Emanuel Rego Watches Former Partner Ricardo Santos Win the Bronze
All teams are presently enjoying a well-earned vacation—albeit a short one for some—for the week as the next AVP event will take place in Marseille, France next week. In the meantime, the winners have time to cater give their medals special attention, proudly making them shine while they speak enthusiastically with their avid interviewers. Those who did not make it to the podium—this would exclude Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser, Eric Koreng and David Klemperer, and Marcio Araujo and Ricardo Santos—are l*****g their wound in the meantime, and getting ready for the next tournament.
But for some, the wound runs deeper. That is the case for the Brazilian Emanuel Rego, who had to see from afar his partner, Santos, climb to podium to collect his bronze medal with his new found teammate Araujo. The young Brazilian Rego had been eliminated by Spain’s Gavira Collado/Herrera 21-16, 21-18 in 32 minutes. This had been a painful, yet quick demise for Rego, who had to watch for the rest of the tournament his partner from 2002 to 2006 share his victories with someone else.
A long-time veteran
Rego was first an indoor volleyball player, and had Curitibano as a partner. He only started to be involved in the beach volleyball later, in 1991, before participating in international events in 1994. In sum, the Brazilian has won over 100 professional beach volleyball tournaments, which includes 60 FIVB major events, 39 Brazilian, two “King of the Beach”, and seven other titles in America. Out of all those victories, Rego has won 44 of them with Santos. Rego is the leader when it comes to the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour earnings and gold medals.
But meeting Santos, Rego was more of a free player, and teamed up as frequently as he liked. He indeed won six times the Circuito Banco do Brasil--the season’s points title-- with three different players: Ze Marco in 1994 and 1995, Tande in 2001 and Santos in 2002, 2003, and 2006. He was considered--and voted--one of the best volleyball players during the 90’s, and this impression still remains.
The Brazilian has indeed an impressive profile. With Loiola, another of his several partners, he won six consecutive SWATCH-FIVB World Tour events in 1999, which includes one in Norway, Italy, France, Austria, Portugal and Belgium. In 2002 Rego partnered with Santos, a well established beach volleyball player, before winning another SWATCH-FIVB World Championships, only this time in his homeland at Rio de Janeiro in 2003. This was just the beginning of the Rego/Santos ascension. The two Brazilians won together the most FIVB events, resulting in 23 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour gold medals. They have also won since their partnership the SWATCH point's title for their next four seasons (2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006). Rego was entitled “King of the Beach” twice, in 2004 and 2005.
What sets the team apart internationally however is their participation at the 2004 Athens, Greece Olympic Games, where Santos and Rego proudly won the gold medal.
But Alison Cerutti, who played with Rego during the Gstaad AVP event in Switzerland, was just not the perfect fit to replace Santos at the Brazilian’s side. There was a change: a good one for Santos, but a disastrous one for Rego.
End of an era?
This might be the very end of the Rego/ Santos era as partners, and the beginning of new long-term partnership with Araujo. The two teams will be seen at the upcoming AVP event in France, performing to rise to the top of the podium next week, but it's unlikely both teams will be able to reach it. May the best Brazilian beach volleyball players win.
Tags: