With the FIVB’s (Federation of International Volleyball) return to Shanghai, China this weekend, all eyes were trained on the Chinese beach volleyball players. After all, in the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, the two women’s teams won silver and bronze; whereas, the top men’s team placed ninth.
In this booming city that is well-recognized as a beacon for China’s recent growth and progress, the home country favorites failed to shine. The top finish among the Chinese pairs was fifth, earned by Beijing Olympics bronze medalists, Chen Xue and Xi Zhang. And the best men’s performance was lackluster at the 13th spot.
This poor showing opened the door for Brazil and United States to once again display their dominance in beach volleyball.
On Saturday, the fifth-seed Pedro Salgado and Harley Marques defeated the fourth-seed, Germany’s Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann, 21-15, 13–21, 17-15 in the championship finals. Their countrymen and third-seeded Brazilians Emmanuel Rego and Alison Cerutti outlasted the top seeds and Beijing Olympics gold medalists Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser for the bronze, 16-21, 21-12, 15-13.
A cold Sunday welcomed the top four women’s teams who donned long sleeve shirts and tights instead of the traditional bikinis.
Third-seeded Jennifer Kessy and April Ross, who are the current FIVB World Champions, upset the top-ranked Juliana Silva and Larissa Franca in the finals.
In a hotly contested three-game championship match, these seven-time FIVB victors overcame jitters in the first set, to earn a hard-fought victory, 15-21, 21-16, 15-12 over the more experienced South Americans who have finished on the FIVB podium 58 times in their stellar career.
Kessy/Ross, who are only fourth-ranked on the Association of Volleyball Professionals tour in the United States, avenged a loss to Juliana/Larissa in the season-opening FIVB event in Brazil last month.
“We were disappointed with our fourth place in Brazil, so we were determined to work even harder at this tournament and not let up in our concentration,” said Kessy.
In the bronze medal contest, Brazil’s Maria Antonelli and Talita Antunes edged the American couple, Misty May-Treanor and Nicole Branagh, 21-19, 17-21, 15-11. May-Treanor, a two-time Olympics beach volleyball gold medalist has hooked-up with the Beijing Olympics fifth-place finisher as her former partner Kerri Walsh prepares for the birth of her second child this month.
The remaining American female team, Tyra Turner and Angie Akers, competed well in grabbing a fifth-place finish. Whereas, the other three U.S. men’s pairs all landed in a ninth-place tie: Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal, Mattt Fuerbringer/Nick Lucena, and Casey Jennings/Brad Keenan.
Comments