Prevailing of 'the professor and the thin beast'

(BEIJING, June 27) -- "The thin beast and professor" may remind you of some horror movie from the 1950's, but the American duo of Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser has indeed been a nightmare for teams in the ConocoPhillips Grand Slam this week, in the Norwegian coastal city of Stavanger.

Seeded first in a total of 32 Main Draw teams, Todd and Phil defeated their Norwegian and Italian rivals in Thursday's pool play matches and tied 16-seeded Martin Laciga and Jan Schinider of Switzerland in Pool J. They will secure a group outright by beating Laciga and Schinider on Friday's final round of pool play.

Having never won medals in Stavanger before, but finishing third in this year's Australian and Italian Opens, also silver-medalists in the Berlin Grand Slam and winners of last week's Paris Grand Slam, the American pair does have every hope of claiming a podium finish in their fifth SWATCH FIVB World Tour event of 2008. This will be the first men's medal for the US beach volleyball team in Stavanger.

"We certainly compliment each other very well on the court," Rogers is quoted by the FIVB website as saying after the match, "there are so many very good teams from several countries and if you don't play well, you will lose, simple as that."

Phil is nicknamed "the thin beast" for his baldhead and lanky figure, while Todd, a veteran beach volleyballer, is known in the circle as "the professor".

Men's single-elimination round of this year's ConocoPhillips Grand Slam will take place on Saturday with 24 teams to participate, followed by medal matches scheduled on Sunday.