Beijing, China, August 12, 2008 - With six more pool matches being played here Tuesday at the 12,200-seat Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground, three more of the top six-ranked women’s teams are positioned to protect their seed for the elimination phase of the competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Twelve (12) more group meetings will be staged Wednesday and Thursday to set the field for the 16-team single-elimination bracket starting Friday and Saturday at Chaoyang Park. The women’s quarter-finals will be held Sunday followed by the semi-finals August 19 and the medal matches August 21.

Reigning Olympic champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh opened Tuesday’s schedule with a 21-15 and 21-16 win in 37 minutes over 14th-seeded Dalixia Fernande3z Grasset and Tamara Larrea Peraza of Cuba.

May-Treanor and Walsh conclude pool play against 11th-seeded Nila Ann Hakedal and Ingrid Torlen of Norway. Like the Cubans, Hakedal and Torlen are now 1-1 in Pool B play after scoring a 21-8 and 21-18 win over 23rd-seeded Chiaki Kusuhara and Mika Teru Saiki of Japan Tuesday.

The teams of fourth-seeded Xue Chen/Zhang Xi of China and sixth-seeded Talita Antunes/Renata Ribeiro of Brazil also lead their pools after winning Tuesday as both tandems join May-Treanor and Walsh as the sole leaders in their groups.

Chinese women duo Zhang Xi/Xue Chen made top 16 on Tuesday after scoring their respective second preliminary victory..

sixth-seeded Talita Antunes/Renata Ribeiro of Brazil moved closer to protecting their Pool F position with a 21-18 and 21-19 win over the 18th-seeded Schwaiger sisters (Doris and Stephanie) of Austria in 40 minutes. The Brazilians will play seventh-seeded Vassiliki Arvaniti and Vasso (Karadassiou) Karantasiou in their final group match Thursday as the Greeks have been upset twice in the competition by the Schwaigers and 19th-seeded Bibiana Candelas/Mayra Garcia of Mexico.

Posting their second pool play wins Monday in as many matches at Chaoyang Park were top-seeded Jia Tian/Jie Wang of China, third-seeded Ana Paula Connelly/Larissa Franca of Brazil and fifth-seeded Nicole Branagh/Elaine Youngs of the United States. While Branagh and Youngs are the sole leaders in Pool E, the Chinese and Brazilians are tied with two other teams in Pool A and C, respectively.