Xiamen, China, April 22, 2017 – The host nation’s hopes ride on the shoulders of China’s Fan Wang and Yuan Yue on the closing day of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Xiamen Open 2017.
Wang/Yue face Germany’s Victoria Bieneck and Isabel Schneider in the semifinal. The two teams have never played each other before, but all players have competed in Xiamen in previous years with Wang/Yue winning silver in 2014.
The second women’s semifinal will be the two Brazilian teams of Maria Antonelli and Carolina Horta Maximo and Barbara Seixas De Freitas and Fernanda Alves. Unpredictable results are often born out of Brazilian clashes, but Barbara/Fernanda enter as the higher seeded team.
Both teams are newly formed in the 2017 season, with Maria Antonelli winning gold in Xiamen in 2014 with former partner Juliana Felisberta.
Men’s medal hopes
The final day in Xiamen opens with Italy’s Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo against Germany’s Armin Dollinger and Jonathan Erdmann’s in their semifinal.
The Italians have been on the Xiamen podium before when they took bronze in 2013. A medal for the German’s would be their first on the FIVB World Tour.
Dutch team Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen play Poland’s Maciej Rudol and Jakub Szalankiewicz in the second men’s semifinal.
With the Polish pair only coming together this season, the two teams have not yet played each other, but all players have competed in Xiamen before with Brouwer/Meeuwsen winning silver in 2013.
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