Maceió, Brazil, February 27, 2016 - Pairs from Argentina and The Netherlands will compete against two teams from host Brazil after the women’s quarter-final matches were played here late Saturday morning and early afternoon in the US$150,000 Maceió Open on the Pajuçara center court in front of the Hotel Enseada.
Fifth-seeded Madelein Meppelink and Marleen Van Iersel of The Netherlands and 14th-seeded Ana Gallay/Georgina Klug of Argentina defeated pairs from Germany to advance to Saturday evening’s semi-finals against a future Brazilian Olympic tandem (Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas) and an up-and-coming team (Eduarda “Duda” Lisboa/Elize Maia) from the South American country.
After posting a 2-0 (21-15, 24-22) quarter-final win in 41 minutes over seventh-seeded Karla Borger and Britta Buthe of Germany, Gallay and Klug will now face 22nd-seeded Eduarda “Duda” Lisboa and Elize Maia of Brazil in the first of two semi-finals in the third FIVB World Tour stop on the 2015-2016 calendar.
Late Friday, the Germans ousted second-seeded Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca of Brazil from the competition in three sets. Talita and Larissa have secured a ticket to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games along with compatriots Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas.
The Argentines, who will be playing in their third FIVB World Tour semi-final in 34 stops, have split two matches with Duda and Elize Maia this past October in Mexico where Gallay and Klug won in pool play in Puerto Vallarta with the Brazilians eliminating their South American rivals in the quarter-finals. Duda and Elize earned a silver medal in Mexico where they lost the Puerto Vallarta final to Walkenhorst and Ludwig.
Duda and Elize Maia, who advanced to their third semi-final in five FIVB World Tour appearances, netted a “final four” berth mid-day Saturday by eliminating 10th-seeeded Marta Menegatti and Viktoria Orsi Toth of Italy 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) in 46 minutes. In addition to her early successes on the international circuit, the 17-year Duda has netted two FIVB under-19 world championships along with topping the podium at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games with Ana Patricia Silva.
The top-seeded Agatha and Barbara, who avoided being upset late Friday evening in a three-set win over a Russian pair, advanced to their 13th FIVB World Tour semi-final in 34 appearances internationally with a 2-0 (21-14, 21-17) in 41 minutes over 12th-seeded Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler. It was the Brazilians’ third-straight win over Holtwick and Semmler, who now trail 4-2 in the series with Agatha and Barbara on the FIVB World Tour.
In Saturday afternoon’s final quarter-final match, Meppelink and Van Iersel posted a 2-0 (28-26, 21-16) win in 51 minutes over third-seeded Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst. It was the sixth meeting between the two teams on the FIVB circuit with the Dutch women holding a 4-2 edge in the international series. The Dutch women will be playing in their ninth FIVB World tour “final four” and will be seeking their first-ever gold medal on the international circuit.
The Maceió Open concludes with the medal matches for both women and men on Sunday where the gold medal teams will share the $11,000 first-place prize. Following the Maceió Open, the FIVB World Tour will take a week off before resuming competition March 8-13 on famed Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, the first grand slam event on the 2015-2016 international Beach Volleyball calendar with an $800,000 purse.