Juliana Felisberta, Larissa Franca fail to grab bronze-ware at 2012 Brasilia Open
Second-seeded Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca of Brazil, who were tipped to claim the top honour at the Brasilia Open women’s beach volleyball tournament, failed to finish in the top-three.
Italy’s seventh-seeded Greta Cicolari/Marta Menegatti defeated the Brazilian duo in bronze medal match on Friday and forced them to be contented with fourth-place finish in the tournament.
Italian duo demonstrated a stellar performance in the bronze medal match and stamped 2-1 (21-14, 17-21, 15-13) victory over Juliana/Larissa. The match result was out in 52 minutes.
The visiting pair from Italy showed its thirst for victory in the very opening of the match. They served with great accuracy and hit the ball in right spots. Juliana/Larissa had the competitive advantage of playing under familiar conditions but seemed a
bit caught up in the slip-ups. The Italian counterparts, on the other hand, remained consistent in attack and defence, which helped them to keep the Brazilian pair behind the attack line.
Greta Cicolari and Marta Menegatti complimented each other and developed a great chemistry between them. They influenced the home duo both offensively and defensively. Success graced them in the first set as they closed the opening affair with seven points,
21-14.
Second set started out in the same fashion. The guest pair came up with hard hitting and showed no mercy to hosts. With one set in hand, they enjoyed a great rhythm and tone in the second frame.
Nonetheless, the local tandem put up a valiant effort and managed to find its way back in the game. They added points on back-to-back attacks after the second technical break and surpassed Italians. Larissa delivered long cross course shots, which promptly
landed on Italian half.
Quite similarly, Juliana proved the metal of her forearms and delivered more convincing shots. The second set came successful for Brazilian side when Juliana/Larissa posted 21-17 on board.
The 15-point golden set drew all the attention of spectators as it served as the decisive frame. The host team came into stride with the visiting pair and struggled to stay on top. However, the home duo offered strong offence and took the lead. Cicolari/Menegatti
trailed behind with a difference of four points at 6-10.
Furthermore, the Brazilian pair kept the lead in hand and moved to 13-10. From that point onward, Brazil failed to stop the opponents who rallied a 5-0 run to finish the golden set at 15-13.
Following the successful completion of Brasília Open, the SWATCH FIVB World Tour will make its next stop in Sanya, China. It will be solo competition in Sanya for women only. The men’s second SWATCH FIVB event will be held in Myslowice, Poland. All the attention
is now set on the next events, which will more create more opportunities for teams to display their skills and catch the limelight.
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