Grid of semi-finalists listed at 2011 Morocco Open Beach Volleyball tournament
The grid of semi-finalist teams of the 2011 Morocco Open Beach Volleyball tournament was completed after the conclusion of the quarter-final matches on Friday, October 7, in Aqadir, Morocco.
A total of 84 men’s teams from 31 countries of the world entered the first ever SWATCH FIVB World Tour Event in Morocco. The tournament started off with Country Quota Playoffs on Tuesday, October 4, which was followed by the Qualification Tournament on second
day. Successful teams of the Qualification Tournament advanced to the more important stage of 32-team Main-Draw.
The single-elimination bracket sidelined the low performance teams at the Main Draw and promoted only best teams in the final round. Following four teams staged extreme action of beach volleyball on African sand and reserved the semi-final spots:
Julius Brink/ Jonas Reckermann – Germany Pablo Herrera Alepuz/ Adrian Gavira Collado – Spain Reinder Nummerdor/ Richard Schuil - the Netherlands Matthew Fuerbringer/ Nicholas Lucena – USA
Brink/ Reckermann
The top-seeded German duo of Brink and Reckermann is one of favourites of Morocco Open. German duo has worked out a great performance throughout the tournament. They are still unbeaten and seemed totally prepared for the top position at Morocco Open. At
the quarter-finals stage, they brushed aside the 5th-seeded duo of Petr Benes and Premysl Kubala of Czech Republic. They defeated the opponent with a score of 2-0 (21-10, 21-16) and kept their winning streak.
Herrera/ Gavira
The Spanish duo of Herrera and Gavira overcame the tough Brazilian rivals in three-set match on Friday. Brazil’s fourth-seeded tandem Marcio Araujo and Benjamin Insfran gave tough competition to Spaniards in the crucial qualifying match. However, the Spanish
side managed to snatch victory from Brazilians in 64 minutes. They secured two of three sets and pushed the Brazilians behind. Final scores of the Spain vs. Brazil match were 2-1 (27-25, 15-21, 15-10), while Spain was tagged as victorious side.
Nummerdor/ Schuil
The Dutch Nummerdor and Schuil overpowered their American counterparts Casey Jennings and Kevin Wong in three sets. 23rd-seeded American duo of Jennings and Wong struggled to cope with the power of Dutch players but failed to do so. U.S. team
could only take one set in the match and ended up receiving 1-2 (18-21, 21-17, 10-15) defeat. They could not qualify for the semi-finals, while Dutch team celebrated victory.
Fuerbringer/ Lucena
The 11th-seeded pairing of Fuerbringer and Lucena of USA recorded win over compatriots Gibb and Rosenthal in Friday’s match. The other American pair did not give an easy time to Fuerbringer and Lucena. They fought till the last minute but eventually
failed to avoid the backlash. Fuerbringer/Lucena sent 2-1 (21-16, 16-21, 15-13) on board to win the match.
Semi-final Schedule
The semi-finals are set to take place on Saturday, where German Reckermann/ Brink will contest their spike and block against Spanish Herrira and Gavira in the first set fixture. The second semi-final will feature American Fuerbringer/ Lucena and Dutch Nummerdor/
Schuil. The two top teams will meet in the final showdown of the tournament, while losers of semi-final stage will compete for bronze-ware. The influential medal matches will be played on Sunday, October 9.
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