2012 London Olympics – Beach Volleyball: Cheerful Chinese Xue Chen and Zhang Xi get Russian revenge, head to semi-finals against the Americans

LONDON (Reuters) – Chinese women’s beach volleyball pair Xue Chen and Zhang Xi powered into the Olympic quarter finals on Saturday with an easy win over a Russian pair that soothed the pain of their shock defeat to another Russian team in their first pool match.

Surprise bronze medalists in Beijing in 2008, the Chinese women came to London with high expectations but under-performed on the first day. They have recovered their poise, as Evgenia Ukolova and Ekaterina Khomyakova learnt to their cost.

“We found our own style and our own tactics. We didn’t change the way we play for the Russians, we just played our own way,” said Xue after the pair won by two sets to nil, with the emphatic score of 21-12 21-11.

via Beach volleyball: Cheerful Chinese get Russian revenge – chicagotribune.com.