Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 7, 2016 - In a match that was played in two different days, China’s Fan Wang and Yuan Yue posted a three-set win over Isabelle Forrer and Anouk Verge-Depre of Switzerland in a tightly-contested Pool C Rio 2016 Olympic Beach Volleyball match that lasted 67 minutes.
Wang and Yue scored a 2-1 (24-22, 18-21, 15-12) win over the Swiss pair in the fifth international meeting between the two teams with the Chinese now leading 3-2. Both teams qualified for the Rio Games via the FIVB World Tour with the Wang and Yue earning their berth in the last event during the 15-month process that started in April 2015.
In the third and deciding set, the Swiss tied the contest at 11s after trailing 9-11. Three-straight hitting errors by the Swiss gave Wang and Yue a comfortable 14-11 advantage before the match was delayed due to a challenge that created a replay. A successful attack by Verge-Depre gave the Swiss one last chance, but another error by the Europeans ended the match.
The two teams will have Sunday off before the Wang and Yue challenge Olympic medalists April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings of the United States Monday at midnight. The Chinese eliminated the Americans from the 2015 FIVB World Championships in The Netherlands. Forrer and Verge-Depre will play Mariafe Artacho and Nicole Laird of Australia earlier Monday.
