2011 Beijing Grand Slam starts today – Country Quota Playoffs
The 2011 Beijing Grand Slam Beach Volleyball Tournament started off today (Monday, June 6) with 140 duos from 37 countries of the world.
This is double-gender event, which will feature both men’s and women’s competitions. This is the third double-gender event featured on the 2011 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Calendar. The 2011 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Calendar is supposed to feature a total of 12
events of this kind. The Beijing Grand Slam will complete its length on June 11.
Shared money of 600,000 will be split among winners of both categories. This is the second time that Chinese Capital Beijing is hosting this event since 2008.
In the men’s division, top-seeded America pairing of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers are defending the title this year. On the other side, women’s side is also dominated by American women. The tandem of Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor are regarded as the
defending champions of the Beijing Grand Slam. The American hotshots Dalhausser and Rogers put up a great show of beach volleyball in 2008 Beijing Grand Slam. Once again, the duo has high hopes to clinch success and obtain their third gold-medal of the season.
Playing in Czech Republic two weeks ago, the duo finished in the second spot.
The Beijing Grand Slam was opened with the men’s Country Quota match on Monday, June 6. The American tandems staged a 36 minute play. One side of the court was captured by Casey Patterson/Bradley Keenan, while they were challenged by senior pairing of Casey
Jennings and Kevin Wong. The former proved to be better in every aspect of the game and dug up success in just two sets. They posted 21-19 and 23-21 and settled for the next stage of the tournament, which is Qualification Tournament.
The two tandems descended the court with big plans. The duo of Jennings and Wong was regarded as more experienced side. However, Patterson and Keenan were known for their smart moves and superb digging/diving. The first whistle of referee set things off.
Keenan was on serve and he supplied plenty of power to the ball. In the meantime, his teammate perfectly complimented him and worked out nice cut shots. They managed to put pressure on the rival side with heavy strike of volleys. As the game progress, they
got even better. Patterson varied the length of serves and created trouble for receivers.
His short serves did magic as Wong/Jennings had no chance to dig them. As a result, Jennings and Wong trailed behind in first set. They struggled to overcome the power of opponents but most of their efforts went futile. Patterson and Keenan outshone Jennings/Wong
in opening set of the match by posting 21-19.
Second set was a complete heated-competition from start until end. Long rallies were exchanged. Kevin Wong came strong on opponents in second set and tried to tie the score. Nonetheless, the charged-up duo of Patterson and Keenan demonstrated a better play.
They played fast and achieved the second point at 25-23. Wong/Jennings dropped the country quota playoffs and could not advance to the next stage.
Keenan was overjoyed with success at the CQs.
He stated, “It’s a tough match and it’s great to win, last time we played against them we lost. All the good teams are here and tomorrow is going to be a tough day, hopefully we can get into the Main Draw.”
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