Three US teams make it into Kuala Lumpur semifinals – Walsh Jennings playing for gold
Czech beach girls Marketa Slukova and Barbora Hermannova will play Brooke Sweat and Kerri Walsh Jennings in the final of the FIVB 3-star event at Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). Slukova/ Hermannova won their semifinal in a two-set match against Soria/Carro from Spain (21:18, 21:15). A referee decision in the first set brought the Czech team slightly out of balance but didn’t help the Spanish to win the set. In the final they will face US team Brooke Sweat and three time Olympic champion Kerri Walsh Jennings who posted an easy two-set win against Karla Borger and Julia Sude from Germany (21:11, 21:18). In the quarterfinals Sweat/Walsh Jennings had beaten Slovakia’s Andrea Strbova and Natalia Dubovcova who had upset current world champion Laura Ludwig and her new partner Margareta Kozuch in the round of 16.
In the men’s competition two US teams made it into the final four. John Hyden and Ryan “Avatar” Doherty beat Germany’s Ehlers/Flüggen in a tie-breaker quarterfinal. Former top indoor player Reid Priddy and Theo Brunner won their quarterfinal against Zemljak/Pokersnik from Slovenia after defeating Brazil’s Andre/ George in a close match in the round of 16 (21:18, 16:21, 16:14). In the first semfinal tomorrow it will be a direct battle between the two US teams.
All remaining matches will be played tomorrow and be streamed at the FIVB Youtube channel.
