Shanghai, China, May 1, 2009 - After finishing 13th at last week's 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Tour season opener before family and friends in Brazil, Talita Antunes and Maria Antonelli rebounded at the US$380,000 China Shanghai Jinshan Open by advancing to the semi-finals with a victory here Friday over a German team.

Joining the Brazilians in the semis are Jie Wang and Man Zuo of China, Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig of Germany and Salgados (Carolina and Maria Clara) of Brazil.

Seeded seventh in the sixth annual China Shanghai Jinshan Open, Talita and Antonelli out-lasted sixth-seeded Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig of Germany by posting a 25-23, 30-32 and 15-8 win in 70 minutes.

Talita and Antonelli will now compete in Saturday semi-finals against Salgados (Carolina and Maria Clara) as eighth-seeded Jie Wang and Man Zuo of China challenge Goller and Ludwig.

The second-seeded Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig of Germany had to win three elimination matches Friday to reach the China Shanghai Jinshan Open "final four" where the sisters face Talita and Antonelli again after losing to their rivals Thursday afternoon.

Wang, who claimed the silver medal at the Beijing Summer Games with Jia Tian, and Zuo also advanced to the China Shanghai Jinshan Open semi-finals with four-straight wins as the pair will be playing in their second-straight SWATCH FIVB World Tour "final four" after placing fourth in the 2008 season finale in Sanya, China.

After three wins Thursday, Wang and Zuo scored a 21-18 and 21-11 win in 36 minutes over the fifth-seeded Schwaiger sisters (Doris and Stefanie) of Austria. It was Wang and Zuo's second SWATCH win over the Austrians as the Chinese pair had defeated the sisters last November in Thailand. Wang and Tian also eliminated the Schwaigers in Beijing to reach the semi-finals.

After losing to Talita and Antonelli, Goller and Ludwig rebounded in the next-to-last match of Friday with a 15-21, 21-19 and 15-11 win over Renata and Leao to deny Brazil a third team in the semi-finals Saturday. In the eighth SWATCH match between the Salgado and Schwaiger sisters, Carolina and Maria Clara won for the fifth-time over the Austrians 21-18 and 22-20 in 42 minutes.