After dropping their second match of the US$350,000 Hyundai Open Barcelona, Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs recovered from the setback to win five-straight elimination matches to reach the SWATCH FIVB World Tour semi-finals where the Americans upset Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca here Friday afternoon to reach their second international Beach Volleyball finale.
Seeded second in the 32-team Main Draw for the inaugural Hyundai Open Barcelona, Branagh and Youngs opened play Friday with elimination wins over teams from Germany and Brazil to advance to Saturday's gold medal match against fourth-seeded Talita Antunes and Renata Ribeiro of Brazil.
After Branagh and Youngs scored a 22-20, 14-21 and 15-13 win in 62 minutes over Juliana and Larissa, Talita and Renata reached their 11th SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold-medal match with a 19-21, 21-19 and 15-8 win in 56 minutes over seventh-seeded Vassiliki Arvaniti and Vasso Karadassiou of Greece. The Brazilians will be seeking their second title this season after winning at the start of May in Shanghai.
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