Top seeds April Ross/Jennifer Boss from the United States beat China's Huang Ying/Zhang Xi 21-17 and 23-21, winning back-to back FIVB beach volleyball tournament at China Sanya Open here on Sunday.
With their third FIVB World Tour title following the success in the Thailand Phuket Open last week, Ross and Boss settled for the second overall on the points list behind Brazilians Shelda Bede and Ana Paula Connelly.
This is the highest finish by an American team since 2003 when Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh placed second behind Sandra Pires and Ana Paula.
"Oh, It's a surprise. We didn't expect to finish second because we did not look at it," said 31-year-old Boss. "We are very happy to hear that and hopefully we will play better next season."
The gold medal marked the 78th title claimed by a U.S. team, who improved to an 8-1 win-loss record in FIVB World Tour final encounters against China.
Competing in their first-ever FIVB World Tour event together, Huang and Zhang were pleased to finish with a silver and share the19,500 U.S. dollars as second-place prize.
With six-straight elimination wins this week, Huang and Zhang are the third women's team since 2002 to advance to a FIVB World Tour finale after losing a first-round match.
The 16-year-old Huang is the youngest player ever to compete in a FIVB World Tour final.
"Huang played wonderful the whole week," said Zhang Xi, who won the bronze medal with Xue Chen at the Beijing Olympics in August.
"You can't imagine that she is only sixteen and playing in her first FIVB World Tour event. It's just incredible."
Earlier on Saturday, Nicole Branagh/Tyra Turner of the United States rallied past Wang Jie/Zuo Man of China 19-21, 21-16 and 15-9 in 49 minutes for the bronze medal.
In men's event, top seeds Benjamin Insfran/Harley Marques beat fifth seeds Roberta Pitta/Pedro Cunha 21-17 and 21-19 in an all-Brazilian final on Saturday to win gold medal.
Source: Xinhua
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