USA's May/Walsh seek Brazilian Gold

Top-seeded Misty May and Kerri Walsh of the USA defeated fourth-seeded Jia Tian and Fei Wang of China 21-19 and 21-19 win to advance to the Gold Medal match in the 2004 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour season opener on the Praia de Iracema in Fortaleza, Brazil.

After posting their 33-straight win on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour, May (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Walsh (Saratoga, Calif.) play second-seeded Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar of Brazil Sunday morning for the $27,000 first-place prize. May and Walsh will be seeking to win their fifth-straight international event. Bede and Behar will be trying to win for the first-time on the FIVB circuit since Mallorca in 2002. Sunday's losers will share $18,000.

Bede and Behar, the winningest men's or women's team on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour with 29 titles, advanced to the title match with a convincing 21-14 and 21-17 win in 45 minutes over 28th-seeded Larissa Franca and Juliana Felisberta Silva in an All-Brazilian semi-final.

In advancing to 18th SWATCH-FIVB World Tour Gold Medal match in 38 international beach volleyball starts, May and Walsh broke from a 1-1 tie in the first set to take leads of 6-2 and 18-13 before Jia Tian and Fei Wang made it interesting with a 6-2 run to cut the edge to 20-19. A dig and kill by Walsh ended the 20-minute set.

May and Walsh, who have captured 11 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour Gold Medals since 2001, trailed 3-1, 4-2, 5-3 in the second set before tying the set at 6-6 and 7-7 before taking an 8-7 lead. Jia Tian and Fei Wang tied the set again before May and Walsh built 10-8, 12-9 and 18-14 leads. The China women rallied to score five of the next seven points before a technical error by Fei Wang (reaching over the net) ended the match.

"We were ready to play today, said May after the match. "The Chinese women have a great service game and we allowed only a few service winners. We did not over-pass the serve and was able to side out consistently."

Walsh felt the Americans "controlled the match throughout. Like Misty said, we were about to handle their serve and make very few mistakes. Once we got the leads (18-13 and 18-14) in both sets, we became a little tentative. Give the Chinese credit, they do not give up. They play hard until the last point."

Fei Wang was "pleased" with her team's effort. "For the first tournament of the season, we have found a good rhythm. We made some costly mistakes against the Americans during the middle part of both sets. Against the quality teams, you can not make mistakes."

For Jia Tian and Fei Wang, a "final four" finish this week makes up for the disappointment at last fall's World Championships in Rio de Janeiro where they placed 17th-place in the 2003 season finale. Prior to the Copacabana event, Jia Tian and Fei Wang had won 2003 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour in Bali and Italy while placing fourth in the United States.

The Chinese women upset third-seeded Ana Paula Connolly and Sandra Pires, the top team on the 2003 women's SWATCH-FIVB World Tour points' standings, Friday to advance to the semi-finals. Ana Paula and Pires were the last team to defeat May and Walsh internationally with a 21-19 and 21-15 victory in the Gold Medal match at the Norway Open July 5.

May and Walsh have won the last four SWATCH-FIVB World Tour events they have entered, including the 2003 World Championships at Rio de Janeiro where they defeated Bede and Behar 21-19 and 21-19 in the finals. May and Walsh hold a 10-7 edge over Bede and Behar in the series between the two teams on the FIVB circuit. Eight of the previous 17 matches have been for the Gold Medal with May and Walsh holding a 5-3 edge.

The Americans will also be trying to extend their overall winning streak as the pair has won 58-straight matches, including 24 on the Association of Volleyball Professional (AVP) Tour and an exhibition match last month in Rio de Janeiro. Starting with their first event together in June 2001, May and Walsh have won 20 beach volleyball tournaments, including 11 titles on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour.

The Brazilian Open continues the qualifying process for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. After this week's event, competition on the women's SWATCH-FIVB World Tour resumes May 19-23 in Rhodes, Greece followed by other Olympic qualifying events in China, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Norway and Canada. The process began last June in Greece and concludes July 11 when the 24 teams are determined for the August 14-24 Olympic Games in Athens.

For more information on FIVB beach volleyball, go to the FIVB web site.