Czech Republic Advance Two Teams To Italian Open Main Draw; 54th-Seeded Team Earns Berth Via Four Upset Wins
Lignano Sabbiadoro (July 15, 1999) - A pair of teams from the Czech Republic earned the first two Main Draw berths here Thursday (July 15), but it was the "surprise" efforts of the 54th-seeded team of Fabio Galli and Andrea Bernabe of Italy that highlighted play in the $170,000 Italian Open.
It started with two long matches for a pair of teams from the Czech Republic Thursday that ended with qualifying successes for the Premysl Kubala/Marek Pakosta and Michal Palinek/Martin Lebl partnerships as the Czech Republic teams earned the first two qualifying spots for the Italian Open Main Draw that starts Friday.
The biggest "surprise" of the 57-team, 22-country Qualification Tournament was the Main Draw advancement by Galli and Bernabe. Playing in their first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event together, Galli and Bernabe scored two more upset wins Thursday to finish the qualifier with a 4-1 mark.
Galli and Bernabe, who eliminated the 11th and 22nd-seeded teams Wednesday, scored a 15-9 win over 14th-seeded Victor Anfilloff and Andrew Schacht of Australia in 62 minutes before advancing to Friday's competition with a 15-13 win over eighth-seeded Dmittri Karassev and Sergey Sayfulin of Russia in 46 minutes. The advancement by Galli and Bernabe was the first by a host country team from the Qualification Tournament to the Main Draw in the last six FIVB events.
The third-seeded Kubala and Pakosta and the fourth-seeded Palinek and Lebl scored time-consuming wins Thursday morning in a pair of 65-minute matches to advance to the Main Draw in the seventh annual Italian Open, the seventh of 13 men's events on the 1999 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.
Palinek and Lebl advanced by defeating fifth-seeded Oliver Oetke and Andy/Scheuerpflug of Germany 16-14. It marked the fifth-time this season that the Palinek/Lebl partnership had earned a FIVB Main Draw berth with previous successful qualifying efforts in Canada, Russia, Germany and Norway.
Kubala and Pakosta earned a Italian Open Main Draw spot by downing sixth-seeded Willie DeJesus and Amaury Velasco of Puerto Rico 15-13. Kubala and Pakosta earned their second Main Draw berth this season via the Qualification Tournament after succeeding previously in Russia last month where they finished 13th.
Seventh-seeded Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana of the United States and ninth-seeded Bjorn BergSimon Dahl of Sweden also advanced to the Main Draw. Blanton and Fonoimoana, who qualified for their second 1999 FIVB event after being successful in Canada, advanced with a 16-14 win in 64 minutes over 13th-seeded Albert and Nick Hannemann of American Samoa. Berg and Dahl advanced from the qualifier for the third-time this season with a 15-6 win over DeJesus and Velasco in 32 minutes.
Top-seeded Giovane Gavio and Tande Ramos of Brazil advanced for the fifth-time to a FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Main Draw this season by winning three-straight matches Thursday with the final two victories over fellow countrymen. Winners of 25 of 29 qualifying matches this season, Giovane and Tande eliminated 34th-seeded Paulo Emilio Azevedo and Fred Doria 15-7 in 42 minutes before ousting 18th-seeded Franco Neto and Roberto Lopes 15-5 in 45 minutes.
Thursday's final win over Franco and Roberto Lopes provided Giovane and Tande with some revenge. Giovane and Tande's only unsuccessful Main Draw bid was in Canada where Franco and Roberto Lopes scored two-straight wins over their Brazilian rivals. Franco and Roberto Lopes, the second-winningest team in FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour history with 13 titles, eliminated Paulo Emilio and Fred with a 15-11 playoff win in 58 minutes. Paulo Emilio won the 1992 and 1995 Italian Open Gold Medals with Paulao Moreira.
The Hannemanns and Russia's Karassev and Sayfulin captured the last two qualifying berths. The Hannemanns earned their fourth trip to the Main Draw by eliminating DeJesus and Velasco 15-9 in 50 minutes. The Russians earned their third trip to a Main Draw this season with a 15-6 win over fifth-seeded Oliver Oetke and Andy/Scheuerpflug of Germany in 37 minutes.
Twenty-four (24) teams from 13 countries have already been placed in the Main Draw. The three-day Main Draw starts with 40 matches Friday at 9 a.m. Saturday's action starts at 10 a.m. when a total of 18 matches will be played to determine the final four teams. The semi-final matches will start at 10 a.m. Sunday'. The Bronze Medal match is scheduled for 3 p.m. where the winning team shares $15,000 for third-place. The Gold Medal match will start at approximately 4:30 p.m. where the final two teams battle for the $30,000 first-place prize.
Here's a list of the qualifying teams for the Italian Open Main Draw and the teams' past successful Qualification Tournament performances on the 1999 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour (events qualified for):
Giovane Gavio and Tande Ramos, Brazil - Five times (Argentina, Mexico, Germany, Norway and Italy)
Michal Palinek and Martin Lebl, Czech Republic - Five times (Canada, Russia, Germany, Norway and Italy)
Albert and Nick Hannemann, American Samoa - Four times (Argentina, Canada, Norway and Italy)
Bjorn Berg and Simon Dahl, Sweden - Three times (Mexico, Russia and Italy)
Dmittri Karassev and Sergey Sayfulin, Russia - Three (Canada, Germany and Italy)
Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana, United States - Twice (Canada and Italy)
Premysl Kubala and Marek Pakosta, Czech Republic - Twice (Russia and Italy)
Fabio Galli and Andrea Bernabe, Italy - Once (Italy)
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