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Phuket, Thailand, November 1, 2007 - The last time that Ana Paula Connelly played with a member of the Bede family, she left with a SWATCH-FIVB World Tour gold medal and an Asian trophy in her luggage.



The Brazilian is hoping that her luggage for her return trip home next Monday to Rio de Janeiro will contain another FIVB medal and Asian trophy as she has teamed with another Bede this week’s US$200,000 Phuket Thailand Open powered by ptt on Karon Beach.



With her regular partner Leila Barros sidelined with injuries since early August, Ana Paula is playing with her fourth different partner this season as she posted a pair of Main Draw wins here Thursday with two-time Olympic silver medal winner Shelda Bede over teams from Germany and France to advance to a Friday meeting against reigning Olympic and SWATCH-FIVB World champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the United States.



The last time Ana Paula played with a Bede, she won the 2005 SWATCH stop in Japan with Shelda’s younger sister Shaylyn as the pair captured the Osaka gold medal by upsetting Brazilian rivals Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca 19-21, 21-17 and 15-10 in the finals. Shelda was also part of the Osaka podium as she captured the bronze medal with Adriana Behar after losing to Juliana and Larissa in the semi-finals.



“Playing with Shelda is like playing with Shaylyn,” said the 35-year old Ana Paula, who has captured eight SWATCH-FIVB World Tour gold medals with four different partners in eight international seasons while Shelda claimed 31 crowns in 13 seasons with Adriana. “I do a lot of jump serving, running to the net and falling back.”



A 13-season SWATCH veteran, the 34-year old Shelda played in her first 11 FIVB events this season with Adriana. With Shelda missing events in Finland and Russia due to injuries, Adriana teamed with Ana Paula to place fourth and fifth in Aland and St. Petersburg, respectively. Shelda and Adriana reunited for a fourth-place at September’s SWATCH stop in Brazil where Ana Paula and her Athens 2004 Olympic partner Sandra Pires finished seventh.



“With Leila, Adriana and Sandra, I did not have to play at the net all the time,” Ana Paula added. “It is more difficult now, but Shelda is the best player in the world at playing defense. We had fun today, but tomorrow will be tougher against Misty and Kerri.”



With only two women’s teams from Beach Volleyball power Brazil eligible for the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the tandems of Ana Paula/Leila (3,060) Adriana/Shelda (2,940) trail Juliana/Larissa (5,200) and Talita Antunes/Renata Ribeiro (3,940) on the Summer Games qualifying list.



When asked about attempting an Olympic qualifying effort for Beijing with Shelda after her team’s two matches Thursday, Ana Paula smiled and said, “We will see. Give us a chance to play this weekend and assess the result. To surpass Talita and Renata on the Olympic list would mean posting podium placements and hope that they can not achieve any more medal successes.”



For all non-European teams, a tandems’ best eight finishes count towards Olympic qualification with the Beijing process concluding July 20, 2008. For European teams, a finish in the continental championships from this season or next July can count as a qualifying event for Beijing.



Other teams posting 2-0 marks Thursday in the Phuket Thailand Open like May-Treanor/Walsh, Ana Paula/Shelda and Talita/Renata were Americans Tyra Turner/Rachel Wacholder and Jen Boss/April Ross, Germans Rieke Brink-Abeler/Hella Jurich and Geeske Banck/Anja Gunther, and China’s Jia Tian/Jie Wang.



With 16 other teams remaining in the field with one defeat each, defending Phuket Thailand Open champions Chen Xue and Xi Zhang of China, who defeated Tian and Wang for the gold medal last November, were eliminated Thursday after losing their first match and forfeiting their second contest due to injuries.



Friday’s 22-match schedule will feature the first two semi-final qualifying matches. After opening Saturday’s play with the final two rounds in the contender’s bracket of the double-elimination event, the Phuket Thailand Open semi-finals will be played Saturday afternoon. The final two teams compete Sunday afternoon for the gold medal and the $32,000 first-place prize.