Amsterdam, the Netherlands, July 1, 2015 – Juliana Felisberta and Larissa Franca, world champions in 2011, will meet in the second knockout round of the Netherland 2015, FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships after both players won their matches on Wednesday.
Juliana and Maria Antonelli fought back from losing the opening set to beat Switzerland’s Tanja Huberli and Tanja Goricanec 2-1 (18-21, 21-18, 15-9), while Larissa and Talita Antunes defeated Australia’s Mariafe Artacho and Nicole Laird 2-0 (21-18, 21-17).
“Before this match we were just thinking about winning and now I can think about who we are playing tomorrow because I feel ready,” Juliana said. “Every match from now on is like the Championship match.”
Just to add to the plot Maria Antonelli and Talita were partners between 2009 and 2012. Larissa and Talita stayed in Amsterdam after they finished top of their pool, but Juliana and Maria Antonelli had no guarantees and it was only the drawing of lots that put them on course for a mouth-watering encounter.
Their win marker a return to form after they had lost to German pair Julia Sude and Chantal Laboureur in the final and decisive pool match, while Larissa and Talita continue their unbeaten run at the Netherlands 2015.
“We know each other really well because we play and train with each other in Brazil,” Talita said. “We have to be focused in the match and do our best.”
Canadian pair Sarah Pavan and Heather Bansley knocked out 2013 silver medallists Karla Borger and Britta Buthe with a 2-1 (21-13, 19-21, 15-13) victory.
“Before the match started we expected exactly what happened,” Pavan said. “We expected us to be in form, we expected us to be very close and that it would just be a difference of a several points.
“It was a very tough match. They are a very strong team. We got them in our pool last week and they beat us. We wanted to be better today. We knew that they’d make some very good plays, so we wanted to take care of our side of the net. I think that we did,” said Pavan.
During this year’s FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour the Canadians have twice won a silver medal and were in good form coming into Netherlands 2015.
“That is our main goal (to win a medal),” Pavan added. “There are a lot of really good teams here, but if we keep on playing the way we did today, we have a really good chance.”
Bansley and Pavan will play Kazakhstan pair Tatyana Mashkova and Irina Tsimbalova, who knocked out Sude and Laboureur with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-14).