she’s playing, how I’m playing, our energy and so I’m excited,” said Maria.
“I’m really happy. With the flight and jetlag with 11 hours time difference, so we are awake the whole night, but we are improving in our games and winning, so we go to the semifinal with happiness,” said Carol Horta.
The second Brazilian team to reach the semifinals is Barbara Seixas De Freitas and Fernanda Alves. Barbara/Fernanda made it through to the quarterfinal by overcoming Russia’s Olga Motrich and Nadezda Makroguzova after a shaky start, 2-1 (21-23, 21-13, 15-7).
The Brazilians had a similar start to their quarterfinal match against USA’s Emily Day and Brittany Hochevar. Barbara/Fernanda visibly calmed into the second game, with some impressive rallies seeing both teams cover every corner of the court. But it was Barbara/Fernanda who ended the match 2-1 (13-21, 21-16, 15-12).
“It was a good match, they played very well, they defend very well. The wind is crazy, it’s difficult for everybody to set and serve, but I think we had control of our emotions and now we want to do our best for the final,” said Fernanda.
“In the first set, we were too concerned about what we had to do and we were a little bit angry because the game wasn’t going the way we wanted it to and the Americans started really hard on us. So from the second set on, we just controlled ourselves a little bit more, we tried to enjoy each point, I think it worked for us,” said Barbara.
https://twitter.com/FIVBBeach/status/855689053672525824The next semifinal spot was won by Germany’s Victoria Bieneck and Isabel Schneider after an impressive string of wins in Xiamen so far. In the quarters Bieneck/Schneider put a stop to the higher seeded Czech team Kristyna Kolocova and Michala Kvapilova, 2-1 (17-21, 21-16, 15-12).
The Germans then went up against Stefanie Schwaiger and Katharina Schutzenhofer from Austria who had knocked out Brazil’s Juliana Felisberta Da Silva and Carolina Solberg Salgado earlier in the day.
In another powerful performance, Bieneck/Schneider sweep into the Xiamen semifinal, 2-0 (21-17, 21-19).
The remaining semifinal position went to home favourite China’s Fan Wang and Yuan Yue. During a cool and breezy day in Xiamen, Wang/Yue and Joy Stubbe and Jolien Sinnema from the Netherlands had the added challenge of heavy rain beginning half way through their quarterfinal.
It didn’t phase the locals who are familiar with the conditions in Xiamen and the Chinese pair took the win to the cheers of a delighted crowd, 2-1 (21-12, 14-21, 15-9).
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