Brazil break winning streak of US Dalhausser and Rogers
The 2011 Prague Open Beach Volleyball Tournament rounded off on Sunday, May 22.
The final showdown of the tournament brought Brazilian and American players in the court. Totally packed up Stvanice Stadium in Prague hosted the thrilling match. Brazil’s Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego worked out a great victory against top-seeded American
duo of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers. They posted 2-0 (21-19 and 21-14) on board and successfully put an end to the winning streak of the Americans. The victorious duo was awarded with the purse of $ 190,000 as prize money. The match lasted for just 39 minutes.
Dalhausser/Rogers were looking for their third consecutive gold-medal in the 2011 SWATCH FIVB World Tour. They were determined to display an incredible show of beach volleyball and to maintain their dominance in the game. However, the Brazilian team was
all up to give them a hard time and crush their dream.
The match was opened with an exchange of powerful serves from both sides. The early phase of the game was a close fight and there was extremely no telling about the outcome. Americans played in their usual style and involved the other side in offensive attack.
Nonetheless, some of the feeble serves of Dalhausser created an opportunity for Emanuel/Alison to take the advantage. Brazilian side benefitted from the mistakes of rivals and pushed them behind. Better attack and defence strategy enabled Emanuel/Alison to
pull off success in the opening set (21-19).
The success in first-set boosted the morale of Brazilian players. They produced confident shots and did not allow the opponents to come up. American duo resisted in full force but could achieve the desired results. Second set also slipped from their hands
(14-21). Emanuel and Alison hit the mark and settled for top position in the tournament.
Rogers shared his thoughts after the match. He said, “We knew that they were coming after us. They changed a few things, really surprising us. Next time it will be our turn to mix things up and surprise them. It is just like playing a chess game.”
Meanwhile, Dalhausser said that they faced defeat due to the bad passing. They need to practice hard for the next tournaments in Beijing and Rome.
On the other hand, Emanuel was simply overjoyed with great achievement. He said, “It was our best match so far in our second year together. But we need to learn more from them to keep the beach volleyball level as high as possible.”
The bronze medal match featured the teams beaten in the semi-finals. One side of the court was captured by Swiss duo of Sebastian Chevallier and Sascha Heyer, while the pairing of Brazilian Cunha and Pedro appeared on the other side. The two teams demonstrated
a stellar performance and staged a close fight. The match prolonged to three sets and the score tied after the two-set game. Swiss men worked out nice shots and involved great digs in the opening set. They secured the opening set with a margin of 3 points
(21-18).
The rival side hit back strongly in the following set and sought revenge from the Swiss team. Brazilian Pedro totally rocked the podium and chipped in consecutive points. They reversed the score in second set and hit the equalizer at 21-18.
Third decisive set was the real test of temperament for both sides. There was hardly any room for mistakes. Long rallies were exchanged and score soared up with a narrow gap of points. Eventually, Swiss side earned the advantage and proved to better. They
claimed the final set of the match by posting 17-15 on board and got hands on the bronze-ware.
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