Salgado sisters clinch success at the Country Quota Playoffs: 2011 Beijing Grand Slam - Volleyball
The 2011 Beijing Grand Slam Beach Volleyball Tournament started off on Monday, June 6. The exciting campaign greeted men’s and women’s beach volleyball teams from all around the world. More than 110 tandems in both categories are confirmed to compete at the 2011 Beijing Grand Slam.
The tournament is the third double-gender event on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour Calendar and it has the same format as the Brasilia Open and Shanghai Open. The opening day of the tournament featured Country Quota Playoffs. Successful teams of the CQs advanced to the Qualification Tournament.
In the women’s section, Brazilian teams had to go through the Country Quota Playoffs. The pairing of Maria Clara Salgado Rufino and Carolina Solberg Salgado crossed paths with their compatriot pair of Angela Vieira and Liliane Maestrini. The former stole the show by exhibiting a better performance and earned the right to play in the Qualification Tournament on Tuesday, June 7.
Marcia Clara/Carol vs. Vieira/Lili 2-0 (21-17, 21-16)
The two teams took the centre stage on a sunny day and kicked things off. Brazilian Country Quota Playoffs are generally considered to be tough and the Salgado Sisters had a strong adversary in Vieira and Lili. The match started out with the first serve from Carol. She stood well behind the baseline and fired the long jump-serve. On the other side of the net, Vieira/Lili were uniquely positioned. They received the ball with firm hands and returned it to the opponents. The exchange of swift serves and spikes started, while Salgado Sisters managed to put the early points on board. It was a fine play by Marcia Clara and Carol, which helped them pick up a lead. Vieira and Lili also struggled to score points with their tricky bump-passes and cut-shots. However, Salgado Sisters led the game with better scores and claimed the first set with a margin of 4 points.
Success in opening set boosted the morale of Marcia/Carol. They played with more confidence and influenced the challengers. Vieira and Lili hit some nice shots in the second set but couldn’t break out of their scoring slump. The ball frequently landed on their side and benefitted the Salgado tandem. The match had attracted a good number of fans to the venue, who encouraged their favourite teams. Second set was also successful for Salgado Sisters as they posted 21-16 and announced victory. The triumphant Marcia Clara and Carol will now play in the Qualification Tournament.
Carol looked more than happy about the successful start of the campaign. She said, “I’m really, really happy, the Brazilian country-quota matches are always very, very hard. So we start with a lot of pressure, and it’s good to win.”
In the meantime, Marcia Clara also had her say about the match. She said, “Vieira and Lili are a great team. We were playing good, Carol played good, but we need to play better tomorrow and better in the Main Draw.”
The second stage of the tournament, the Qualification Tournament will be played today, Tuesday, June 7. Next up will be the 32-Team Main Draw stage, which will progress with the elimination bracket. Afterwards, the competition will enter the quarter-finals and only the best teams will be advanced to the final four stage of the tournament. The American Olympic Champions, Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, are labelled as the defending champions. They secured the gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
This is the second time that Chinese capital Beijing is hosting an event of this capacity. The home side is represented by the tandem of Xue Chen and Zhang Xi, who finished in third position at the 2008 Olympics. They are enjoying great form and have a lot of promises to secure the title in China.
On the other hand, reigning world champion Brazilian duo of Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa France are also playing at the 2011 Beijing Grand Slam. They are also expected to create a lot of buzz at the podium.
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