Nanjing, China, June 16, 2018 – Chinese top seeds Wang Fan and Xia Xinyi advanced to the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Silk Road Tangshan Open semifinals with a hard-fought 2-1 (21-17, 16-21, 15-9) win over Italy’s Gaia Traballi/Agata Zuccarelli on Saturday.
Wang/X.Y. Xia won two matches leading up to their semifinals entry. They first beat the United States Summer Nash/Jace Pardon 2-0 (21-15, 21-16) in the Round of 16, before beating Nantong 2-star silver medallist Traballi/Zuccarelli in the quarterfinals.
The last time Wang/X.Y. Xia made it to the final four was last May at the Lucerne 3-star, where they won the silver. The pair also won silver at the Sydney 2-star and placed fourth on home soil at the Qinzhou 3-star.
Their compatriots Lin Meimei/Zhu Lingdi reached the semifinals with victories over Lithuania’s Ieva Dumbauskaite/Irina Zobnina 2-0 (21-17, 21-13) and Japan’s Ayumi Kusano/Takemi Nishibori 2-1 (21-12, 17-21, 16-14).
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The United States’ Amanda Dowdy/Irene Pollock secured their semifinal spot with victories over Japanese sides. They started off with an easier 2-0 (21-15, 23-21) win over Minori Kumada/Yui Nagata and then prevailed in a tight 2-1 (16-21, 21-16, 15-12) clash with Reika Murakami/Chiyo Suzuki.
Nantong 2-star champions Josemari Alves/Liliane Maestrini are still on track to make back-to-back podium finishes as they secured the last semifinal spot with a convincing 2-0 (21-11, 21-7) quarterfinal win against the Czech Republic’s Sara Olivova/Karolina Rehackova. Earlier, they beat Australia’s Phoebe Bell/Jessyka Ngauamo 2-1 (21-15, 25-27, 15-9).