01.09.07
RUSSIANS SPOIL BRAZILIANS BID FOR ANOTHER ST. PETERSBURG OPEN TITLE
St. Petersburg, Russia , September 1, 2007 - Dmitri Barsouk and Igor Kolodinsky prevented a sweep of the top four places in the men’s St. Petersburg Open by Brazilians here Saturday as the Russians earned a second opportunity this season for their country’s first-ever SWATCH-FIVB World Tour gold medal.
St. Petersburg, Russia , September 1, 2007 - Dmitri Barsouk and Igor Kolodinsky prevented a sweep of the top four places in the men’s St. Petersburg Open by Brazilians here Saturday as the Russians earned a second opportunity this season for their country’s first-ever SWATCH-FIVB World Tour gold medal.
In winning three matches Saturday starting with a win over an Italian team before eliminating the past two winners of the St. Petersburg Open from Brazil, the second-seeded Barsouk and Kolodinsky will face their third-straight opponent from the South American country Sunday afternoon for the $32,000 first-place prize.
Fourth-seeded Harley Marques and Pedro Salgado will oppose the Russians for the gold medal as the Brazilians had to win a pair of qualifying matches Wednesday to gain a Main Draw berth before advancing to the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour finale with five-straight victories in the “money” rounds.
Seeking their second-straight SWATCH title and third FIVB gold medal this season, Harley and Salgado advanced to the finals with a 21-18 and 21-15 win in 42 minutes over seventh-seeded Pedro Cunha and Franco Neto in an All-Brazilian semi-final match.
Barsouk and Kolodinsky opened play Saturday at the Peter-And-Paul Fortress on the Neva River with a 19-21, 21-16 and 15-8 win in 58 minutes over 23rd-seeded Riccardo Lione and Matteo Varnier of Italy before ousting top-seeded Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos of Brazil 20-22, 21-17 and 15-8 in a contender’s bracket quarter-final match.
In facing Marcio Araujo and Fabio Magalhaes for the sixth-time on the SWATCH tour with only one win in the previous five matches, Barsouk and Kolodinsky scored a 25-23 and 21-17 semi-final victory in 52 minutes over the third-seeded Brazilians. Three weeks ago in Norway, the two teams split a pair of matches in Kristiansand with Marcio Araujo and Fabio defeating the Russians for the bronze medal.
“We need to take advantage of this opportunity for our country’s first-ever gold medal,” said the 24-year old Kolodinsky. “We had a chance for a title at the world championships in Switzerland at the end of July, but we were playing like we were just glad to be in the finals. Tomorrow, we face another strong team from Brazil, but we’ll have our friends and Russian fans behind us this time.”
With their only defeat in the 2007 St. Petersburg Open being Friday to Cunha and Franco (16-21, 21-16 and 15-11), Barsouk and Kolodinsky’s last two wins Saturday were over the two teams ahead of the Russians on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour. Both Brazilian pairs had claimed St. Petersburg Open gold medal with Emanuel and Ricardo winning in 2005 and Marcio Araujo and Fabio last year.
The 12th of 13 double gender events on the 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour calendar, the St. Petersburg Open the women’s finale later Saturday featured two-time SWATCH tour champions Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca of Brazil against Americans Jen Boss and April Ross.
