Xiamen/China Grand Slam winners Ross & Walsh vs Lima & Talita, bronzo Walkenhorst & Ludwig, 9° Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth
Tra le Top Ten può vincere chiunque. Così a Xiamen le italiane Menegatti & Orsi Toth hanno battuto nelle qualificazioni la coppia Walsh & Toth che poi ( ma non è una sorpresa) hanno vinto lo stesso Xiamen Grand Slam in tre set vs Lima & Talita.
Anche per questo è un piacere seguire ‘step by step’ in ogni tappa del Beach Volley World Tour 2013 le performance di Marta Menegatti & Viktoria Orsi Toth, sempre più affiatate, sempre più competitive.
Perciò, detto che tra gli uomini hanno vinto Alison/Vitor vs Brouwer/Meeuwsen e che gli italiani Lupo/Nicolai hanno conquistato la medaglia di bronzo, eccovi day by day ( nella interpretazione ufficiale italiana by federvolley e inglese by fivb) tutto quanto è successo a Xiamen in China, nel Grand Slam riservato alle donne, dove Marta & Vicky si sono arrese negli ottavi, perché sconfitte di misura in due set dalle brasiliane Agatha-Antonelli con il punteggio di 2-0 (21-19-21-18).
PRIMA NEWS/ XIAMEN & BEACH VOLLEY WORLD TOUR 2013 ( by www.federvoley.it , 21-10-2013 )/ Beach Grand Slam Xiamen: si parte con le qualifiche maschili
<<Dopo la tappa di San Paolo la carovana del beach mondiale si sposta dall'altra parte del globo dove domani prendera' il via il Grand Slam di Xiamen in Cina. In estremo oriente saranno cinque le coppie italiane in gara. Tra gli uomini i primi a scendere in campo (domani) saranno Andrea Tomatis e Alex Ranghieri che partiranno ancora dalle qualificazioni; nel main draw ci saranno poi Daniele Lupo e Paolo Nicolai, con loro i gemelli Paolo e Matteo Ingrosso che beneficeranno di una wild card. Due le coppie femminili in campo, entrambe nel tabellone principale: Marta Menegatti e Viktoria Orsi Toth reduci dal buon quarto posto del torneo in Brasile e Gioria-Giombini.>>
SECONDA NEWS ( by www.federvolley.it , 22-10-2013 ) / Grand Slam Xiamen M: Tomatis-Ranghieri nel main draw
<< Nel Grand Slam di Xiamen (Cina) la coppia italiana Tomatis-Ranghieri ha ottenuto l'accesso nel main draw maschile dopo aver sconfitto al tie-break i cinesi HA Likejiang-Bao J. 2-1 (16-21, 21-9, 15-12). Domani in campo nel tabellone principale anche Lupo-Nicolai e i gemelli Ingrosso. Giovedi' prenderanno il via le gare del main draw femminile con Gioria-Giombini e Menegatti-Orsi Toth.>>
TERZA NEWS ( by www.federvolley.it , 23-10-2013 ) / Grand Slam Xiamen M: i risultati delle coppie italiane
<<Nel Grand Slam di Xiamen la coppia italiana formata da Daniele Lupo e Paolo Nicolai ha esordito con un successo nel main draw (Pool F), grazie al 2-0 (21-16, 21-15) sui gemelli Ingrosso. Bene anche Andrea Tomatis e Alex Ranghieri (Pool B) vittoriosi 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) contro i tedeschi Dollinger-Flüggen. Nel secondo incontro, invece, gli italiani hanno ceduto solo al tie-break per mano dei forti brasiliani Pedro-Bruno 2-1 (19-21, 21-15, 15-10), al termine di una gara molto combattuta.>>
QUARTA NEWS ( by www.federvolley.it , 24-10-2013 ) / Grand Slam Xiamen: molto bene le coppie italiane
<< Nell'ultimo Grand Slam della stagione a Xiamen (Cina) giornata molto positiva per le coppie italiane, con in primis gli azzurri Lupo-Nicolai che grazie alla netta vittoria sugli statunitensi Patterson-Gibb 2-0 (21-14, 21-17), si sono qualificati al secondo turno ad eliminazione diretta, dove domani troveranno i vincenti tra i lettoni Samoilovs-Smedins e gli austriaci Horst-Petutschnig. Prosegue il cammino anche di Tomatis-Ranghieri e dei gemelli Ingrosso che hanno battuto rispettivamente i francesi Salvetti-Daguerre 2-0 (21-18, 21-12) e i messicani Ontiveros-Virgen 2-0 (21-12, 23-21). Domani nel primo turno ad eliminazione diretta Tomatis-Ranghieri affronteranno i russi Bykanov-Koshkarev, mentre gli Ingrosso i cinesi CH. Chen-C. Yang. Buone notizie arrivano anche sul fronte femminile, Menegatti-Orsi Toth hanno battuto le austriache Hansel-Zass 2-0 (21-12, 21-13) e la coppia polacca Brzostek-Kolosinska 2-1 (21-23, 21-13, 15-5) e domani si giocheranno il primo posto della pool contro le forti statunitensi Ross-Walsh. Una vittoria e una sconfitta, invece, per Gioria-Giombini che dopo essersi imposte contro le argentine Gallay-Klug (21-18, 21-14), hanno dovuto cedere alle teste di serie numero uno del torneo, le cinesi Xue-X. Y. Xia 2-0 (21-12, 21-19).>>
QUINTA NEWS ( by www.federvolley.it , 25-10-2013 ) / Gr.Slam Xiamen F: grandi Menegatti-Orsi Toth, battute Ross-Walsh
<< Nel tabellone femminile grande impresa delle azzurre Viktoria Orsi-Toth e Marta Menegatti che hanno conquistato il primo posto nella pool, battendo la coppia formata dalla tre volte campionessa olimpica Kerri Walsh e da April Ross. Netta la vittoria delle ragazze di Lissandro che si sono imposte 2-0 (21-16, 21-18) sulle statunitensi, vincitrici due settimane fa del Grand Slam di San Paolo. In virtù del successo Menegatti-Orsi Toth domani scenderanno in campo nel secondo turno ad eliminazione diretta, dove affronteranno le brasiliane Agatha-Antonelli. Diciassettesimo posto, invece, per Daniela Gioria e Laura Giombini che dopo aver battuto le russe Motrich-Rudykh 2-1 (17-21, 21-18, 15-6), hanno ceduto alle canadesi Broder-Valjas 2-0 (21-17, 21-18). >>
SESTA NEWS ( by www.federvolley.it , 26-10-2013 ) / Beach Grand Slam Xiamen: nono posto per Menegatti-Orsi Toth
<< Il Grand Slam di Xiamen si chiude con un nono posto per le azzurre Marta Menegatti e Viktoria Orsi Toth. Nella notte italiana le ragazze del CT Lissandro si sono arrese negli ottavi di finale alle brasiliane Agatha-Antonelli con il punteggio di 2-0 (21-19-21-18). >>
SETTIMA NEWS (by www.fivb.org , October 25, 2013) / Xue/Xia lead eight teams unbeaten at Xiamen Grand Slam / Xue/Xia set off to a fine start as a team
Xiamen, China, October 25, 2013 – Top seeded Chinese world champion Xue Chen and her new teenager partner Xia Xinyi collceted their third straight victory in pool A Friday morning to lead eight unbeaten teams into the women’s top 16 of the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Xiamen Grand Slam.
April Ross and Kerri Walsh, who had claimed the gold medal two weeks ago at the Sao Paulo Grand Slam, were hammered by Italy’s Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth 2-0 in their last pool E match, but they still advanced to the 24-team knockout stage as the second finishers from the pool.
Xue and 16-year-old World Tour debutant Xia beat Argentina’s Ana Gallay/Georgina Klug 2-0 (21-16, 21-13) in 39 minutes to finish atop of pool A with a 3-0 win-loss record and earn a bye in the first round of the knockout stage which was set to start Saturday morning.
“Xia is playing in the World Tour for the first time and this is our first World Tour event, I did not expect to win three matches in a row,” said Xue, who had captured the title of the World Championships with her old partner Zhang Xi in July. “She has been doing a great job and I am very satisfied with our cooperation. As a young player in her age, her performance was quite surprising to me.”
“I think we have been playing better and better as a team in the last three matches,” said Xia. “As a newcomer, I have a lot to learn and improve. I need more experience and training to be a better beach volleyball player.”
Following two easy wins on Thursday, the new combination of April Ross and Kerri Walsh received a blow Friday morning as they lost to Menegatti/Orsi Toth in straight sets 21-16 and 21-18. In the afternoon, April/Walsh came back to beat Gallay/Klug 2-1 (21-11, 16-21, 17-15) in an elimination round match to stay in the title contention.
Marketa Slukova and Kristyna Kolocova of Czech Republic pulled off another upset in the women’s pool play by taming Brazil’s seventh seeds Agatha Bed narczuk/Maria Antonelli 2-0 (21-17, 24-22). Having squandered a three-point lead in the second set, the 10th seeded Slukova/Kolocova finally converted on their fourth match point thanks to a solid block by Slukova.
“Agatha and Maria are a really strong team, so against a strong team like this it's always difficult to keep the lead as they can come back in the middle of the set with some unbelievable play, and they can just take the lead away from you,” said Slukova. “But I am really proud of us because we kept going and kept pushing and at the end we still won the second set. I think it's the strongest play by us.”
The girls from Czech Republic now had a 2-0 record against Agatha/Antonelli this season. “World Tour is always tough tournament and we can't expect to win any game. But we played them already once this year, in Berlin, and we won and it was a tough game. So we knew that if we play well we can beat them. But if we struggle with service, reception, everything, we can easily lose 2-0.”
Fourth seeds Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst of Germany, second seeds Taiana Lima/Talita Da Rocha Antunes, third seeds Maria Clara Salgado Rufino, both from Brazil, sixth seeds Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler of Germany, eighth seeds Yue Yuan/Ma Yuanyuan from China joined Xue/Xia, Menegatti/Orsi Toth and Slukova/Kolocova in the women’s top 16 after winning respective pools with unbeaten records.
Ludwig/Walkenhorst, runners-up to April/Walsh at the Sao Paulo Grand Slam, rallied past Emily Day/Summer Ross of the United States 18-21, 21-16 and 15-4 in the last round pool D match.
“It’s really cool. We don't have to play one more match today. It’s already been a long season and it's always cool to go out of the pool as first. I feel good and I am satisfied with the three good matches. But tomorrow is a new day and new games and we have to fight again,” said Ludwig.
Ludwig was quite satisfied with her overall performance over the season. “In the beginning it was a slow start, but on and on we always make top 10, top five and even two finals. I think right now we're the seventh in the world ranking, and now I have a new partner. Everything is pretty new and we did a pretty good job this season,” she added.
The women’s elimination round will start on Saturday morning with the semifinal and final matches scheduled for Sunday. The double gender Xiamen Grand Slam is the last of a record 10 Grand Slam events on the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar.
China has hosted more than 23 women’s and 14 men’s tournaments on the FIVB World Tour, but this is the first visit for an FIVB international beach volleyball event in the city of Xiamen. The event in Xiamen is one of three FIVB international beach volleyball events being held in China this year. The first was the 2013 FIVB Open tournament held in Fuzhou on April 23 to 28, followed by the Shanghai Grand Slam, which took place from April 30 to May 5, 2013.
OTTAVA & LAST NEWS ( by www.fivb.org, October 27, 2013)/ Ross/Walsh hold off Lima/Talita for back-to-back Grand Slam titles / Xiamen Grand Slam medal winners
<< Xiamen, China, October 27, 2013 – April Ross and Kerri Walsh of the United States held off world No. 1 Taiana Lima and Talita Da Rocha Antunes of Brazil in three sets here Sunday afternoon to win back-to-back FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Grand Slam titles.
The American duo, who had captured the gold medal of the Sao Paulo Grand Slam two weeks ago, beat Lima/Talita 21-14, 17-21 and 15-12 in a three-set thriller in the final of the season-ending Xiamen Grand Slam for their second championship in three World Tour events together.
“My new partner is wonderful, in so many ways, she is such an amazing volleyball players, she makes my life on the court very very easy,” said Walsh after landing her 21st Grand Slam title and 46th career win. “Her energy is great, her target is great and her skills are unbelievable. So it’s going to be very fun partnership.”
The three-time Olympic gold medal winner has already put her eyes on the 2016 Rio Games. “Yes. We are going for gold for the next Olympic Games,” added the 35-year-old Walsh. “It’s fantastic. It’s such a great start. We are going to have a great off-season, and then go to work and come back next year even stronger and keep chasing our dreams.”
London Olympic silver medal winner Ross was also excited with the amazing start of the new combination with Walsh. “I can’t say it’s what I expected necessarily, but it’s what I hoped for and we had to fight really hard, ” said Ross, who had now six Grand Slam title to her belt. “We didn’t start this tournament out very good, and we had to fight for every point and we got much better towards the end. I love starting our partnership with two gold medals, that’s amazing.”
After splitting the first two sets with the Brazilians, Ross and Walsh made two fine spikes apiece to have a 4-0 lead in the tie-breaker. Having reaped five FIVB Grand Slam titles together this season, Lima/Talita fought back strongly to pull within 8-7. Then Walsh came up big with a dink and a block against Lima to lead a 4-1 run that pushed the Americans up to 12-8. Lima/Talita managed to cut it to 14-12, only to find Walsh wrap up the match in 46 minutes with a drop shot.
“We just got too excited and started playing too fast we made two many errors in the second game and they played better,” said Walsh. “In game three we took a deep breath and tried to play volleyball and it was a good result.”
“We attacked with our serve and with out siding-out. You know, we didn’t want to do too many shots or easy plays. We were trying to be really aggressive,” April Ross said.
Earlier on Sunday, Germany’s fourth seeds Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst bounced back from a dissappointing 2-0 (21-15, 21-10) defeat to Ross/Walsh in the semifinals to beat country women Kartin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler 21-15 and 21-19 for the bronze medal. It was also Ludwig/Walkenhorst’s third straight podim finish following two silver medals in Sao Paulo and Moscow.
Dropping the opening set without much resistance, Hotlwick/Semmler fought bravely to erase a 14-12 deficit to tie it at 18-all in the second. After a drop shot of Walkenhorst made it 19-18, Holtwick drove a ball long to give Ludwig/Walkenhorst two match points while Walkenhorst converted on the second with a smart short dink.
“In the last match, that was really bad. So we have to surge together and change something and our attitudes. It was a big thing that we are together again,” said Ludwig.
Hotlwick/Semmler, who have lost in both encounters against Ludwig/Walkenhorst in the World Tour, settled for the fourth place.
The double gender Xiamen Grand Slam is the last of a record 10 Grand Slam events on the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar with FIVB Open events to continue in Phuket, Thailand from October 29 to Novemer 3 >>
APPENDICE NEWS XIAMEN GRAND SLAM “UOMINI” ( by www.federvolley.it/ I RISULTATI DEGLI ITALIANI: LUPO /NICOLAI OTTIMA MEDAGLIA DI BRONZO
PRIMO FLASH/ 25-10-2013 / Gr.Slam Xiamen M: Nicolai-Lupo in semifinale )
<<Ottime notizie arrivano dal tabellone maschile del Grand Slam di Xiamen (Cina): gli azzurri Daniele Lupo e Paolo Nicolai, infatti, hanno centrato l'accesso in semifinale grazie alla vittoria nei quarti contro i brasiliani Emanuel-Evandro 2-0 (21-15, 21-16). Domani gli azzurri per entrare in finale dovranno superare un'altra coppia brasiliana, quella formata da Alison-Vitor Felipe. In precedenza i ragazzi di Paulao si erano imposti contro i vicecampioni europei Samoilovs-Smedins 2-0 (24-22, 25-23) al termine di una gara molto combattuta. Per la coppia italiana si tratta della quarta semifinale in stagione nel circuito mondiale, dopo quelle di Fuzhou, Corrientes e Long Beach. Si è concluso con un eccellente quinto posto, invece, il cammino di Andrea Tomatis e Alex Ranghieri che nei quarti non ce l’hanno fatta a battere gli olandesi Stiekema-Varenhorst 2-0 (21-17, 21-17). Prima di essere sconfitti, gli italiani si erano tolti il lusso di superare i russi Bykanov-Koshkarev 2-1 (18-21, 26-24, 15-13) e poi, soprattutto, i campioni europei Herrera-Gavira per 2-1 (13-21, 21-15, 19-17). Diciassettesimi Matteo e Paolo Ingrosso che nel primo turno a eliminazione diretta sono stati eliminati dai cinesi CH.Chen-C.Yang 2-1 (17-21, 30-28, 23-21).>>
SECONDO & LAST FLASH/ 26-10-2013 / Beach Grand Slam Xiamen: terzo posto per Lupo-Nicolai
<<L’ultimo Grand Slam stagionale disputato a Xiamen si è concluso con un altro ottimo risultato di Daniele Lupo e Paolo Nicolai. I ragazzi di Paulao, infatti, sono saliti sul gradino più basso del podio per la terza volta in questa stagione dopo averlo già fatto nei Grand Slam di Corrientes (maggio) e Long Beach (luglio); risultati ai quali si aggiunge il secondo posto nella tappa d’esordio del World Tour disputata a Fuzhou (aprile). I due azzurri nella notte italiana si sono prima arresi 2-0 (21-18, 21-17) ai brasiliani Alison-Vitor Felipe in semifinale, per poi superare 2-0 (22-20 21-19) gli olandesi Stiekema-Varenhorst nella finale 3°-4° posto.>>
EXTRATIME by SS/ La cover è per il podio di Xiamen, anche perché con la speciale didascalia incorporata e griffata by Fivb.
Poi per quanto riguarda la fotogallery partiamo da Marta Menegatta (number 1, vs yelllow) impegnata a rete, come lo è a seguire Viktoria Orsi Totk ( number 2, vs red).
Quindi tre immagini griffate www.fivb.org che si riferiscono alle protagoniste dello Xiamen Grand Slam come da relative didascalie incorporate. E cioè il tandem cinese Xue & Xia in canotta azzurra. Poi il tandem delle tedesche Walkenhorst & Ludwig medaglia di bronzo a Ziamen, quindi la immagine che onora Lima/Talita perché entrate nelle semifinali.
Con riferimento al podio degli uomini ecco il tandem azzurro Lupo & Nicolai bronzo in Cina, come da ‘canotte ‘istogrammate’. E la coppia winner Alison/ Vitor felici di mostrare l’assegno ch ei brasiliani hanno conquistato in Cina battendo Brouwer /Meeuwsen.
Ma per chiudere in bellezza eccovi il podio ‘femminile’ del Grand Slam di Xiamen ( che non ha bisogno di presentazione) e, dulcis in fundo, Marta Menegatti premiata a livello veneto come “Donna Eccellente 2013” recentemente a Padova, insieme ad altre specialissime Donne Eccellenti in altri ‘campi’.
Sergio Sottovia
www.polesinesport.it
