Maceió, Brazil, February 25, 2016 - After advancing from Tuesday’s 30-team qualifier, the beach volleyball pairs of Maria Antonelli/Liliane Maestrini and Eduarda (Duda) Lisboa/Elize Maia of Brazil, and Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude of Germany won a pair of matches each here Thursday on the Pajuçara courts in front of the Hotel Enseada to win their pools in the $150,000 Maceió Open.
All eight group winners Thursday earned first-round byes for Friday’s two elimination rounds where the second- and third-place finishers in each pool will play in the first round. Friday’s winners advance to Saturday’s quarter- and semifinal matches where the victors vie for the gold, silver and bronze medals Sunday in the third FIVB World Tour event for women on the 2015-2016 calendar.
Quick links•
Maceio Open website•
Qualification results - Men•
Qualification results - Women•
Main draw results - Men•
Main draw results - WomenLaboureur and Sude were the second German pair to win a pool Thursday as third-seeded Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst finished atop Pool C with a 3-0 match after defeating teams from Argentina, Brazil and China. Fifth-seeded Madelein Meppelink and Marleen Van Iersel of the Netherlands topped Pool E with a 2-1 match mark by defeating 12th-seeded Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler of Germany 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) in 37 minutes.
Toughest routeThe 23rd-seeded Laboureur and Sude had the toughest route to their group title as all six matches in Pool G were three-setters. After losing Wednesday afternoon to seventh-seeded compatriots Karla Borger/Britta Buthe 2-1 (21-16, 17-21, 15-13) in 57 minutes, Laboureur and Sude were perfect Thursday with a pair of 52-minute wins over pairs from Italy and the United States.
Laboureur and Sude opened play Thursday with a 2-1 (21-12, 9-21, 15-13) victory over 10th-seeded Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth of Italy in the morning and then had an afternoon win over 26th-seeded Lane Carico/Summer Ross of the United States 2-1 (21-23, 21-14, 15-3). In tying Borger and Buthe with 2-1 match marks, Laboureur and Sude netted the group crown due to a better point ratio (0.973-0.968).
Brazilians show the wayDuda and Elize Maia, the 22nd-seeded team in the Main Draw, were the second of five Brazilian teams to win their group Thursday after posting a 2-0 (21-16, 21-14) Pool F win over 27th-seeded Chen Xu and Xinyi Xia of China in 30 minutes. The Chinese, who had to also qualify for the Main Draw Tuesday, were tied in the pool with Duda and Elize Maia as both teams had defeated more experienced pairs from Spain and the United States in their early group matches.
“We played very well in the pool and are excited that we defeated more experienced teams,” said the 17-year old Duda, who has won two FIVB youth World Championships along with a gold medal at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games. “I have to credit my partner as she really makes me feel comfortable on the court.”
The 31-year old Elize Maia is playing with Duda for the fifth time on the FIVB World Tour as the pair gathered a silver and bronze medal at 2015 international Open events in Mexico (Puerto Vallarta) and the Czech Republic (Prague). Duda and Eliza Maia have a 26-8 match mark together.
Antonelli, who celebrated her 32nd birthday Thursday, and Lili defeated teams from Germany and Poland to net the Pool H title in their first-ever FIVB World Tour event together. With a 2-0 (21-18, 21-17) win in 37 minutes over eighth-seeded Monika Brzostek/Kinga Kolosinska of Poland, the ninth-seeded Antonelli and Lili became the third Brazil pair to win a group crown Thursday.
Juliana Felisberta and Taiana Lima, who are playing together for the first-time on the FIVB World Tour, were the first Brazilian pool play winners Thursday. After victories over pairs from Austria and Russia, the fourth-seeded Juliana and Lima eliminated 13th-seeded Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas of Canada 2-1 (17-21, 21-14, 15-8) in a 54-minute Pool D match.
USA's Jennifer Kessy puts up her block against Brazil's Agatha Bednarczuk while playing under the lightsAgatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas and Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca, the top two-seeded pairs in the Maceió Open, earned the last two group titles for the host country by defeating teams from the United States and Switzerland, respectively. Both teams ended with 3-0 records and played their final matches under the lights before packed stands on the Pajuçara center court.
Larissa/Talita defeated Matauatu/Pata from Vanuatu in their first match on ThursdayThe Maceió Open gold medal teams will share the $11,000 first-place prize.