Germany’s Sandra Ittlinger & Kim Van de Velde, who started their Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Rio de Janeiro Elite16 journey from Wednesday’s qualifiers, made their way to Sunday’s semifinals, following two straight-set victories on Saturday. They will face USA’s Terese Cannon & Megan Kraft in one of the semifinals. The other will feature an all-Brazilian clash between Thamela Coradello & Victoria Lopes and Carol Solberg & Barbara Seixas.

• Watch the Rio de Janeiro Elite16 on VBTV.

In one of the day’s most anticipated matches, Carol & Barbara put an end to Agatha Bednarczuk & Rebecca Cavalcanti’s journey with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) eighthfinal sweep. Some eight years ago, here in Rio, Barbara & Agatha won Olympic silver together, but now only one of them will continue her quest for a medal. Carol led the way as the best scorer of the match with 20 points, including an amazing eight kill blocks and two aces. Barbara also fired two aces towards a 16-point tally, while Agatha decorated her last dance with 15 points, all in attack.

Carol & Barbara, seeded 11^th in the Rio main draw, went on to qualify for the semifinals after a nail-biting 2-1 (21-13, 14-21, 18-16) quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Valentina Gottardi & Reka Orsi Toth of Italy. Carol once again led the Brazilian team in scoring 21 points, while Orsi Toth was the best scorer of the match with 25, including three aces. With Saturday’s results, Carol & Barbara guaranteed their return to the number one spot in the FIVB World Ranking as it updates on Monday.

Before that, on Sunday, they will have to take on the top-seeded team in Rio, fellow Brazilians Thamela & Victoria, who advanced to the semifinals with a 2-1 (21-17, 20-22, 15-5) victory over sixth-seeded Dorina Klinger & Ronja Klinger of Austria. Victoria emerged as the best scorer of the match, putting away three aces towards a 23-point match high. Her teammate Thamela added 20 points, including five kill blocks. Ronja Klinger also finished with 20 points. It is Thamela & Victoria’s fourth Elite16 appearance as a duo and they have made it among the last four for the third time in a row.

Ittlinger & Van de Velde, playing as the 13^th seed in the 16-team main draw, were the only team to achieve a straight-set victory in the four quarterfinals. But before that, earlier on Saturday, the German duo mastered another sweep to knock out fellow qualifiers Thainara Feitosa & Elize Maia of Brazil with a 2-0 (21-13, 21-11) shutout. Van de Velde aced five times in that match to top the charts with 18 points. In the evening session, Ittlinger & Van de Velde mastered a 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) upset of seventh-seeded Brazilians Vitoria Rodrigues & Hegeile Almeida. This time Ittlinger came up with an 18-point match high. The two German athletes have been playing together since July. This is their third Elite16 appearance and the first where they reach the semifinals.

Saturday’s programme in Rio ended with a three-set battle, in which third-seeded Cannon & Kraft came back from a set down to celebrate a 2-1 (18-21, 21-15, 15-11) victory over eighth-seeded Brazilians Talita Antunes & Taiana Lima, and secured their spot against Ittlinger & Van de Velde in Sunday’s semis. Cannon delivered a match-high 26 points, including four aces and four blocks. The American pair have now made it to Elite16 semifinals three times in a row, after claiming silver in Gstaad and bronze in Vienna.

VW Beach Pro Tour Rio de Janeiro Elite16: results and schedule

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