e again in a history of stirring performances, Brazil’s magnificent Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca won the women’s gold medal Saturday to complete an amazing run of seven consecutive victories through a world-class field at the Mazury Orlen Grand Slam in Stare Jablonki.
The world’s top beach volleyball tandems are in Poland as the double-gender event marks the eighth consecutive visit by the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch world tour with Stare Jablonki hosting seven previous men’s events and three previous women’s events. This is also the second year it has been a grand slam instead of an open event.
In the gold medal match, Brazil’s top-seeded Juliana/Larissa fed off the appreciative energy of the boisterous crowd of over 5,000 that packed the Hotel Anders center court and rallied in three sets to finally overcome USA’s fifth-seeded Jennifer Kessy/April Ross, 14-21, 21-19 and 18-16 in the 53-minute championship match.
In a match started with a rather surprising 21-14 first set where USA’s Kessy/Ross broke up a 16-14 lead by scoring five straight points and closed it with an ace by Ross that caught the top of the Swatch net and fell onto Brazil’s side. The second set was much closer although Juliana/Larissa got an early jump, but as the set evolved it was tied a total of 10 times, the last at 19-19 before a Larissa kill down the middle and then a Larissa ace serve off a diving Kessy won it for the Brazilians.
In the deciding third set, it seemed like both teams had opportunities to win and both were playing at a serious championship level. The two teams went point for point nearly the entire set, with both teams having the lead at least once and the set was tied 12 times. With the last tie at 16-16, Larissa had a kill down the line and then ended the set and won the match with another ace, this one no returnable as well.
In Saturday’s women’s bronze medal match, Brazil’s fourth-seeded Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes came back from a disastrous first set to defeat China’s third-seeded Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, 12-21, 21-17 and 15-12 in 48 minutes. The win gave Antonelli/Antunes their ninth FIVB career bronze medal as they earned a final four placement for the 25th time in 38 FIVB Swatch World Tour events as a team. It was also the second podium in a row for Antonelli/Antunes who won the gold medal last week in Quebec City, Canada.
Semifinals' results
Kessy/Ross USA [5] - Talita/Antonelli BRA [4] 2:1
(18:21, 21:19, 15:13)
Xue-Zhang Xi CHN [3] - Larissa-Juliana BRA [1] 1:2
(21:19, 10:21, 13:15)
Bronze medal match
Talita/Antonelli BRA [4] - Xue/Zhang Xi CHN [3] 2:1
(12:21, 21:17, 15:12)
Final match
Kessy/Ross USA [5] - Larissa/Juliana BRA [1] 1:2
(21:14, 19:21, 16:18)
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