The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic GamesAugust 8-24 2008
(BEIJING, June 16) -- Following last week's victory at SWATCH FIVB World Tour Poland stop, Emanuel and Ricardo of Brazil claimed a second straight gold medal in Sunday's smart Grand Slam final at the main train station at the Washingtonplatz, Berlin, as reported by the FIVB website.
This was a closely played match which lasted for a total of 73 minutes, with third-seeded Emanuel and Ricardo eventually striking a 25-27, 21-19 and 15-13 win over first-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers of the United States. This was a day after the US pair of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh captured the women's final on Saturday afternoon.
"We had two very tough matches today," FIVE website quoted Emanuel as saying after the match, who has been named SWATCH's most outstanding player for the smart Grand Slam, "I am glad we had a break after playing the second semi-final match this morning against the Germans. We still have a (long) way to go with our conditioning as we prepare for Beijing, but we are starting to come together with our teamwork and coordination."
This is the first time that that the Brazilian duo cruised to a gold medal for SWATCH FIVB World Tour together in the German capital. Previously both of them have claimed Berlin titles with Ze Marco de Melo, with Emanuel in 1997 and Ricardo in 1999. This victory has consolidated their standing as No. 1 on the Beijing Olympic qualifying list. Coming second is the US pair of Dalhausser and Rogers with a total of 4,820 points for their best-eight finishes on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour since May 2007.
Herrera and Mesa of Spain captured the bronze-medal by beating Brink and Dieckmann 21-19 and 21-16 in 49 minutes.
Paris will be the next and also the second stop for the six Grand Slam events of 2008 SWATCH FIVB World Tour.
