Wang/Zuo upset American top seeds for China Sanya Open semis

Beijing 2008 Olympic silver medal winner Jie Wang (facing) hugs her new Chinese partner Man Zuo after winning a match Friday

SANYA, CHINA, November 14, 2008 - Ninth seeds Wang Jie and Zuo Man of China upset American top seeds April Ross andJennifer Boss 2-0 here Friday on their way to the semi-finals of the US$350,000 SWATCH FIVB World Tour China Sanya Open presented by Olympic Garden.

Wang, who won the silver medal at the Beijing Olympics with Tian Jia, worked hard with Zuo for 47 minutes to post a 24-22 and 21-16 victory over the Phuket Thailand Open champions and went on to beat 13th seeded Karin Lundquist and Angelica Ljungquist of Sweden 22-24, 21-19 and 15-10 for a 4-0 mark in the women’s Main Draw.

“I didn’t feel very well coming out this morning, I was a little bit under the weather,” said the 31-year old Boss.  “It’s not the heat, I just couldn’t see very well.”

Roared on by hundreds of home fans, Wang and Zuo came from behind for the victory in both sets.

“The fans are very good, they are not negative. I just didn’t play very well.  Ross played well but I didn’t have it,” Boss added.  “The Chinese team is very strong.  They are seeded lowly because they are a new team, usually we do not play such strong team at this stage.”

The Chinese met tougher challenge Friday afternoon from the Swedish tandem Friday afternoon when they narrowly survived an upset loss with experience.

“The Swedish team is really strong, they have the height and the power,” said Chinese team leader Wang Jianping.  “Fortunately Wang Jie and Zuo Man’s experience and good skills helped them win through.”

Second seeded Americans Nicole Branagh and Tyra Turner also secured a top four berth with a pair of wins in the winner’s bracket over Chinese qualifiers Wang Lu and Li Ying and third seeded Maria Antonelli and Vanilda Leao from Brazil on Friday.

“It’s wonderful to make the semi-finals, I think we played pretty well,” said Turner.  “We changed our position and felt very comfortable.”

Other teams staying in contention with one defeat each were fifth seeds Lauren Fendrick/Ashley Ivy of the United States, 12th seeds Daniela Gioria/Giulia Momoli from Italy and 15th seeded Huang Ying /Zhang Xi of China.

is also the final double-gender event as the women’s semi-finals and podium placement matches scheduled for Sunday.