Argentina's Salema & Baracetti Post Italian Open Main Draw Upset Wins; Kvalheim/Maaseide Defeat Norwegian Gold Medallists
Lignano Sabbiadoro (July 16, 1999) - Jose Salema and Mariano Baracetti of Argentina scored a pair of upset wins here Friday (July 16) during the opening two rounds of the $170,000 Italian Open, but Norway's Jan Kvalheim and Bjorn Maaseide posted the biggest "surprise" by defeating the winners of last week's Norwegian Open.
Seeded 25th in the seventh of 13 men's events on the 1999 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, Salema and Baracetti upset eighth-seeded Javier Bosma and Fabio Diez of Spain 15-8 in 44 minutes before advancing to Saturday's opening match at 10 a.m. against top-seeded Ze'Marco de Melo and Ricardo Santos of Brazil by defeating ninth-seeded Andrea Raffaelli and Maurizio Pimponi of Italy 15-9 in 42 minutes.
With more than 32,000 spectators watching Friday's action (31 degrees C), Salema and Baracetti are now guaranteed their best finish of the 1999 season as the pair has posted a 13th, four 17ths and a 25th in the first six events of the 12th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour campaign. The Argentineans posted their best-ever finish in the 1998 season finale in Brazil where Salema and Baracetti netted the Silver Medal.
Kvalheim and Maaseide, who finished ninth last week in their home country, will face Para Ferreira and Guilherme Marques of Brazil Saturday morning. The 13th-seeded Norwegians advanced with a 15-10 win over fourth-seeded Emanuel Scheffer and Jose Loiola of Brazil in a 52-minute match. Emanuel and Loiola won the Norwegian Open by defeating Para and Guilherme 15-13 in the Gold Medal match.
Para and Guilherme are the defending Italian Open champions after defeating Martin and Paul Laciga of Switzerland 12-6 and 12-8 in the 1998 Gold Medal match. Seeded fifth this week, Para and Guilherme are the reigning FIVB Beach Volleyball World Champions after winning the title in 1997 in Los Angeles.
The Lacigas were also upset Friday in the second-round by 14th-seeded Rob Heidger and Kevin Wong as the United States tandem scored a 15-8 win in 46 minutes. Heidger and Wong face sixth-seeded John Child and Mark Heese of Canada Saturday morning. The Canadians advanced with a 15-7 second-round win over 11th-seeded Luis Maia and Joao Brenha of Portugal, who won the Russian Open last month.
Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana of the United States, who had to win three of four qualifying matches to earn a berth in the Italian Open, advanced to Saturday's play with a 2-0 Main Draw mark as the 15th-seeded team defeated a pair of United States rivals. Blanton and Fonoimoana challenge seventh-seeded Esteban Martinez and Martin Conde of Argentina Saturday. Martinez and Conde captured the 1997 Italian Open by defeating Ze'Marco and Emanuel in the finals.
After defeating 18th-seeded Sinjin Smith and Carl Henkel 15-12 in 62 minutes, Blanton and Fonoimoana scored a 15-13 win in 62 minutes over second-seeded Karch Kiraly and Adam Johnson. Blanton and Fonoimoana are playing in their eighth FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event as the pair placed second last season in the Austrian event. Kiraly and Johnson were eliminated later Friday by 32nd-seeded Fabio Galli and Andrea Benabe of Italy, who had to qualify for the Main Draw after being seeded 54th in the Italian Open Qualification Tournament.
Teams from Australia (22nd-seeded Julien Prosser/Lee Zahner), Brazil (Emanuel/Loiola), Canada (20th-seeded Conrad Leinemann/Jody Holden), Germany (23rd-seeded Jorg Ahmann/Axel Hager), Italy (Galli/Benabe, who were seeded 32nd in the Main Draw), Portugal (Maia/Brenha), Spain (Bosma/Diez), the United States (Smith/Henkel) still remain in contention after winning two of three matches Friday.
Saturday's action features 18 matches 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 4:30 p.m. where the final two teams battle for the $30,000 first-place prize.
Following the seventh annual Italian Open, the international competition moves to Marseille, France for the $600,000 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships July 19-25. The event will feature both men's and women's competition. The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour serves as qualification tournaments for the 2000 Sydney Games where a total of 24 teams for both men and women battle for the Olympic Gold.
Winner's Bracket, third-round schedule (Saturday, 10 a.m.) - Ze'Marco-Ricardo, BRA (No. 1-seeded Main Draw Team) vs. Salema-Baracetti, ARG (25); Para-Guilherme, BRA (5) vs. Kvalheim-Maaseide, NOR (13); R. Heidger-Wong, USA (14) vs. Child-Heese, CAN (6); Martinez-Conde, ARG (7) vs. Blanton-Fonoimoana, USA (15, No. 7-seeded Qualification Tournament Team).
Loser's Bracket, third-round schedule (Saturday, 11 a.m.; losers eliminated, place 13th, split $3,000) - F. Galli-Bernabe, ITA (32, 54) vs. Bosma-Diez, ESP (8); Maia-Brenha POR (11) vs. Holden-Leinemann, CAN (20); Emanuel-Loiola, BRA (4) vs. Prosser-Zahner, AUS (22); Ahmann-Hager, GER (23) vs. Sinjin Smith-Henkel, USA (18).
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