Porec, Croatia, June 29, 2017 - Sixteen women’s teams from eight countries remain in the competition at the $600,000 Porec Major after the completion of pool play and the first-round elimination bracket matches here Thursday at three different sites in the Croatian seaside resort.
Led by top-seeded and 2015 Porec Major champions Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca of Brazil, eight pairs avoided the first round of elimination by winning their final pool play matches Thursday to secure group titles and a guaranteed ninth-place finish in the FIVB World Tour event.
Joining Talita/Larissa (Pool A winner) in earning the top four placements in the 24-team elimination bracket were 18th-seeded Kristyna Kolocova/Michala Kvapilova of the Czech Republic (Pool B), 14th-seeded Kelly Claes/Sara Hughes of United States (Pool C) and 13th-seeded Brandie Wilkerson/Heather Bansley of Canada (Pool D).
Other pool winners competing with Talita/Larissa and Bansley/Wilkerson in the top-half of the elimination bracket are seventh-seeded Barbara Seixas/Fernanda Alves of Brazil (Pool G) and sixth-seeded Sarah Pavan/Melissa Humana-Paredes of Canada (Pool F). Group leaders in the bottom-half of the bracket are ninth-seeded Nina Betschart/Tanja Huberli of Switzerland (Pool H) and Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova of the Czech Republic (Pool E).
Brazil and Germany have three pairs each remaining in the competition with two tandems each from Canada, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and the United States. Filling out the country roster for Friday’s two rounds of elimination are Australia and Finland.
Following Friday’s two rounds of elimination, Saturday’s women’s schedule will feature the semifinal and medal matches as the winning team will split the $40,000 first-place prize in the Swatch Major Series event. Defending Porec Major champions Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude remain in the competition after winning an elimination match Thursday afternoon over a team from the Netherlands.
