Recap of men’s final showdown in Moscow – Volleyball news
The 2012 Moscow Grand Slam men’s beach volleyball tournament reached its end on Tuesday, June 12 and Brazil’s Alison Cerutti-Emanuel Rego seized the title trophy.
Brazilian hotshots were challenged by Reinder Nummerdor and Richard Schuil from Netherlands. Alison-Emanuel proved their supremacy on Russian sand and finished final showdown of the tournament in straight sets. The final set scores were 2-0 (21-16, 29-27).
Alison-Emanuel claimed second consecutive gold medal at the FIVB SWATCH World Tour Moscow Grand Slam. Victory Park in Moscow, Russia created an excellent environment for the most influential game of the tournament on Tuesday.
Brazilians tandem opened the match with variety of serves. They varied the length of serves, which helped them to score points in first half of the frame. The short length serves proved to be highly effective for Brazilians. Top-seeded Dutch pair tried to
grasp the game plan of opponents but could not quite get the idea. Alison and Emanuel showcased their amazing tactics and did not allow the rivals to come up. They successfully covered the length of first set with five-point lead at 21-16.
The European Champions Nummerdor and Schuil hit back aggressively in the following set. They threw everything in attack, in order to save the second set. Solid blocking of Schuil created trouble for Brazilian attack.
However, Emanuel-Alison continued putting more and more effort. They played sensibly and staged a consistent performance. In between, the score tied at 19-all, which sky-rocketed the suspense and anxiety. The Dutch fought bravely but could not avoid defeat
in the second set. They dropped second set with a narrow gap of two points at 27-29, which gave the winning status to Brazilian duo.
“We are very happy with our first gold medal this year. The main priority in this Olympic year is to be on every podium. We improve step-by-step, but this is a big step because Moscow is a grand slam title. But we cannot be happy about it too long because
tomorrow Rome starts and it is a whole different game again,” said Emanuel after the final match.
Nummerdor also had his say about the match. He made good remarks about Emanuel. He stated, “He waits until the last moment, so you never know what he is going to do. We would have loved to beat them, but anyway it was good to play them again after a long
time. In this Olympic year it is important to play your rivals so you know what to expect.”
The two teams had their previous match in 2011 when they met in Klagenfurt, Austria.
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