Chinese beach volleyball women duo Zhang Xi/Xue Chen remained unbeaten on Thursday, as their compatriots Tian Jia/Wang Jie did on the previous day of the Beijing Olympic Games.
In their third preliminary in women's group D, Zhang/Xue won over South African pair Judith Deister Augoustides/Vitalila Nel comfortably, downing the visitors in two sets (21-13, 21-9).
The South African duo, defeated for the third time in preliminary round, was out.
They entered the Beijing Olympics due to a so-called "continent quota," which allows a continent to send a team per gender to compete at the Olympics also if the team is not qualified for their results at FIVB World Tour tournaments.
On the coming encounter in the top 16 elimination matches, the Chinese duo said they would play without any psychological burden.
"We'll go all out. We just focus on the course of the match, the result is secondary," said the 19-year-old Xue, also the youngest in the Beijing Olympics beach volleyball tournament.
She said they were in a better shape after three preliminary wins.
The Chinese pair has netted four FIVB World Tour gold medals and was also 2006 Asian Games champions.
The duo, ranked fourth on the World Tour currently, is also considered serious contenders for medals along with Tian Jia/Wang Jie, who have also finished first in group.
Eliminations will be held on Friday. The draw will be held to decide on the composition of the top 16 meetings later Thursday after all the 16 teams are produced.
(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2008)