News

08.07.05
SWATCH-FIVB St. Petersburg Open-2005: Brazilians defined the finalists.

Women's semifinals featuring 4 Brazilian tandems took place today on the Central court in Peter and Paul Fortress.

Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca played first on the sand against the world leaders Ana Paula Connelly and Leila Barros. Juliana and Larissa took over the game and increased their margin up to 5 points. For the first time Connelly and Barros came forward with 13-12 and were leading for the second part of the set, which they posted with 21-16 score. Their rivals tried to take the lead in the second set but were defeated: 19-21.

The second semifinal Sandra Pires Tabarez/Agatha Bednarczuk versus Renata Ribeiro/Talita da Rocha Antunes started with the same scenario. This time five-point advantage was on Sandra and Agatha's account but later they yielded the pas: 20-22. In the second set they managed to balance the match (21-17). However Ribeiro/Antunes started the third crucial set more confidently and were 5 points ahead. The kept the margin to the end of the game: 15-9.

Thus the finalists are Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca and Renata Martinez Ribeiro/Talita da Rocha Antunes. Semifinals' losers will play the bronze medal match.

The best Russian duet continues fighting for SWATCH-FIBV St.Petersburg Open-2005 titles. Today the Russians defeated Asahi/Watanabe from Japan in an extremely tough game.

Even at the very beginning of the first set it was clear that it will take long to define the winner. During the whole set Russia was leading with a small margin, but as it was in the yesterday's march with the Austrians, Barsouk and Arkaev allowed their rivals to tie the score at the end. With 21-20 on the scoreboard Russians leading, the Japanese made a blunder that decided the whole battle.

Unexpectedly for most fans, Barsouk and Arkaev's 2-set start was all but a failure. The Russian players allowed the Japanese to earn 8 straight points! So, the outcome of the set was evident from the very beginning. Watanabe and Asahi made wonders on the court! At the end of the set Watanabe and Asahi once again won 4 straight points and the set ball resulting in 21-13 win.

However, at the third set the Japanese vigour faded away. Evidently, the raucous support of Russian fans also contributed greatly to the Barsouk/Arkaev game. Moreover, Roman Arkaev managed to break the Japanese block. Finally, the Russians masterfully won the third set 15-10.

'What happened in the second set? To be frank, the Japanese literally caught me. I could not expect such a strong block and Watanabe simply baffled me. But I want to thank our fans. Without their support the match would have been much tougher,' commented Roman Arkaev after the match.

However, in the next round our team faced equally competitive pair: Emiel Boersma and Richard Kogel from the Netherlands. The first set showed the fight of equals and the Russian tandem even managed to earn a 2-point margin. The game was led in a vigorous manner and the Dutch appeared stronger. They took over the set and reached 19-14 score. The Russian team lost 16-21.

In the second set the pair Arkaev/Barsouk looked much stronger. They started using deceitful tactic and, taking over the initiative, led till the end, with a 3-point margin minimum and posted the set 21-15.

Unfortunately, Arkaev/Barsouk failed to demonstrate the same game in the third set. All our players could reach were 4-4, 6-6, 8-8, 9-9 and 11-11 ties. They looked tired and could not resist the Dutch pressure. Finally, Roman Arkaev and Dmitri Barsouk left the tournament and were placed among 16 best teams.

Will the men's final be all-Brazilian too?

Meanwhile two first semifinalists among men's tandems were defined. These are the Brazilians Emanuel/Ricardo (current world toppers) and Marcio Aroujo/Fabio Magalhaes. They haven't lost a single match during the tournament. Two more Brazilian teams (Tande/Franco and Benjamin/Harley) having lost one match each will tomorrow face their next rivals (from Cuba, Holland, Argentina and Switzerland) to earn a berth in semifinals. Thus there is a great chance that men's final four will also be all Brazilian!

Don't forget that on Sunday you can witness men's semifinals after 4 p.m. and women's gold and bronze medals matches.