Swiss success at Hyundai Open in Barcelona

(Beijing May 29) -- Swiss beach volleyball duo Simone Kuhn and Lea Schwer beat eighth-seeded Americans Tyra Turner and Rachel Wacholder 23-21, 21-17 on Wednesday at the Hyundai Open Barcelona SWATCH FIVB World Tour, guaranteeing at least a ninth place finish.

"We need to finish ninth or higher this week to help improve our chances for the Olympics," said the 27-year old Kuhn, who participated in the Athens 2004 Summer Games with Nicole Schnyder-Benoit.

"We have not played well in our last four SWATCH events," she said, referring to the team's two 17th- and two 25th-place finishes, "so we wanted to prove to ourselves that we are a better team than our previous results."

Thursday's first opponent for Kuhn and Schwer will be top-seeded Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca of Brazil. The Swiss are winless in seven FIVB matches against Juliana and Larissa.