Three Men’s Beach Teams Set for Prague Main Draw

Becky Murdy May 18, 2011

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Photo: Courtesy of FIVB

Casey Jennings and Kevin Wong won the Prague Open country quota to advance to the qualification round of the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour.

Becky Murdy
Assistant, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: becky.murdy@usav.org
 

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 18, 2011) – Three U.S. men’s teams will compete in the Prague Open main draw, the first men’s single gender tournament on the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour.

Casey Jennings (Las Vegas) and Kevin Wong (Honolulu), captured a quick win in their first qualifying match of the day, defeating Slovakia’s Jan Namesansky and Robert Majzel in two sets, 21-12, 21-18. Jennings and Wong, seeded first in qualifying, were defeated in their second round of qualifying by Great Britain’s 32nd-seeded John Garcia-Thompson and Steven Grotowski, 25-23, 24-22 to eliminate the Americans.

Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.), the reigning Olympic gold medalists, open the main draw’s first round on Thursday as the top-seeded team. The powerhouse duo will play Canada’s 32nd-seeded team of Maverick Hatch and Sam Scharachter. Dalhausser and Rogers look to take the title in Prague in back-to-back years by defending their victory from the 2010 tournament edition. The duo, ranked first on the tour, has gone undefeated on the 2011 FIVB SWATCH World Tour with victories in both the Brasilia and Shanghai Opens.

Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Santa Barbara, Calif.), seeded fourth in the Prague Open, will face 29th-seeded Sascha Heyer and Sebastian Chevallier of Switzerland. Right behind sit compatriots and fifth-seeded Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.), who will take Germany’s 28th-seeded team of Markus Böckermann and Mischa Urbatzka.

Rounds one and two of the Prague Open main draw are slated for Thursday with rounds three and four to be played on Friday. The semifinals will take place on Saturday with the medal matches contested on Sunday.

Complete information about the men in the FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour’s Prague Open is available on the FIVB web site.

For the complete schedule and results, click here.

 

Tags: 2011 FIVB World Tour, 2011 SWATCH World Tour, Beach, Beach Volleyball, Casey Jennings, FIVB, FIVB beach, Jake Gibb, Kevin Wong, Matt Fuerbringer, Nick Lucena, Philip Dalhausser, Sean Rosenthal, Todd Rogers