Japanese duo makes it to the Main Draw of a Grand Slam for the first time – Volleyball news
The 9th-seeded Urata and Take from Japan worked out a great performance in the qualifying round of the 2012 Moscow Grand Slam on Thursday and remained undefeated.
They finished the Qualification Tournament with 2-0 record and settled for the Grand Slam Main Draw berth for the first time in their careers. In the first fixture of the Qualification Tournament, they edged out Russian pair and did the same treatment to
American duo in the second match. Japanese musketeers finished both their matches in straight sets. The Victory Park plaza in centre of Russian city Moscow set up the field of play for the thrilling encounters. Good defence was the key of their success.
Urata-Take clashed with Russia’s Ksenia Dabizha and Yulia Abalakina in the opening match. The Russians had the advantage of good physique and tall stature. They used many different tactics to influence the Japanese players. Nonetheless, the ambitioned Urata
and Take did not give up. After a head-to-head fight in the first set of the match, they bagged success with a narrow gap of just two points (22-20).
Success in the first set enabled Japanese duo to take full control of the operations in the following set. They kept the Russians behind the attack line and cruised past to 21-13 win in the second set. On the whole, Urata-Take proved to be better and won
the match 2-0.
Likewise, the Japanese team stormed eighth seeded American duo of Angela Akers and Brittany Hochevar in the next match. Urata and Take followed a better attack and defence strategy, which led them to 2-0 (21-15 21-18) victory in the match.
Japanese 9th-seeded tandem captured both of its matches and reserved a berth in the Main Draw of Moscow Grand Slam.
In the next run, the 2012 Moscow Grand Slam Women’s Beach Volleyball Tournament is set to enter the Main Draw. A total of the 32 teams will contest their skills in eight pools. The Main Draw will progress with the single-elimination bracket. All the Main
Draw qualifiers will get to play three matches. Afterwards, top-sixteen teams of the competition will catch limelight. Furthermore, half of the teams will be disqualified and only top eight compete for influential Final Four slots.
The Final Four stage of the tournament will feature two semi-finals, the final match, and classification match for third position. The eye-catching action of 2012 SWATCH FIVB Moscow Grand Women’s tournament will continued till Monday, June 11.
US pairing of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh are the defending champions of the 2012 Moscow Grand Slam.
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