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Germany's Mersmann/Schneider lead eight teams into women's Main Draw at beach volleyball Xiamen Open

Xinhua, September 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Top seeded qualifiers Teresa Mersmann and Isabel Schneider from Germany upset China's Wang Xinxin/Ding Jingjing 2-0 (21-16, 21-9) to advance into the women's Main Draw at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Xiamen Open on Wednesday.

Seven other teams including Julie Gordon/Brandie Wilkerson from Canada and Kimberly Dicello/Kendra Vanzwieten from the USA also progressed through the qualification to make it to the Main Draw play, which will get underway on Thursday.

Mersmann and Schneider had a bye in the first round of qualification before meeting Wang/Ding, who posted a quick victory over Sittig/Pierangeli of South Africa 2-0 (21-3, 21-4) in the morning.

The Germans proved a class above their Chinese team, displaying unstoppable set plays and careful control to close out the match in just 31 minutes.

"We had expected a very tough game before our opponents beat South Africa in a very good game. I think we served very well though it was windy and hot. We managed this very well. I'm so happy to be in the Main Draw now," said Schneider.

Mersmann and Schneider are playing as a team for the third season on the World Tour. Their best result on this season's FIVB World Tour was 9th in the Rio de Janeiro Open earlier this month.

"In the last tournament in Rio, we got the ninth place. I hope we will play our best beach volleyball here. Top 10 sounds good," said Schneider.

Jolien Sinnema/Rimke Braakman from the Netherlands brushed aside Thailand's Rumpaipruet Numwong/Khanittha Hongpak 2-0 (21-13, 21-15) in the second round qualification to earn a spot in the Main Draw. Both teams received bye in the first round.

The first set began quickly with both teams racking up the points. But Sinnema/Braakman then showed their strength to pull away before closing out on their third set point.

The Thais put up more of a challenge early in the second set. But Sinnema's 1.81m frame at the net then began to gain the advantage as the Dutch pair edged ahead. A block by Sinnema claimed the last point and concluded the match in 32 minutes.

"We had a big lead, but I know that when you are up in front, someway you can also lose. So we just kept working hard. That's why we won," said Braakman.

"We were a little bit nervous at the beginning. I think we did well. We are happy that we won," said Sinnema.

The double-gender $150,000 FIVB Xiamen Open is the final point's event on the 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball calendar. The event is being held at the Guanyinshan Gold Beach in the Siming District of the Fujian Province. The winning teams in each gender will share the $11,000 first-place prize. Endi