Arvaniti / Tsiartsiani to represent Europe in Xiamen’s women’s semifinals

Xiamen, China, October 11, 2014.  Vasiliki Arvaniti / Maria Tsiartsiani from Greece were the only European team that made it successfully through Saturday’s eighthfinals and quarterfinals and qualified for Sunday’s semifinals at the women’s FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Xiamen Open.

Seeded at #20, the experienced Greek duo, which returned to the sand courts this year after some absence, managed to overcome two European pairs today on the way to the semifinals.  First they defeated sixth-seeded Isabelle Forrer / Anouk Verge-Depre from Switzerland by 2:1 (13-21, 23-21, 15-12) after 48 minutes of play and made it to the quarterfinals.

“They are a really good team, we really respect them a lot, but it was also a big fight and a very close game.  We are really trying to play better now and reach our level and it feels good to play these teams on the same level and beat them,” said Tsiartsiani.

Then they overcame the tough resistance from fifteenth-seeded Martina Bonnerova / Barbora Hermannova from the Czech Republic in another nail-biting three-setter that took 59 minutes before ending at 2:1 (21-23, 23-21, 20-18) in favor of Arvaniti / Tsiartsiani.  The battle on the sand was fierce and all three sets were extended into overtime, before the Greeks triumphed victorious.

“They have been playing really well the whole tournament, so we knew it would be a tough game.  It was a big fight, but it was really important that we kept on playing after losing our not so good first set.  It was a really fair game but I am really happy that it was us that won in the end,” said Tsiartsiani.

“We are feeling really amazing because it is our first year that we are playing together again after 2012 when Maria gave birth to her daughter and now we feel like we are reaching the level that we want.  We are very happy that we are playing very steady in this tournament, with patience and with good performance,” said Arvaniti.

On Sunday’s second semifinal, starting at 11:00 local time, Arvaniti / Tsiartsiani will face second-seeded Brazilians Juliana Felisberta Da Silva / Maria Antonelli.  Before that, the top-seeded Fan Wang / Yuan Yue from China will try to please the home crowd by making the final in a duel against seed #10 Tealle Hunkus / Kendra Vanzwieten from USA.  The bronze medal and the gold medal matches are scheduled for the afternoon, at 14:00 and 15:00, respectively.

Click here for more info on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Xiamen Open.