Moscow, Russia, May 27, 2015 - The women competing in the US$800,000 Moscow Grand Slam had a busier day here Wednesday as compared to their male counterparts with two rounds of pool play matches being contested on the sand at the Vodny Stadium Beach Sports Center.
However, the “disappointing” news was the right shoulder injury for three-time American Olympic champion Kerri Walsh Jennings as she and April Ross had to forfeit their second match Wednesday against a team from Brazil. Walsh’s status for Thursday’s final women’s Pool C match is unknown as she returned to the hotel near the venue for treatment and consultation.
The Salgado sisters (Carolina and Maria Clara) led Pool C with a 2-0 record and will win the group if Walsh Jennings and Ross forfeit the match. Walsh Jennings and Ross, the defending Moscow Grand Slam champions, defeated American rivals Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Sweat in their opening match Wednesday and led 5-2 in the first set of the next match against Brazilians Carol Hota and Liliane Maestrini. While stretching for a ball, Walsh Jennings injured her right shoulder and could not continue playing.
The 14th-seeded Salgados, who received a “wild card” for the Moscow Grand Slam, join fourth-seeded Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas (Pool D) as group leaders for the South American country. Other top-ranked pairs with unbeaten marks are sixth-seeded Kristyna Kolocova/Marketa Slukova of the Czech Republic (Pool F), seventh-seeded Madelein Meppelink/Marleen Van Iersel of The Netherlands (Pool G) and eighth-seeded Ekaterina Birlova/Evgeniya Ukolova of Russia (Pool H).
Joining the undefeated list are 10th-seeded Fan Wang/Yuan Yue of China (Pool G), 13th-seeded Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth of Italy, 15th-seeded Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude Germany (Pool B), 16th-seeded Natalia Dubovcova/Dominika Nestarcova of the Slovak Republic (Pool A) and 21st-seeded Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy of Australia (Pool E).
The lead for two groups are shared by two teams. Agatha/Seixes and Menegatti/Orsi Toth will compete Thursday for the Pool D title while Meppelink/Van Iersel meet Wang/Yue for the Pool G leadership.
The first “big” event on the 2015 FIVB World Tour, the US$800,000 Moscow Grand Slam continues through Sunday when the medal matches for both men and women will be played. The women’s semi-finals will be played Saturday as the Moscow Grand Slam is the fourth stop for women on the 2015 FIVB World Tour calendar.
After this week’s event, the FIVB World Tour’s first “Major Series” stops are set for Croatia (Poreč, June 1-7) and Norway (Stavanger, June 8-14) before international circuit crosses the Atlantic for the final world championship “tune up” in the United States for the St. Petersburg Grand Slam in Florida (June 15-21).