Led by the Brazilian Salgado sisters, eight teams advanced through the women's Qualification Tournament to the Main Draw here Tuesday for the US$350,000 Hyundai Open Barcelona set on the steps of the picturesque Placa Carles Buigas.
After four-straight SWATCH FIVB World Tour stops within the Asian Volleyball Confederation in Australia, China, Korea and Japan, the women's international Beach Volleyball circuit is playing for the first time this season in Europe with the inaugural Hyundai Open Barcelona also featuring men's Country Quota matches for teams from Brazil, Italy, Norway and Spain on Tuesday afternoon.
After being eliminated last week in the Brazilian Country Quota playoffs in Japan, the Salgados regained their winning ways with a preliminary win Monday followed by two qualifying victories Tuesday over teams from New Zealand and Germany to improve their season record to 12-7, including a 7-1 mark in the qualifiers.
The top five-seeded Hyundai Open Barcelona teams advanced as expected, including second-seeded Kathrine Maaseide/Susanne Glesnes of Norway, third-seeded Andrezza Martins Cristine Santanna fourth-seeded Mika Teru Saiki/Chiaki Kusuhara of Japan and fifth-seeded Annie Martin/Dana Cooke of Canada.
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