Nantong, China, June 9, 2018 – Four different nations – Brazil, Australia, Japan and Italy – will contest the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Silk Road Nantong Open semifinals, following respective twin victories on Saturday at the Nantong Adventure Land.
Josemari Alves/Liliane Maestrini’s strong Round of 16 outing carried Brazil to a 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) win over the United States McKenna Thibodeau/Madison Witt, then their quarterfinal encounter went their way with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) win over Lithuania’s Ieva Dumbauskaite/Irina Zobnina.
Australia’s Phoebe Bell got the second semifinal slot following their 2-0 (21-18, 21-14) quarterfinal triumph against the United States Amanda Dowdy/Irene Pollock. Prior to that, they overcame tough Russian pair Ksenia Dabizha/Daria Mastikova 2-1 (25-23, 10-21, 16-14).
Josi/Lili and Bell/Ngauamo will play in the first semifinal match at 9:00 local time on Sunday.
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Japan’s Ayumi Kusano/Takemi Nishibori will have another chance to reach the podium to follow-up on their Manila 1-star gold. Kusano/Take defeated their Asian neighbours Wang Jingwen/Yuan Lvwen of China and Norway’s Victoria Kjolberg/Ane Tveit Hjortland 2-1 (15-21, 21-16, 15-8) to reach the semifinals.
Italy’s Gaia Traballi/Agata Zuccarelli bested two Chinese rivals. They first outplayed Bai Bing/Qu Binhong 2-0 (21-10, 21-18) before knocking top seeds Wang Xinxin/Xia Xinyi out of the medal race with a 2-0 (21-11, 23-21) victory.
Kusano/Take and Traballi/Zuccarelli will meet in the second semifinal at 10:00.