Rio de Janeiro, August 10, 2016 - China's Fan Wang/Yuan Yue takes on Australia's Mariafe Artacho/Nicole Laird in pool C to wrap up the morning session on day five. The Australian's need a win and some help from the other matches to avoid missing the elimination stage. A win by the Chinese and a loss by the Swiss would move them automatically into the elimination stage. If the Swiss win, then the Chinese could create a three-way tie for the lead in the pool with a win.
Head to Head
Fan Wang/Yuan Yue has won both previous meetings on the FIVB World Tour in 2014 and 2015.
• Wang/Yue won 21-18 and 21-12 in 35 minutes, Xiamen Open, Pool Play, 09/24/2015
• Wang/Yue won 21-13 and 21-10 in 31 minutes, Shanghai Grand Slam, Round of 16, 05/03/2014
Historically the #15 seed has won two of the three matches against the #22 seed in the Olympic Games
• Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger (15), Austria def. Natalie Cook/Tamsin Hinchley (22), Australia, 18-21, 22-20, 15-10 in 53 minutes, Pool Play, London (2012).
• Andrezza "Rtvelo" Martins/Cristine "Saka" Santanna (22), Georgia def. Alexandra Moiseeva/Natalya Uryadova (15), Russia, 10-21, 22-20, 15-12 in 61 minutes, Pool Play, Beijing (2008).
• Vasiliki Arvaniti/Efthalia Koutroumanidou (15), Greece def. Nila Ann Hakedal/Ingrid Torlen (22), Norway, 21-11, 21-23, 15-12 in 60 minutes, Pool Play, Athens (2004).
Fan Wang/Yuan Yue, China, Seed #15, Pool C, 1-1, 0.667 Set Ratio, 0.8454 Point Ratio, Qualified 17th with 4,150 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Fan: January 27, 1994 (22y6m10d), 188 cm (6'2"), 73 kg (162 lbs.), Hometown Hebei, 64th FIVB World Tour event, $176,362 career winnings (ranks 100th)
• Yuan: July 23, 1987 (29y0m14d), 184 cm (6'0"), 70 kg (155 lbs.), Hometown Weifang, Shandong, 82nd FIVB World Tour event (ranks 88th), $226,312 career winnings (ranks 76th)
• Fan Wang and Yuan Yue have been playing together since 2012. They are playing in their 42nd FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks 70th), $329,675 career winnings (ranks 50th).
• Fan has played in five FIVB World Tour final fours with two silver medals and three 4th place finishes.
• Yuan has played in five FIVB World Tour final fours with two silver medals and three 4th place finishes.
• Fan and Yuan have played in two Final Fours in 2015-2016 (4th Fuzhou Open 2015, 4th Moscow Grand Slam 2015).
• Fan and Yuan finished 5th in the FIVB World Championships in 2015 (The Hague).
• Yuan finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships with Ying Huang in 2011 (Rome).
• Fan and Yuan are currently ranked 29th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 2,460 points and 28th in winnings with $48,375.
• Fan and Yuan have a career 104-86 (54.7%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 59-54 (52.2%) record in 2015-16.
• Yuan won the bronze medal at the Asian (AVC) Continental Championships in 2012 (China) and the gold medal in 2013 (China), both with with Yuanyuan Ma.
• Defeated Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre, Switzerland (10), 24-22, 18-21, and 15-12 in 66 minutes
• Lost to April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States (3), 16-21 and 9-21 in 33 minutes.
Mariafe Artacho/Nicole Laird, Australia, Seed #22, Pool C, 0-2, 0.250 Set Ratio, 0.8058 Point Ratio, Qualified through Asian Confederation (AVC) Continental Cup
• Mariafe: October 24, 1993 (22y9m13d), 175 cm (5'9"), 67 kg (149 lbs.), Hometown Peru, 21st FIVB World Tour event, $28,975 career winnings
• Nicole: February 18, 1993 (23y5m19d), 190 cm (6'3"), 69 kg (153 lbs.), Hometown Sydney, 14th FIVB World Tour event, $22,400 career winnings
• Mariafe and Nicole have been playing together since 2012. They are playing in their 14th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together, $44,800 career winnings.
• Neither player has played in an FIVB World Tour final four. Each of their best finishes are a 9th-place together in the 2014 Shanghai Open.
• Mariafe and Nicole finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships in 2015 (The Hague).
• Mariafe finished 37th in the FIVB World Championships with Jessyka Ngauamo in 2013 (Stare Jablonki).
• Mariafe and Nicole are currently ranked 55th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 720 points and 40th in winnings with $19,000.
• Mariafe and Nicole have a career 18-26 (40.9%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 12-22 (35.3%) record in 2015-16.
• Mariafe and Nicole won the gold medal at the U23 World Championships in 2014 (Myslowice, Poland).
• Mariafe won the bronze medal at the U21 World Championships with Taliqua Clancy in 2012 (Halifax, Canada).
• Mariafe and Nicole won the bronze medal at the AVC Continental Championships in 2015 (Hong Kong) and the silver medal in 2016 (Australia).
• Mariafe and Nicole have won five gold, three silver, and three bronze medals on the AVC Continental Tour from 2013-16.
• Mariafe and Jessyka Ngauamo won the U21 AVC Continental Championships in 2013 (India).
• Mariafe and Nicole won the Asian Continental Cup where the pair teamed with Phoebe Bell/Becchara Palmer to post wins over Chinese Taipei (2-0), Japan (2-1) and Vanuatu (2-0).
• Lost to April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States (3), 14-21 and 13-21 in 34 minutes.
• Lost to Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre, Switzerland (10), 21-19, 16-21, and 19-21 in 62 minutes.