Nanjing, China, June 17, 2018 – Brazil’s Josemari Alves and Liliane Maestrini extended their reign on Chinese soil with their second consecutive gold medal win on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.
The Nantong 2-star winners capped off their Silk Road Tangshan Open campaign in Nanjing with a follow-up gold medal victory against top seeds Wang Fan/Xia Xinyi 2-1 (21-18, 21-23, 15-11).
The Brazilian second seeds dictated the tempo in the opening set, working actively on offence and defence. Wang tried to get the Chinese side back on track with an ace to tie the score at 16-all, but a series of frustrating errors gave their rivals the lead and eventually the set win at 21-18.
The South American side set up an impressive presence at the net and were assertive on offence, but Wang and Xia refused to give up and succeeded to level the score at 19-all in the second set. The Chinese completed the winning run with a strong spike by Wang and an ace by Xia to take the second stanza 23-21.
In the third set, Wang/X.Y. Xia had difficulty finding a solution to Josi/Lili’s play. The home team managed to trim the lead but their rivals always found the open space to score. Finally, Josi ensured the Brazilian victory with back-to-back attack winners at 15-11.
Brazil have won 15 gold medals at Chinese-hosted FIVB World Tour events, including Dalian 1998, Dalian 1999, Maoming 2001, Shanghai 2005, Shanghai 2008, Shanghai 2009, Sanya 2011, Sanya 2012, Beijing 2012, Shanghai 2013, Xiamen 2014, Xiamen 2017, Nantong 2018 and Nanjing 2018.
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USA's Amanda Dowdy/Irene Pollock made a comeback late in the third set to win the bronze medal against China’s M.M. Lin/Zhu 2-1 (21-19, 16-21, 16-14).
The Americans played tight defence to lead 8-5 in the opening set, but the Chinese defence eventually picked-up and drew level at 19-all. Dowdy/Pollock quickly responded with two attacks to seal the win 21-19. M.M. Lin/Zhu hustled on defence and unleashed forceful spikes to force the tiebreaker at 21-16.
In the final set, the Chinese were first to break away with a 12-9 lead. Dowdy’s two consecutive blocks tied the score at 12-all, but Zhu’s efforts on offence and defence produced a two-point lead at 14-12. The home team could not score afterwards, while the visiting side scored the next four points to snatch the bronze 16-14.