Sanya, China, October 27, 2009 - The US$380,000 Sanya Open presented by Olympic Bay in the Chinese province of Hainan began here Tuesday for the women as a pair of German pairs met in a Country Quota playoff match to set the field for Qualification Tournament in the next to last event on the 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar.

With three German pairs already in the women's Main Draw, the team of Rieke Brink-Abeler and Claudia Lehmann posted a 21-19, 17-21 and 15-10 win in 53 minutes over compatriots Frederike Fischer and Julia Grossner to advance to Wednesday's Qualification Tournament on the courts in front of the Hai Po Resort on Sanya Bay. Renowned for its tropical climate and a popular tourist destination, Sanya is also the site for training of the Chinese national Beach Volleyball team.

Brink-Abeler and Lehmann are competing in their first-ever SWATCH FIVB World Tour together as both players were teamed with different partners for most of the 2009 international Beach Volleyball season. Brink-Abeler advanced from only once in seven German Country Quota playoff matches this season with Karla Borger while Lehmann was successful once in three attempts with Juliana Sude.

German teams already in the Main Draw are Olympians Sara Goller/Laura Ludwig along with Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler and Geeske Banck/Anja Gunther. Goller and Ludwig enter the competition as the top team from the European tour with four podium placements and two gold medals. Holtwick and Semmler were second with three medals and one title.

With the Sanya Open being the last men's event this season, the women will conclude their competition calendar next week at the Thailand resort city of Phuket (November 3-8 on Karon Beach). The second annual Sanya Open is the 12th and final double gender event on the $7.2-million SWATCH FIVB World Tour that started nearly six months ago in Brazil.

The men's Qualification Tournament was staged Tuesday to determine the final eight spots for Wednesday's opening Main Draw matches where competition will feature a 32-team double-elimination schedule. The women's qualifier will be Wednesday to set the field for Thursday's opening Main Draw matches. The men's semi-finals will be played Friday followed by the medal matches Saturday. The women's "final four" matches will be played Sunday as the winning teams on the weekend will split the $30,000 first-place prizes.

Host China will have five teams in the competition with the pairs of Ying Huang/Xi Zhang, Linjun Ji/Chen Xue and Jieqiong Jin/Yuan Yue already placed in the "money" rounds. The 17-year old Huang teamed with Zhang to place second in the inaugural Sanya Open last November where the Chinese pair lost to the American 2009 world champions Jen Kessy and April Ross in the finals. Competing for China in the women's qualifier are Li Jiang/Ting Yong and Qing Guo/Rongrong Shen.