Perfect Chen and Xi take beach volleyball title
Top seeds and Asian Games champions Chen Xue and Xi Zhang of China reigned supreme in the season-ending US$190,000 Phuket Thailand Open Beach Volleyball event, overwhelming American second seeds Jennifer Kessy and April Ross 21-16 21-14 in the final to cl
On the Karon Beach centre court, former Phuket Thailand Open champions Xue and Zhang crushed Kessy and Ross in a 40-minute showdown to leave Phuket with a perfect 6-0 record and no sets lost. Kessy and Ross, the 2008 and 2009 winners, took home US$21,000 as runners-up.
Xue and Zhang, who won the inaugural Phuket Thailand Open in 2006, earned the ninth gold medal of their FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour career. The title was the Chinese pair’s second this year, with the other achieved in August in Finland. Xue and Zhang also improved their head-to-head record with Kessy and Ross to 7-2, avenging a defeat the last time the two teams met, in Beijing, in June.
With Zhang carrying a knee injury suffered during Saturday’s semi-final, Xue led from the front as they sprinted to an early lead in the first set with seven-point advantages at 12-5 and 14-7. The Americans finally closed the gap to 19-16 but a strengthening Zhang clinched the last two points to kill off the set.
The US pair rallied in the second set to hold the Chinese at 6-6. But then the irrepressible Xue served an ace and the Chinese pairing were off running, building leads of 17-11 and 18-12 before closing the match with strong kills and net play. “My team-mate carried me, and was always there when I couldn’t make it. It was a remarkable experience,” said Zhang.
In the bronze medal match, Italy’s fifth seed Greta Cicolari and Marta Menegatti overwhelmed Australia’s 19th seed Louise Bawden and Becchara Palmer 21-19 21-15 in 47 minutes. The Italians claimed a US$15,000 cash prize, while the Aussies took home US$11,200.
