XIAMEN, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Three-time Olympics winner Kerri Walsh Jennings, pairing with Nicole Branagh, was knocked out of quarterfinals by Australian duo Artacho Del Solar/Clancy here on Saturday in FIVB World Tour Xiamen Open.
The 40-year-old beach volleyball legend suffered injuries on the right shoulder and left ankle last season and Xiamen is her first tournament this year with the new partner, 39-year-old veteran Branagh.
The American ladies took the first set 21-19 and lost the second 18-21. They kept the lead at the beginning of the third set but were overturned 18-20, ending the tournament earlier than their expectations.
"That was a heartbreaker. The Australian team was very good. We had many opportunities to score points to win, but we did not, " said Jennings, "in the third set, we had some mistakes and a couple of services on our side are not smart and we did not capitalize on some place. We had twins to score and should have finished the game earlier, but we let them hang around."
Jennings, famed as the queen of beach volleyball, told Xinhua that she was one hundred percent healthy but very weak in her injured areas. "I feel good and need to get strong. My heart is strong, my mind is strong and my body will come."
Talking about her partnership, she did not explain the reason why she broke up with April Ross. "It was just time to move on. Me and April, we had very good run together and it was fun to play with her, but now it is time to part ways. We're for sure friends, even we are competitors and it is our job to make each other better."
"My current partner is awesome. Nicole is amazing and plays great. Our goal is to play on Sunday, so we felt short of our goal, but we'll improve together," said Jennings, "as for Tokyo Olympics, our goal is to qualify and to win."
Chinese top pair Wang Fan and Xia Xinyi also failed to advance, defeated by Brazilian duo Agatha/Duda, 18-21, 20-22, who claimed the title in 2017 FIVB Rio tournament and won the silver medal in 2017 World Tour Finals in Hamburg, Germany.
Wang, silver medal winner of 2017 Xiamen tournament pairing with Yue Yuan, told Xinhua that she and Xia had played against them once before and they lost the game badly last time they met.
"I did not press them enough on blocking and serving. They are really good team and gave us some lessons on court. We're trying to find some way to solve our own problems."
The titles for both men and women will be determined on Sunday at Xiamen Guan Yinshan Golden coast.
