truebluefan

Moscow, Russia

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UFC 112: Invincible

truebluefan

The SWATCH FIVB World Tour returns to Moscow for the first-time since 1999 as the Russian capital hosts the fourth of six Grand Slam events on the 2008 international Beach Volleyball calendar as the Moscow 2008 Grand Slam is the next to last qualifying tournament for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The US$600,000 Moscow 2008 Grand Slam will be played at Poklonnay Gora (Victory Park) with both men's and women's competition. With $43,500 being awarded to the gold-medal teams, the women's competition starts Monday with Country Quota matches followed by Tuesday's qualifier to set the field for the 32-team Main Draw.

Men's Country Quota matches will be played Tuesday with the Qualification Tournament on Wednesday to determine the final eight spots in Thursday's opening Main Draw rounds. The women's medal matches will be played Saturday with the men's podium placement matches Sunday.

The 27th of 28 qualifying events for women and the 28th of 29 qualifying stops for men for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the Moscow 2008 Grand Slam features increased prize money as compared to an "open" SWATCH FIVB World Tour stop. The Grand Slam stops also features additional points for each placement ranging from 24 points for 41st place to 800 points for a gold-medal finish. At an "open" FIVB event, 600 points is awarded for placing first and 18 points for 41st place.

With the additional Olympic points available, the Moscow 2008 Grand Slam will feature several story lines as the men's and women's teams seek to post one of their top-eight finishes on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour since the start of the qualification process for the Beijing Summer Games in May 2007.

While Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the United States have completed their qualifying run for Beijing with a near-perfect qualifying total of 6,440 points for their best eight SWATCH finishes, the men's competition for the top spot on the Olympic list is still being contested between Emanuel Rego/Ricardo Santos of Brazil and Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers of the United States.

Only a semi-final setback at the 2007 Norwegian Grand Slam stop in Stavanger has prevented May-Treanor and Walsh a "perfect" Olympic qualifying score of 6,600 points. With the American Olympic and world champions not competing again internationally until Beijing, May-Treanor and Walsh have won 10 of the 11 SWATCH FIVB World Tour events they have entered since May 2007 with a 74-1 match mark with 62-straight match wins.

By winning the last two SWATCH FIVB World Tour Grand Slam events in Paris and Stavanger, Dalhausser and Rogers (5,460 points) are only 40 points behind Emanuel and Ricardo's leading Beijing men's point total of 5,500 for their best eight finishes.

The reigning Olympic champions, the Brazilians missed last week's event in Norway due to a foot injury for Ricardo as Dalhausser and Rogers increased their SWATCH winning streak to 15-straight matches. Emanuel and Ricardo denied the Americans a third Grand Slam title by defeating the reigning world champions in the Berlin finale before the Brazilians placed ninth in Paris.

Following the Moscow 2008 Grand Slam, the final qualifying event for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be staged July 15-20 in Marseille, France. With a week off between the Moscow and Marseille events, the European players will compete in the continental championships in Hamburg, Germany, where one of the pair's two finishes in the 2007 or 2008 finals can be counted towards Olympic qualification.

Prior to the Summer Games in the Chinese capital where competition will be held August 9-22, the final two SWATCH FIVB World Tour Grand Slam events will be held in Switzerland (Gstaad, July 21-27) and Austria (Klagenfurt, July 28-August 3). The women's Olympic medal matches will be played August 21 and the men's August 22. Both Beijing fields will feature 24 teams with no more than two pairs per country.

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UFC 112: Invincible

truebluefan

With Beijing hosting the 2008 Olympic Games in 35 days, it was a banner day for China here Saturday as two women's teams secured medals on the Victory Park podium at the US$600,000 Moscow 2008 Grand Slam topped by Chen Xue and Xi Zhang.

With medal match wins over teams from Beach Volleyball powers Brazil and the United States, China will have two of the top six seeded teams when pool play opens in the capital city of the Asian country August 9 led by projected No. 1-seeded Jia Tian and Jie Wang.

The women's Olympic final will be August 21 followed by the men's medal matches August 22. The process for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games ends in two weeks when the French port city of Marseille hosts the last qualifier to help determine the 24-team fields for both the men's and women's competition.

After Tian and Wang's 21-16 and 23-21 bronze-medal victory in 41 minutes over Brazilians Talita Antunes and Renata Ribeiro, Xue and Zhang captured their fourth SWATCH FIVB World Tour title with a 21-8 and 21-18 win in 42 minutes over Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs of the United States.

The gold-medal win also netted the sixth-seeded Xue and Zhang the $43,500 first-place prize while the top-seeded Branagh and Youngs left Moscow with $29,500 along with securing their country's second Olympic Beach Volleyball berth behind Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh.

Source

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UFC 112: Invincible

truebluefan

A day after the Chinese women gained a gold medal victory over an American tandem, Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers evened the score here Sunday with the Asian country for the United States by capturing their third-straight SWATCH FIVB World Tour men's title at the US$600,000 Moscow 2008 Grand Slam.

With a 16-21, 21-19 and 15-11 win in 60 minutes over fourth-seeded Penggen Wu and Linyin Xu of China, the top-seeded Dalhausser and Rogers avenged Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs' 21-8 and 21-18 setback to Chen Xue and Xi Zhang Saturday for the Moscow 2008 Grand Slam women's title on the Victory Park centre court.

"The Chinese played very well, especially in the first set," said the 34-year-old Rogers, who has teamed with Dalhausser to top the qualifying list for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with 5,780 for their best eight finishes on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour since May 2007. Reigning Olympic champions Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos of Brazil are second with 5,500 qualifying points for Beijing.

"I made several errors in the first set and the Chinese's service game was very good," Rogers added. "The second set was close throughout, and we played our best in the third and deciding set. Tiny (Xu) and Peng (Wu) are a real force and we have been fortunate to beat them five times."

With three-straight SWATCH FIVB World Tour Grand Slam titles to their credit by also winning in Paris and Norway, Dalhausser and Rogers have won 21-straight matches since losing in three sets to Emanuel and Ricardo June 15 in the Berlin Grand Slam gold-medal match. The SWATCH mark for consecutive match wins is 23 set in 1999 by Emanuel and his Sydney 2000 Olympic partner Jose Loiola.

Sunday's win netted the Americans the $43,500 first-place check as Dalhausser and Rogers have reached the podium in nine of their last 10 SWATCH FIVB World Tour starts with four gold medals, including the 2007 SWATCH FIVB World Championship last July in Gstaad, Switzerland. For the 2008 season, the Americans have won 39 of 43 international matches with $188,000 in winnings. Dalhausser was also named the SWATCH most outstanding player for the Moscow 2008 Grand Slam.

Wu and Xu, who have dropped four gold medal matches this season in an effort to become the first Chinese men's team to win a SWATCH FIVB World Tour title, split $29,500 for second place. Despite the setback, Wu and Xu moved into the No. 6 Olympic ranking spot with 4,540 points.

If Wu and Xu finish among the top six Beijing qualifying teams for their best eight finishes on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour since the start of the process last year at a Shanghai stop, the host country tandem will be granted the top spot in Olympic pool play seeding. For the season, Wu and Xu have posted a 39-16 mark with $140,100 in winnings

The qualifying for the Beijing 2008 Olympics ends for all SWATCH FIVB World Tour players in France July 15-20 at Marseille. European players can also earn qualifying points from one of their two finishes at the 2007 or 2008 continental championships. Germany hosts this year's European Championships this coming week in Hamburg (July 10-13).

In the All-German bronze-medal match featuring the European countries' Beijing entrants, fifth-seeded David Klemperer and Eric Koreng scored their third-straight SWATCH FIVB World Tour victory over compatriots Julius Brink and Christoph Dieckmann with a 21-18 and 21-15 victory in 47 minutes. Klemperer and Koreng shared $23,000 for third place while Brink and Dieckmann shared $18,400 for fourth place.

With the Germans in the semi-finals Sunday afternoon, Dalhausser and Rogers advanced to the finals with a 21-14, 18-21 and 15-11 win in 57 minutes Brink and Dieckmann. Wu and Xu earned a berth in the finale with a 21-19, 25-27 and 15-13 win over Klemperer and Koreng as the Russian capital was hosting a SWATCH FIVB World Tour stop for the first time since 1999.

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UFC 112: Invincible