Recap of women’s semi-finals of 2011 Brasilia Open
The 2011 Brasilia Open beach volleyball tournament reached its semi-final stage on Thursday, 21st April.
The tournament was officially kicked off this past Sunday and 61 women’s duos entered the competition with lots of hopes and ambitions. Some of the teams had to appear in the Country Quota stage, while the top tandems of beach volleyball opened the game
in Main Draw. The single-team elimination bracket was on in the Main Draw stage. As the game covered its way to the final round, only best teams remained on the scene. Following the quarter-finals, four duos settled for the semi-finals.
Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca (Brazil) Jennifer Kessy and April Ross (United States) Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh (United States) Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Hanson (USA)
In the first semi-final, the home pairing of Juliana and Larissa clashed with their American counterparts, Kessy and Ross. The hosts profited the advantage of the playing in the presence of local fans and held off American duo for straight sets victory.
On the other hand, the second semi-final was all-American affair. The pairing of May-Treanor and Walsh was challenged by their compatriots Fendrick and Hanson. The former proved to be better and posted a defeat over opponents. Brazilian Juliana/Larissa and
American May-Treanor/Walsh displayed an incredible effort in their respective matches.
Juliana/Larissa vs. Kessy/Ross 2-0 (21-19, 23-21)
The hosts opened the influential match on a high note. Larissa was on serve and she supplied plenty of power to the ball. On the other side of the net, Ross was uniquely position and she received the serve with firm hands.
The first shot was returned in Brazil’s half. However after an exchange of few shots Brazilian duo was able to put away the first point on the board. The cross court missile hit by Juliana perfectly landed on the American side. The first point of the game
was responded with huge noise of local spectators. Brazil earned the second point duo to server error of Americans.
In the meantime, Kessy and Ross put up a valiant effort and scored a point. Brazil led the game with better score but US side continued putting more and more effort. The point-to-point battle continued and finally the score was tied at 10-all.
The girls in green broke the tie and added one more point before the first technical timeout. Afterwards, the exchange of fast spikes and tricky bump passes continued until the end of first set. Americans fought bravely but hosts secured the first set with
a margin of two points (21-19).
The US tandem hit back strongly in the following set. They served better and hit some nice shots. They struggled to create the chances of another set in the game but Brazilian team gave them a hard time. Juliana and Larissa formed a great timing between
them and kept their dominance in the game. Second set also came successful for home team and sealed victory in the semi-final.
May-Treanor/Walsh vs. Fendrick/Hanson 2-0 (21-15, 21-18)
In the all-American semi-final match, May-Treanor and Walsh dominated the opposite side. The recently united duo of May-Treanor and Walsh came strong on the opponents. They hit from different angles and influenced the pairing of Fendrick/Hanson. The wonderful
May-Treanor and Walsh maintained an upper-hand on the rival side and closed off first set with 21-15 victory.
The second set game also progressed in the same fashion. Fendrick/Hanson performed better in the second set but still it was not enough to help them to tie the game score. May-Treanor and Walsh played in their usual style and did not allow the opponents
to come up. Second set ended with the finals score of 21-18, while May-Treanor/Walsh was declared as the victorious team.
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