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Beach volleyball: Hosts set up final showdown

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-20 08:35

Wang Jie and Tian Jia celebrate after making it to the finals. Yang Shizhong

Wang Jie and Tian Jia made history yesterday as they became the first China pair to reach the women's beach volleyball final.

They overcame teammates Xue Chen and Zhang Xi in three sets, 22-24, 29-27 and 15-8, to set up a final tomorrow with hot favorites Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, the defending Olympic champions.

Wang, 24, said the result was a major landmark for China in the sport. "No matter who won the match today, it is a breakthrough for beach volleyball for China, and the honor always belongs to our country," she said.

Tian, 27, added: "Both the sides played to our best standards in the match.

"I hope both our teams perform well in the next matches."

Wang, however, said she has no illusions that tomorrow's match will be easy for the home side. "Our opponents are the strongest team, so they should feel more nervous than we do. We will start as the underdogs," she said.

Walsh and May-Treanor's 21-12 and 21-14 win over Brazil's Talita Antunes and Renata Ribeiro was their 107th consecutive victory. May-Treanor says the Athens win four years ago is also a major motivation and that the pair's game had also improved. "I always relive it over and over. Even though it was four years ago, it still feels like I'm there," she said.

Agencies

(China Daily 08/20/2008 page15)