Americans Pollock/Dowdy Advance to Nantong Round of 16

2017 FIVB World Tour – Nantong

·         June 23-25

·         Two-Star Event

·         Women’s Only Event

·         Event Page

·         Schedule

·         Teams

The Main Draw of the Nantong Two-Star women’s open was played Friday morning, with the Round of 24 kicking off the action.

Winners included Americans Irene Pollock/Amanda Dowdy, England’s Victoria Palmer/Jessica Grimson, Chile’s Maria Francisca Rivas Zapata/Maria del Pilar Mardones, and Lithuania’s Urte Andriukaityte/Irina Zobnina. Two Russian teams also advanced.  

Round 1 was not kind to the host side as only two of the seven Chinese teams moved on to the Round of 16: Chunxia Chen/Zhaochen Wei and Shuhui Wen/Xinyi Xia. Both took three sets to grab victory and stay alive in the competition after winning their opening stanzas. Russia’s Olga Motrich and Svetlana Kholomina also advanced in three sets.

Joining the action in the Round of 16 beginning at 9 p.m. ET Friday are Canadians Megan Nagy/Marie-Christine LaPointe, Lithuania’s Ieva Dumbauskaite/Monika Povilaityte, Thailand’s Varapatsorn Radarong/Tanarattha Udomchavee, Vanuatu’s Loti Joe/Linline Matauatu, Brazil’s Juliana/Carol Horta, Czech Republic’s Magdalena Dostalova/Karolina Rehackova and Japan’s Megumi Murakami/Miki Ishii.

Juliana/Carol Horta won their first FIVB gold of 2017 at the Monaco One-Star event last week.

Wen/Xia finished second to Americans Kelly Larsen and Betsi Flint at the Tangshan Open Two Star.