Beach Volleyball
Fabulous Finns Lahti/Parkkinen reach Tokyo women’s semis
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Article Sat, Jul 28 2018
Tokyo, Japan, July 28, 2018. Finland’s Taru Lahti-Liukkonen and Anniina Parkkinen were first to reach the women’s semi-finals of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Tokyo 3-Star after their 2-0 (21-18, 21-11) triumph against Japan’s Yui Nagata and Minori Kumada on Saturday.
Lahti and Parkkinen have won all their matches in straight sets en route to their first World Tour final four appearance after eight previous events. “This is our first time in the semi-finals as a team, so it feels really nice to make it this far,” Parkkinen said.
“We are really happy that we won the match,” Lahti added. “We knew that if we play our own strong game, we would have a good chance to win. Today we made a good job on block and defence.”
Earlier, the Finnish pair defeated Thailand’s Rumpaipruet Numwong and Khanittha Hongpak 2-0 (21-15, 21-12) in the Round of 16.
Lahti and Parkkinen’s compatriots Riikka Lehtonen and Niina Ahtiainen, Japan’s Megumi Murakami and Miki Ishii, USA’s Lauren Fendrick and Sarah Sponcil, Germany’s Teresa Mersmann and Cinja Tillmann, Canada’s Megan and Nicole McNamara and Norway’s Ingrid Lunde and Oda Johanne Ulveseth also earned respective victories to battle for the remaining three semi-final spots.
The continuation of the quarterfinals will start at 8.30 local time on Sunday, July 29.
For further information visit www.fivb.com.
Lahti and Parkkinen have won all their matches in straight sets en route to their first World Tour final four appearance after eight previous events. “This is our first time in the semi-finals as a team, so it feels really nice to make it this far,” Parkkinen said.
“We are really happy that we won the match,” Lahti added. “We knew that if we play our own strong game, we would have a good chance to win. Today we made a good job on block and defence.”
Earlier, the Finnish pair defeated Thailand’s Rumpaipruet Numwong and Khanittha Hongpak 2-0 (21-15, 21-12) in the Round of 16.
Lahti and Parkkinen’s compatriots Riikka Lehtonen and Niina Ahtiainen, Japan’s Megumi Murakami and Miki Ishii, USA’s Lauren Fendrick and Sarah Sponcil, Germany’s Teresa Mersmann and Cinja Tillmann, Canada’s Megan and Nicole McNamara and Norway’s Ingrid Lunde and Oda Johanne Ulveseth also earned respective victories to battle for the remaining three semi-final spots.
The continuation of the quarterfinals will start at 8.30 local time on Sunday, July 29.
For further information visit www.fivb.com.