Sanya Open Tournament
 
After an eight-week break, the SWATCH FIVB World Tour has returned with another sensational event of Sanya Open Tournament in Chinese resort city Sanya. The beach volleyball campaign will run from 26-31 October, 2010. A total of 65 women’s duos will represent 26 nations in the tournament. Teams from Brazil, Germany, USA, the Netherlands and host China are amongst the top teams and seem determined to grab world’s attention. The victorious duo of the Sanya Open Tournament will take the prize money of US$190,000 home along with the title trophy.
 
This tournament is the 14th women’s stop at the SWATCH FIVB World Tour Calendar. The 2010 season is just about to enter its last leg in next week. The Phuket Open Tournament in Thailand next week, will put an end to the 2010 Season of SWATCH FIVB World Tour. The Sanya Open Tournament has the same pattern like previous championships. The tournament has kicked off with the 3 country quota playoffs on Tuesday, 26th October, 2010. In the next stages, the tournament will cover its length by staging ‘qualification tournament’, ‘main draw stage’ and the ‘final four’ matches. Four teams from USA competed on Tuesday for one spot in the "qualification tournament", which is happening today (Wednesday).
 
Country Quota fixtures for Tuesday were as followed:
 
Fendrick/Hanson vs. Hunkus/Heather
 
Gregory/Hochevar vs. Ashley Ivy/Lisa Rutledge
 
Fendrick/Hanson vs. Gregory/Hochevar
 
In the first country quota match, the pair of Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Hanson defeated Hunkus/Heather in two straight sets. Similarly the second CQ match featured Gregory/Brittany Hochevar and Ashley Ivy/Lisa Rutledge. The fight for supremacy continued for about 40 minutes and finally the duo of Gregory/Hochevar clinched success by posting 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) victory. They kicked out the other pair and qualified for the final-match of the day with Fendrick/Hanson.
 
First Set
 
The match started under normal conditions and both sides looked at each other in order to gauge the level of capability. Soon the teams settled in their positions and game picked up pace. Gregory was on serve, she floated the ball in air which moved with a rocket-speed. The other partner Hochevar complimented her in a great way and threw the ball over the net. They targeted the vulnerable spots in opponents’ court, while the ball landed in perfect areas.
 
On the other side of the net, the pair of Ashley and Lisa faced a little difficulty in ball-handling. They dropped a few straight shots and they also suffered a set-back on account of a ‘camp fire’ (ball landing between two players).
 
Gregory/Hochevar took full advantage of the situation and continued with hard-hitting. They built a lead after the first technical timeout and further stretched it putting more pressure on the rival side. Ashley/Liza had no chance to return in the game when game surpassed the second technical timeout. They couldn’t avoid the chances of loss and gave way to Gregory/Hochevar’s victory in first set.
 
Second Set
 
The success in first set provided a competitive edge to the pair of Gregory/Hochevar. They gained more confidence in their shots and stormed opponents’ court with ground-breaking spikes. The delivery of nice floaters and perfect serves enabled them to take control of the game. Ahsley/Lisa tried to stop them but they failed to break the rhythm and tone of Gregory/Hochevar. The game continued with fast pace and quickly covered the length of second set. Despite of utmost efforts, Ashley/Lisa couldn’t overcome the power of Gergory/Hochevar and received another set defeat with the same margin of 6 points. Gregory and Hochevar marched as winners and successfully reserved a berth in the final-match of the CQ stage.
 
 
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