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**truebluefan** · 03-30-2008, 08:30 PM

Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs will have to defeat a women’s team from Brazilian for a Beach Volleyball medal on Glenelg Beach this week as the American won a pair of elimination matches here Saturday morning to advance to the semi-finals of the US$350,000 Adelaide Australia Open.

Seeded fourth in the 32-team double-elimination Main Draw on the Moseley Square courts, Branagh and Youngs ousted a pair of teams from Germany to advance to the “final four” later Saturday against the top-seeded Brazilian tandem of Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca.

Saturday’s other women’s semi-final will be an All-Brazilian affair as 11th-seeded Shelda Bede and Ana Paula Connelly challenge fifth-seeded Talita Antunes and Renata Ribeiro for a spot in the gold medal match at the season opening event on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour.

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**truebluefan** · 03-30-2008, 08:31 PM

In avenging an earlier setback in the US$350,000 Adelaide Australia Open, Penggen Wu and Linyin Xu became the first men’s team from China to advance to a gold medal match on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour since the start of the international Beach Volleyball circuit 22 years ago.

The seventh-seeded Wu and Xu won three matches here Saturday on Glenelg Beach to advance to the finals of the inaugural Adelaide Australia Open against fourth-seeded Harley Marques and Pedro Salgado, who earned their gold medal berth by upsetting 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Champions Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers of the United States.

After Harley and Salgado scored a 21-19, 16-21 and 15-13 victory in 69 minutes over Dalhausser and Rogers, Wu and Xu avenged a Friday morning loss to 18th-seeded Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal to defeat the Americans 21-19 and 21-15 in the 41-minute semi-final match on the Moseley Square centre court. Gibb and Rosenthal had won the previous three SWATCH matches with the Chinese.

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**truebluefan** · 03-30-2008, 08:32 PM

With the American men assured a bronze medal at the US$350,000 Adelaide Australia Open, SWATCH-FIVB World Champions Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers avenged one of their two setbacks in the international Beach Volleyball competition by defeating Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal here Sunday for a spot on the Glenelg Beach podium.

With their 21-18 and 14-21 and 15-11 win over 18th-seeded Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal in 50 minutes, the second-seeded Dalhausser and Rogers split the $14,000 third-place prize in the season opening event on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour calendar that features the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in August. Gibb and Rosenthal shared $10,500 for their fourth-place finish.

“We are disappointed, but not discouraged, said Rogers after his team avenged a 24-22 and 21-18 setback to Gibb and Rosenthal in the third-round of the winner’s bracket on the Moseley Square courts Thursday. “We had an excellent opportunity to be in the finals, but let a 9-6 edge in the third set to the Brazilians slip away. The important fact is that we secured another podium finish to help in our bid for the Olympics.”

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**truebluefan** · 03-30-2008, 08:33 PM

Brazilians Harley Marques and Pedro Salgado won their fourth SWATCH-FIVB World Tour gold medal to spoil China’s first-ever appearance in a men’s international Beach Volleyball finale to capture the US$350,000 Adelaide Australia Open on Glenelg Beach here Sunday afternoon.

Before a near-capacity crowd of 3,000 fans on the Moseley Square centre court, the fourth-seeded Harley and Salgado scored a 23-21 and 21-12 win in 39 minutes over seventh-seeded Penggen Wu and Linyin Xu of China to share the $28,000 first-place prize in the season opening event on the 2008 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour calendar.

“The Chinese played great, but we were just a little better today,” said the 22-year old Salgado, who celebrated his birthday Thursday. “I don’t know if our experience in finals helped us, but anytime you play for first-place in any activity you expect to produce your best. This was a big win for us.”

For the second-straight season, Harley and Salgado have captured a SWATCH opener as the Brazilians won the first event in 2007 at Shanghai, China. Before finishing ninth in the 2007 season finale in Fortaleza, Brazil, Harley and Salgado captured FIVB titles in Finland and Russia.

“In addition to winning all of our matches, this was a great weekend for us to make up some ground on Marcio Araujo and Fabio in a quest for a berth in the Olympics in Beijing,” the 33-year Harley added after winning his seventh SWATCH-FIVB World Tour gold medal in 11 seasons on the international tour. Harley was also named the SWATCH most outstanding player for the event.

With 10 more events left before the end of the Beijing 2008 Olympic qualifying process July 20, Harley and Salgado now trail Marcio Araujo and Fabio Magalhaes by 400 points after starting the weekend 600 points behind their compatriots for a possible second Summer Games berth behind Emanuel Rego and Ricardo.

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