Second gold for Brazilians in Gstaad

Brazil's Pedro Salgado (left) and Harley Marques were all smiles after regaining their winning form. Photo credit: FIVBPhoto Gallery>>(BEIJING, July 28)-- Brazil's Harley Marques and Pedro Salgado won the men's title at the 1 to 1 Energy Grand Slam in Gstaad, Switzerland by defeating Dutch rivals Reinder Nummerdor and Richard Schuil 21-16, 22-24, 15-13 on July 27. The win will hopefully erase some of the bitterness that Harley and Pedro experienced after they recently failed to qualify for the Olympics.

Harley and Pedro played compatriots Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego in Sunday morning's semifinal. They lost the first set 17-21, but won the second set 21-14 to force a tiebreaker. Harley and Pedro cruised to a 15-12 victory in the deciding set.

Nummerdor and Schuil also had a tough road to the final, playing fourth-seeded Dmitri Barsouk and Igor Kolodinsky of Russia in the semifinal. After winning the first set 24-22, the Dutchmen appeared headed for a sweep. However the Russians were not ready to throw in the towel, and caught up in the second set 21-13, giving the packed stands another set to watch.

In the tiebreaking set, Nummerdor and Schuil rebounded from their loss in the second set to wrap up the third set 15-9 and win the match.

Entering the title match, both teams had a head-to-head record of two wins apiece; and the gold medal match was just as competitive, if not more.

After starting with a 21-16 win, the Brazilians tried in vain to close out the match but narrowly lost the second set 22-24. In the third set, Nummerdor and Schuil jumped to a 6-4 lead. But the Brazilians turned the match on its head with an 8-3 run to make the score 12-9 in their favor, and they held on as the Dutchmen succumbed 15-13.

Alison and Emanuel, playing in their first world tour event while Emanuel's regular partner Ricardo Santos recovers from an injury, entered the bronze medal match against Barsouk and Kolodinsky. The Brazilian men recuperated from their first loss as a team and sent the Russians packing in two straight sets 21-17, 21-16. Emanuel and Ricardo are one of the two Brazilian teams that qualified for the Olympics.

Harley and Pedro's victory was Brazil's second gold at Gstaad, with Brazilians Shelda Bede and Ana Paula Connelly winning the women's title on Saturday July 26.