U.S. volley pair Dalhausser and Rogers set a new SWATCH FIVB record
The amazing American duo, Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers confirmed their authority in the game of beach volleyball by claiming consecutive 4th title-win at US$380,000 PAF Open, Finland.
The Olympic Champions, top-seeded Dalhausser and Rogers defeated Brazilian Marcio Araujo and Ricardo Santos in the final of SWATCH FIVB PAF Open Championship 2010. Dalhausser/Rogers paved their way to the gold medal match by defeating Spanish 5th-seeded Adrian Gavia and Pablo Herrera. The top-seeded pair claimed a straight two set victory by posting 21-15 and 21-16. The semi-final match lasted for 39 minutes and finally declared the American pair as winners.
On the other hand, Marcio Araujo and Ricardo Santos played their semi-final match against 4th-seeded Penggen Wu and Linyin Xu of China. The Brazilian pair attained victory over their competitors after a gruelling battle of 45 minutes. They posted 21-19 and 21-16 in two decisive sets and validated their appearance in the gold medal match with Dalhausser and Rogers.
The final showdown started off on Sunday’s afternoon and brought Americans and Brazilians together for a skill test. Dalhausser and Rogers kicked off the game with striking jump-serves and developed excellent timing between them for the tricky bump passes. Marcio/Ricardo stood determined before the top-seeded U.S. pair and retaliated in the same tone.
The fans saw an amazing display of beach volleyball and cheered both the teams at the top of their lungs. The U.S. Dalhausser/Rogers had the confidence of previous wins, which helped them raise their score. The first set ended in the favour of Dalhausser/Rogers, as they polled 24-22.
The third-seeded Marcio Araujo and Ricardo Santos were fired-up after receiving the first set defeat. They came up with a heavy strike in the second set and hit unstoppable spikes. The American pair could hardly resist their up-going score. The early lead was maintained by Brazilians and they extended their score with a gap of considerable points. Dalhausser and Rogers were shaken by the extra-ordinary game of Marcio/Ricardo and lost the second set after accepting 10-22 defeat.
Both the teams stood at 1-1 while the third set began. Dalhausser/Rogers had to win the third crucial set to extend their winning streak. They cooked up a winning strategy for the final set and took the game away from Marcio and Ricardo. As the game entered the 59th minute Dalhausser/Rogers finished the set at 15-13 with their winning shot and claimed gold medal victory.
The top-seeded Dalhausser and Rogers clinched another gold medal in the 2010 season and shared US$30,000 for the first-place prize. Besides they extended their winning streak to 23-straight matches.
Dalhausser and Rogers are the only pair in 2010 season which has the maximum appearances in “final four” matches. Out of 13 men’s events on SWATCH FIVB World Tour Calendar 2010, they have seized 9 gold medals which is new SWATCH record. Dalhausser and Rogers tied the previous record of 8 titles in a single season, which was set by Brazilian women Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca in 2008. In addition Dalhausser/Rogers also broke the record of men’s best of US$355,000 in 2006 by Brazilian Emanuel Rego and Ricardo. The Americans have won 75 of 86 matches with US$387,700 in their accounts.
For the third-place in tournament, Chinese 4th-seeded Penggen Wu and Linyin Xu clashed with 5th-seeded Adrian Gavia and Pablo Herrera of Spain. China had a better record of match-wins in the previous games. They lost the first set but successfully dismissed the Spaniards by sending 27-25 and 15-12 in the final two sets. It took them 71 minutes to settle the bronze medal victory. Chinese pair shared US$21,000 for third-place while Spanish pair split US$11,200 for fourth-place finish.
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