Dalhausser and Rogers of USA snatch gold at SWATCH FIVB Otera Open
The five days of extreme beach volleyball sensation at Kristiansand, Norway finished on Sunday with the conclusion of final results. The SWATCH FIVB Otera Open Men’s Tournament kicked the scene with Country Quota playoffs and some amazing performances were seen since Tuesday.
The women’s tournament reached its final stage on Saturday with Brazilian Juliana/Larissa saving the title while in the men’s category, the season’s fit Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers of USA sparked their magic and took away the gold home. The pair earned their eighth international gold medal in the current season. Still fresh in memory, they had captured the SWATCH FIVB Grand Slam Title at Mazury Orlen, Poland just two weeks back. Besides this, they also hold the honor of being 2010 Olympic Champions. In the final match, the American duo stroke with Brazilian 5th-seeded Harley Marques and Pedro Salgado and pushed them behind the line with an exhibition of marvelous play. Dalhausser/Rogers swept the Brazilians in two straight sets and won after posting 21-18 and 21-12. It took them 47 minutes to dismiss Marques and Salgado.
With the achievement of 8th title in 2010, Dalhausser/Rogers have re-written the history of beach volleyball. They have broken the previous records of scoring maximum titles in a single season. Three of Brazilian pairs were among the toppers-tray for catching seven titles in one season but Dalhausser/Rogers took a lead in race of titles. The victorious pair was awarded US $30,000 for the first-place while runner-ups were handed US $21,000.
There are only two men’s events left on the SWATCH FIVB Word Tour Calendar in the current season. The SWATCH FIVB will make its next stops at Finland and Netherlands so it could prove to be the best chance for Dalhausser and Rogers to increase their number of titles. They already have been successful in capturing second spot at the SWATCH FIVB World Tour men’s ranking. The top-spot is firmly held by Brazilian Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos who established a record of collecting 33 titles from 2002 to 2009. The women are even one step ahead as Juliana and Larissa have 36 team titles in SWATCH FIVB history.
Dalhausser/Rogers have the potential to challenge the Brazilian rule in beach volleyball. Brazilians have proven their authority in this game many times and most of the previous games have featured all-Brazilian gold medal matches whereas two Brazilian pairs have come together in the final combat of SWATCH FIVB events for 60 times. However, Dalhausser/Rogers have got a lot of homework to do in order to retain their position.
For the third place in SWATCH FIVB Otera Open, Brazilian Alison and Emanuel competed with Marcio Araujo and Ricardo. The match lasted for 52 minutes but finally Alison/Emanuel pair was able to post 15-21, 21-14 and 15-12.
The SWATCH FIVB World Tour is slowly and steadily moving towards its end. Currently, it has made a stop at Finnish island Aland for a week. The tournament is scheduled to run from 17th August to 22nd August after which the final European event in the Netherlands will end the activity in men’s section for this season.
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