Women’s Milner Open Features Fourth-straight Brazil vs. China Finale

Xi Zhang (left) and Chen Xue of China will compete in the US$380,000 Milner Open women's gold medal match Sunday after defeating a team from the United States Saturday in the semi-finals.

The Hague, Netherlands, August 28, 2010 - With the world’s Beach Volleyball players competing on The Hague BeachStadion centre court with the best weather conditions of the week, teams from Brazil and China will via for the women’s gold medal after winning matches here Saturday at the US$380,000 Milner Open.

The 13th women’s gold medal match on the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar will be played Sunday afternoon with second-seeded Maria Antonelli and Talita Antunes of Brazil playing third-seeded Chen Xue and Xi Zhang of China in the Milner Open finale.  The men’s title match will be played last with teams from Brazil, Netherlands and the United States still vying for the $30,000 first-place prize.

Saturday’s biggest match was played before the start of the afternoon semi-finals as Antonelli and Talita posted their first of two wins on the fifth-day of Milner Open competition by eliminating top-seeded Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca 24-22, 18-21 and 15-6 in a 51-minute All-Brazilian quarter-final match.

To advance to their second-straight Milner Open gold medal match, Antonelli and Talita scored a 21-15 and 21-13 semi-final win in 46 minutes over ninth-seeded Sanne Keizer and Marleen Van Iersel of The Netherlands.  It was the fourth meeting between the two teams as Antonelli and Talita now lead the series 3-1 by avenging an earlier defeat this season to the Dutch at the Norwegian Grand Slam in Stavanger.

Antonelli and Talita, who are competing in their 17th SWATCH FIVB World Tour “final four”, have won five of their nine previous international gold medal matches after splitting two title matches earlier this season in Switzerland and France.  The Swiss setback was to Juliana and Larissa while Antonelli and Talita defeated the Austrian Schwaiger sisters (Doris and Stefanie) in the Marseille finale.

Xue and Zhang advanced to their fourth-straight SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medal match in Saturday’s second semi-final by besting 13th-seeded Angie Akers and Tyra Turner of the United States 21-15 and 21-18 in 34 minutes.  It was Xue and Zhang’s second win over the Americans this season after eliminating Akers and Turner in the Russian Grand Slam as the Chinese captured their first of two international titles in Moscow.

Akers and Turner, who will attempt to snap an American drought of non-podium finishes in the last six SWATCH FIVB World Tour events in Switzerland, France, Austria, Poland, Norway and Finland, earned a spot in their second international semi-final by ousting 10th-seeded Madelein Meppelink and Marloes Wesselink of The Netherlands 21-15, 13-21 and 15-9 in 50 minutes earlier Saturday.

Both of Sunday’s medal matches will be the second meeting between the two teams in the Milner Open where the confrontations were in the quarter-finals of the winner’s bracket.  Xue and Zhang scored a 19-21, 21-18 and 15-12 win over Antonelli and Talita while the Dutch bested Akers and Turner 21-16 and 21-14 in 33 minutes.

Xue and Zhang enter Sunday’s finale with a 6-2 record against Antonelli and Talita with three-straight victories, including a semi-final victory last Saturday on the Finnish Isle of Aland 21-18, 17-21 and 15-13 in 65 minutes.  Keizer and Van Iersel hold a 2-1 edge in the series with the Americans, including a bronze medal win at the 2009 Japan Open in Osaka where the Dutch pair claimed their only podium placement together.

Sunday’s finale will also mark the 16th SWATCH FIVB World Tour women’s gold medal match between the two countries with Brazil holding an 11-4 edge in the title meetings.  While Antonelli and Talita are 1-0 against Chinese pairs in FIVB finales with a 2009 gold medal win in Shanghai, Xue and Zhang are only 2-5 with one of their setbacks being to Talita and Renata Ribeiro at the 2008 French Open in Marseille.  The Chinese avenged that setback by defeating Talita and Renata for the bronze medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.