Eight teams move on to money rounds in Osaka

Vanilda Leao (right) with a Mikasa reception as Brazilian partner Renata Ribeiro prepares for the pass

Osaka, Japan, May 20, 2009 - Eight teams advanced to the money rounds of the US$190,000 Keihan/SMFG Japan Open on Wednesday following qualification matches at the 14th Women's SWATCH FIVB World Tour to be held in Japan's "second city."

Twenty Keihan/SMFG Japan Open qualifying matches were played Wednesday, with Beach Volleyball pairs from Australia, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain, New Zealand and Russia earning spots in the double-elimination Main Draw. The Main Draw begins Thursday with 32 matches, followed by 22 matches Friday when the first two semifinal teams will be determined.

Two elimination rounds will be played Saturday to determine the last two final four berths along with setting Sunday's schedule, where the final two teams will compete for the $30,000 first-place prize in the third of 17 women's events on the 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar.

With over 50 women's teams from 27 countries competing in the Keihan/SMFG Japan Open, two of the eight qualifying teams scored seed-breakthroughs to advance to the money rounds, as Brazilians Renata Ribeiro and Vanilda Leao successfully defended their top ranking in the preliminary rounds by defeating a team from Estonia in their only match Wednesday.

Renata and Leao had to win a Country Quota match in the season-opening event in Brasília to advance to the Main Draw there before receiving a wild-card entry three weeks ago to play in Shanghai. In both previous events this year, Renata and Leao placed fifth after being eliminated both times by Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig of Germany.

"Our goal is to start reaching the semifinals each week," said Renata, who placed fourth at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with Talita Antunes. "We need points to rank among the top three Brazilian teams on the world tour. If not, we face the Country Quota and qualifying process each week. Once we reach Europe for the big tournaments at the end of June through the first week of August, we do not want to be playing in the preliminary rounds anymore as it becomes more stressful than playing in the Main Draws."

Breaking through with wins over higher-seeded pairs in the final round of Wednesday's 28-team qualifier were ninth-seeded Lucy Boulton/Denise Johns of Great Britain and 13th-seeded Anastasia Vasina/Galina Boyko of Russia after wins over tandems from Russia and France, respectively.

Vasina and Galina advanced from a SWATCH FIVB World Tour for the third-straight time this season by eliminating 20th-seeded Natalja Bratuhhina/Mari-Liis Graumann of Estonia and fourth-seeded Tatiana Barerra/Virginie Sarpaux of France. Vasina and Galina have placed 17th both times in the Main Draw at Brasília and Shanghai.

After defeating 24th-seeded Julaluk Radarong/Manerat Udomchavee of Thailand, Boulton and Johns denied Russia a second spot in the Main Draw with a win over eighth-ranked Maria Bratkova/Evgenia Ukolova of Russia as both matches were three-setters. Like Vasina and Galina, Boulton and Johns were 17th-place finishers in the first two SWATCH stops this season.

Also advancing as expected from Wednesday's qualifier were the Germany pairs of third-seeded Claudia Lehmann/Julia Sude and fifth-seeded Rieke Brink-Abeler/Karla Borger along with second-seeded Hana Klapalova/Tereza Petrova of the Czech Republic, sixth-seeded Becchara Palmer/Heike Jensen of Australia and seventh-seeded Anna Scarlett/Susan Blundell of New Zealand.

With the men's SWATCH FIVB World Tour idle this week, both genders will be competing on two fronts next week, with the women in Korea (Seoul, May 26-31) and their male counterparts in Poland (Myslowice, May 26-31). After a three-week break, the $1-million SWATCH FIVB World Championships will be held June 25-July 5 in Stavanger, Norway.