Brazilian duo wins gold in FIVB Swatch 1to1 energy Grand Slam Gstaad 2011 - Volleyball
The Brazilians Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego were able to get their hands on the gold medal on Sunday, July 10, after beating the US during the $600,000 FIVB Swatch 1to1 energy Grand Slam Gstaad 2011, that was held in Switzerland.
The Brazilian duo took out the American pair of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers who had done well in the competition so far. The championship match took a total of 42 minutes to reach its close in which the Brazilians made a clean sweep of the Americans.
The venue was packed with more than 6000 fans that cheered on as the Brazilians stormed towards a 2-0 win. The final set scores stood at the following figures by the time the match had reached its close: 22-20 and 21-19.
Rogers made the following statement at the end of the match: “It’s disappointing, especially because we were the defending champions in Gstaad. We had several opportunities but a silver medal on the world tour is still significant. Phil and I both would
do some things differently, but when a match is as close as this one was, little things can change the outcome and it did today. We’ll keep moving on and hope to learn more from our mistakes. For such a young player, Alison is really developing quickly.”
The first set of the match took on an intense tone as both teams were almost neck to neck all through. The American pair as well as the Brazilian duo were playing at their best and trying hard not to give the other side any room to score. The intense struggle
between the two teams saw the set reach a tie a total of 19 times. These ties were dotted with three lead changes in all with neither the Brazilians nor the Americans taking the lead for too long. No one was sure where the tables would turn until the very
end when the Brazilian duo was able to seal the deal by bagging the first set of the game at 22-20.
The second set of the match unfolded much the same way as the first and the crowd was entertained by the outstanding attack and defensive manoevours displayed by both sides. Neither the Brazilians nor the Americans were letting the other team keep the advantage.
This is shown by the fact that the second set was witness to a total of 13 ties. The Brazilians had the lead with themselves at 12-9 but the Americans were successful in halting their progress by propelling forwards and reaching a tie at 12-12. The match was
still tied at 19-19 when the Brazilians were finally able to bag the championship by winning the second set at 21-19.
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