Chinese Women Grab the Gold Medal in Brazil
Maria Elisa and Talita (BRA), Xi Zhang and Chen Xue (CHN) and Menegatti and Cicolari (ITA) Photo: FIVBThe Chinese Xue and Zhang Xi grabbed the gold medal in the opener of FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, held in Brasilia, Brazil. They beat locals Talita and Antonelli in two sets (21-17, 21-15) in the final. The bronze medal was captured by Italians Cicolari and Menegatti, who defeated the world champions Larissa and Juliana, from Brazil, by set scores 21-14, 17-21, 15-13. The only Canadian team in main draw, Bansley and Maloney placed 17th. Other three girls’ duos from Canada were eliminated in the qualifier. The women's side of the world tour meets this coming week in Sanya, China for the second stop of the season.
The men’s tournament in Brasilia ends on Sunday. Eight teams remain on the fight for the gold: Four Brazilians, two Americans, one Spanish, and a German team. The Germans Erdmann and Matysik were responsible for the tournament’s major upset when they beat this Friday world champions Alison and Emanuel, from Brazil, scoring 19-21, 22-20, 15-9. Now, in order to reach the quarterfinals, Alison and Emanuel will have to beat Olympic gold medalists Rogers and Dalhausser, from The United States. The American team also lost one match yesterday, to the Brazilians Santos and Vitor Felipe. Five Canadian teams tried to reach the main draw, but only Saxton and Redmann were successful, though later they lost two matches in the first day and placed 25th. The men’s next stop will be in Myslowice, Poland this coming week.