After the top 16-seeded teams advanced to the final men's qualifying round at this week's US$350,000 SWATCH FIVB World Tour event here Wednesday on the Placa Carles Buigas, eight remained perfect at the end of the day to earn Main Draw spots.
Of the eight qualifiers, five were seeded among the top eight for the inaugural Hyundai Open Barcelona as each team has an opportunity for the $28,000 first-place prize that will be awarded after Sunday's gold medal match on the steps in front of the National Museum of Art of Catalunya.
"Breaking through" to the Hyundai Open Barcelona were ninth-seeded Francisco Alvarez/Oney Ramirez Bernal of Cuba, 14th-seeded Farid Mussa/Jesus Villafane of Venezuela and 16th-seeded Joao Maciel/Bruno Oscar Schmidt of Brazil to gain a spot in Thursday's opening "money" rounds in the sixth of 20 men's event on the 2008 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar.
Complete article