BARCELONA, SPAIN, May 30, 2008 - After dropping their second match of the US$350,000 Hyundai Open Barcelona, Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs recovered from the setback to win five-straight elimination matches to reach the SWATCH FIVB World Tour semi-finals were the Americans upset Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca here Friday afternoon to reach their second international Beach Volleyball finale. Seeded second in the 32-team Main Draw for the inaugural Hyundai Open Barcelona, Branagh and Youngs opened play Friday with elimination wins over teams from Germany and Brazil to advance to Saturday’s gold medal match against fourth-seeded Talita Antunes and Renata Ribeiro of Brazil. After Branagh and Youngs scored a 22-20, 14-21 and 15-13 win in 62 minutes over Juliana and Larissa, Talita and Renata reached their 11th SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medal match with a 19-21, 21-19 and 15-8 win in 56 minutes over seventh-seeded Vassiliki Arvaniti and Vasso Karadassiou of Greece. The Brazilians will be seeking their second title this season after winning at the start of May in Shanghai. While Branagh and Youngs were defeating Juliana and Larissa for the second-time in five meetings, including a bronze medal victory two weeks ago against the Brazilians in Seoul, Korea, Talita and Renata defeated Arvaniti and Karadassiou and Renata for the eighth-time in 13 SWATCH meetings. All three of Juliana and Larissa’s wins over the Americans have been in semi-final matches, including at the end of March in Australia. Talita and Renata have now defeated the Greeks in two FIVB “final four” matches with the Brazilians winning a semi-final meeting with Arvaniti and Karadassiou at a 2005 SWATCH stop in Athens. “I am glad we don’t have to play another match today,” said the 38-year old Youngs, who will be competing Saturday for her 12th SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medal. ‘We are very tired now as we have now played eight matches in three days. I think our physical conditioning paid off for us today. Also, it is great to play a gold medal match with Nicole’s family here to watch us.” Young felt the playing conditions of deep sand also helped her team. “We train in the deep sand in Southern California, so we have been able to adjust to the surface,” said Youngs, a bronze medal winner at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games with Holly McPeak. “Also, our service game played a big part in our victory against Juliana and Larissa. It is great to reach the finals in these beautiful surroundings. This is one of the best sites we play at and the Spanish fans have been great.” Branagh and Youngs, who dropped a SWATCH finale last November in Thailand to American rivals Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, opened play Friday with a 21-15, 16-21 and 15-13 win in 57 minutes over fifth-seeded Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig of Germany followed by a 27-25 and 21-19 win in 56 minutes over third-seeded Shelda Bede and Ana Paula Connelly of Brazil. Like Branagh and Youngs, Talita and Renata had to win an elimination match prior to the Hyundai Open Barcelona semi-final as the Brazilians posted a 21-18 and 21-14 victory over sixth-seeded Jen Boss and April Ross of the United States in 36 minutes. Both Juliana/Larissa and the Greeks earned “final four” berths Thursday afternoon with wins over Talita/Renata and Shelda/Ana Paula, respectively. After Branagh and Youngs won the first two SWATCH meetings over Talita and Renata last season in FIVB stops in Russia and Brazil, the Americans dropped the next match to the Brazilians in the Adelaide season opener. The bronze medal match will be the 17th meeting between the two teams with Juliana and Larissa winning 13 times with nine-straight wins over Arvaniti and Karadassiou. The first of seven-straight double gender events on the 2008 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar, the Hyundai Open Barcelona women’s competition concludes Saturday when the final two teams compete for the $28,000 first-place prize. The men’s medal matches will be played Sunday where the Brazilian teams of Emanuel Rego/Ricardo Santos and Harley Marques/Pedro Salgado have already reached the semi-finals. |
