Press release

London, Great Britain, August 4, 2012 – With round of 16 elimination matches completed, the women’s quarterfinal matchups for Sunday have been determined as two teams from the United States and one team each from Austria, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Germany and Italy have advanced on the road to the gold medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games beach volleyball competition at Horse Guards Parade in central London.

A total 24 women’s beach volleyball teams from 17 countries started playing in London onJuly 28 in the purpose-built, sold-out 15,000-seat stadium on the grounds of the iconic Horse Guards Parade as the majestic venue also includes a portion of adjacent St. James Park in historic central London.

Advancing from three matches in pool play and one elimination round, teams earning a place in the quarterfinals are Austria’s Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger, Brazil’s Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, China’s Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, Czech Republic’s Kristyna Kolocova/Marketa Slukova, Germany’s Sara Goller/Laura Ludwig and USA’s Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh and USA’s Jennifer Kessy/April Ross.

The women’s quarterfinal matches will be held on Sunday, in two sessions with two quarters each session, the first starting at 6 p.m. and the second session for the final two quarterfinals starting at 10 p.m. The quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals that will be held along with the men’s semifinals next Tuesday.

Meeting in the quarterfinals on Sunday night, starting the action at 6 p.m., China’s Xue/Zhang , 2008 Olympic bronze medalists, will play against Austrian sisters Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger, who finished fifth in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In the head-to-head meetings between the two teams on the FIVB SWATCH World Tour, China’s Xue/Zhang lead the series over Austria’s Schwaiger sisters, 4-2. China’s Xue/Zhang won their last meeting on May 4 of this year in the Shanghai Grand Slam, 21-16, 21-18 in 39 minutes.

To end the first session, at 7 p.m. Italy’s Cicolari/ Menegatti will face off against USA’s Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh, two-time defending Olympic Gold Medalists who have now won 18 consecutive matches in the Olympic Games without a loss. The two teams have a 2-2 international series record with Italy’s Cicolari/Menegatti winning the last meeting in two sets at the Rome Grand Slam quarterfinals on June 16, 21-18, 21-15 in 41 minutes.

Starting the late session Sunday at 10 p.m., Czech Republic’s Kolocova/Slukova will challenge USA’s Kessy/Ross, the 2009 FIVB SWATCH World Champions. Czech Republic’s Kolocova/Slukova and USA’s Kessy/Ross have met several times in the last two years, but not once in 2012.  USA’s Kessy/Ross lead the international series with Czech Republic’s Kolocova/Slukova 5-1 with their last meeting a Kessy/Ross win in three sets, 11-21, 21-11 and 15-9 in 52 minutes in Phuket, Thailand on Nov. 4, 2011.

In the final women’s quarterfinal match on Sunday at 11 p.m., Brazil’s Juliana/Larissa, reigning FIVB SWATCH World Champions and six-time FIVB SWATCH World Tour champs will meet Germany’s Goller/Ludwig.

Juliana/Larissa lead the all-time international series with Germany’s Goller/Ludwig, 9-3, but Goller/Ludwig have won two of their last three meetings. The most recent Goller/Ludwig win was in three sets, 21-16, 18-21 and 51-11 in 52 minutes in the Rome Grand Slam on June 15.