Walsh and May-Treanor reach last four with powerful display against Italian pair
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Kerri Walsh and Misty-May-Treanor continued their run at London2012 and will now play China's Chen Xue and Zhang Xi in the last four |
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London, Great Britain, August 5, 2012 – Defending Olympic champions Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor remain on course for an unprecedented third consecutive Olympic gold medal after they reached the semi-finals of the London 2012 Olympic Games with a 21-13, 21-13 victory over Italians Greta Cicolari and Marta Menegatti.
“I think every match we are getting stronger and stronger because on the court we are facing fearsome competition,” Walsh said. “So our next match is going to be even tougher than the one tonight.”
Walsh and May-Treanor were quickly into their stride at Horse Guard's Parade and didn’t allow their Italian pair to find their rhythm. Walsh dominated at the net and pounced on any loose balls that fell her way, while anything that reached the back of the court was swept up by May-Treanor.
The second set began in the same vein when Walsh took tapped down at the net to open the scoring. With the momentum firmly behind them the US pair gave the Italians few opportunities to mount any attacks and they snaffled up any chance half chance to score points.
Menegatti and Cicolari managed to save two match points, but with the third Walsh set up a spike for May-Treanor that she fired down the line for the win. The result goes a long way to making up for the loss to the Italians at the Rome Grand Slam earlier in the year.
“Prior to Rome was Moscow and we got our butts kick. We went to Rome and there we got our butts kicked by the Italians,” Walsh said. “Losing is one thing, but losing when you can’t walk away with your heads held high is another situation.”
Victory sets up a meeting with the Beijing 2008 bronze medallists, Chen Xue and Zhang Xi, who beat the Americans in emphatic style in the final of the Moscow Grand Slam in the most recent match between the two sides.
“I think we’re a different team,” May-Treanor said. “We’ve saw the old team, so it is hard to compare that, obviously it is in the back of our minds, but it is a completely team from what you saw in Moscow.”
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