Salgado Sisters continue with success at the 2011 Beijing Grand Slam – Beach Volleyball news
Maria Clara Salgado Rufino and Carolina Solberg Salgado of Brazil worked out another great performance at the 2011 Beijing Grand Slam. They had demonstrated a prolific game at the Brazilian Country Quota Playoffs on Monday and reserved a berth in the Qualification
Tournament. The strong pairing of Salgado Sisters remained on the winning track and once again proved the metal of their arms.
They were challenged by the Canadian tandem of Heather Bansley and Elizabeth Maloney in the Qualification Tournament on Tuesday, June 7. The Brazilian team outclassed their opponents in just 36 minutes. The match spanned over two sets, while Maria Clara/Carolina
posted 21-19 and 21-13 to claim victory.
The first set of the match was a heated competition between the two sides. Canadian team hit some nice shots and tried to create problems for the Brazilian duo. Nonetheless, the Salgado Sisters managed to deal with the power of their opponents and pushed
them behind. They pulled off success in the opening set with a two point margin, while the second set was totally dominated by the Brazilian side. They built a strong lead and added consecutive points. Canadian duo failed to put up with the heavy strike of
volleys and accepted the better status of the Salgado Sisters. The Brazilian team will now play at the Main-Draw on Wednesday.
Maria Clara talked about today’s match and stated, “We did not play as well as yesterday. They were playing good (in the first set), we started playing bad. My reception was not so good at the beginning and I made a lot of mistakes in side-outs. We don’t
know this team, we don’t know how they play. Sometimes it’s hard to play against someone you don’t know. You need to try to see the team, after that it’s OK.”
The last two days of the Beijing Grand Slam have been very productive and helpful for the Brazilian duo. At this time of the year, Beijing is known for dry and hot weather. The South American pair had to cope with the different climate in the first place.
However, the duo has developed familiarity with the climate after playing two matches at the venue. They look forward to another superb performance on Wednesday in the Main Draw stage.
Maria Clara said, “Hopefully we will play better tomorrow. We have to pay attention, because it’s too hot and too dry, we have to take care of this. We have already had two games to start the tournament. I think it’s good in one way. We are ready to play
here now we are used to the sand. We just need to learn and improve.”
Alongside Maria Clara and Carolina, the following teams also qualified for the Main-Draw via Qualification Tournament.
Angela Akers and Nicole Branagh - United States, Cristine Santanna and Andrezza Martins das Chagas - Georgia, Ekaterina Khomyakova and Evgenia Ukolova - Russia Gioria Daniela and Giulia Momoli – Italy Karla Borger and Britta Buthe - Germany Mayra Garcia and Candelas Bibiana - Mexico.
The Main-Draw stage of the 2011Beijing Grand Slam will begin on Wednesday, June 8. A total of 32 teams will play. Teams will be broken down into eight groups, while the round-robin format will be followed. Top three teams from each group will advance to
the 24-team knockout stage. High ranking duos such as American Kerri Walsh/Misty May-Treanor, Marleen Van Iersel and Sanne Keizer of Netherlands, Brazilian Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, and Xue Chen/Zhang Xi will open the tournament in Main Draw
stage tomorrow.
The Dutch pairing of Marleen Van Iersel and Sanne Keizer have made quite a buzz in the previous editions of the 2011 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Events. They claimed gold-medal victories at Shanghai Open and Myslowice Open, respectively. It will be interesting
to watch them playing at the Main-Draw again.
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