Chinese pair to compete in Saturday's SWATCH FIVB semi-final

(BEIJING, June 14) -- Seventh-seeded Jia Tian and Jie Wang of China will meet eighth-seeded Jen Boss and April Ross of the United States in the second semi-final of SWATCH FIVB smart Grand Slam to be played in Berlin on Saturday, as reported by the FIVB website.

This will be the third time that both tandems compete at the SWATCH FIVB World Tour court. The Americans won both of the previous two matches, which included a 2007 Norwegian Grand Slam final in Stavanger.

Tian and Wang eliminated third-seeded Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs of the United States 25-23 and 21-18 in 47 minutes after ousting 11th-seeded Vasso Karadassiou and Vassiliki Arvaniti of Greece 21-12, 17-21 and 15-11. Saturday will be their 22nd SWATCH FIVB World Tour semi-final in 33 events.

Boss and Ross eliminated 15th-seeded Helke Claasen and Antje Roder of Germany 21-11 and 21-17 in 35 minutes earlier Friday before claiming another victory 21-13 and 21-17 in 36 minutes over third-seeded Shelda Bede and Ana Paula Connelly of Brazil and advancing to the semi-final.