China's beach volleyball duo Tian Jia/Wang Jie finished first in women's Group A on Wednesday by scoring their third preliminary win at the Beijing Olympic Games.
They won 2-1 over Norwegian pair Kathrine Maaseide/Susanne Glesnes, booking a berth in top 16 as they have won two matches.
By clinching the first place, the Chinese duo will be meeting a pair which is among the last placed in top 16.
The win was not a comfortable for the Chinese, who had to come from behind after the loss of the first set (17-21). They outscored the rivals in the next two sets (21-14, 15-8).
"We didn't play well. We tried to take as many points as possible when we were in a difficult position. We kept our will strong and kept fighting," said the 1.89-meter Wang after the match.
"In next matches we'll go all out. Every team is tough," she said.
Tian commented on their performance in the match: "We had a lot of mistakes in our service and their service is always floating and we are not prepared for it."
"In the next matches, we'll act more quickly to adapt us with different situations. We need to change our strategies from time to time in face of different rivals," she said.
In women's Group C, Sydney Olympics title holder Natalie Cook and her new partner Tamsin Barnett also finished first in their group after winning their third preliminary against Ana Paula/Larissa of Brazil.
"The performance of my partner (Natalie Cook) was amazing and my blocks worked well," said Barnett after the match.
"We're happy to finish first in the group. They (Ana Paula/Larissa) are strongest players in the world. Our coordination worked well in the match," Cook commented.
"We know the next matches will be tough for us," she added.
The Brazilians are a new pair as Ana Paula replaced injured Juliana Felisberta just days before the Olympics opened. The Juliana/Larissa combination finished third at the Olympic qualification ranking and had been considered a contender for the gold medal.
"It was a warm-up match for us. We know the match would be hard. We've done better. Our combination is improving," Larissa said at a press conference after the match.
"We were not lucky in the match but we'll learn from mistakes," she said.
Swiss pair Simone Kuhn/Lea Schwer in Group A is out after losing their third preliminary on Wednesday, as did the Russian pair Natalia Uryadova/Alexandra Shiryaeva in Group C.
Georgian pair Saka/Rtvelo, which scored their first preliminary on Wednesday, still has hope to advance. They beat Uryadova/Shiryaeva.
In the men's tournament, Emanuel Fernandes/Morais Santos Abreu of Angola was also eliminated after their third defeat. They were edged out by Renato Gomes/Jorge Terceiro of Georgia on Wednesday.
(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2008)