20th Anniversary of Universiade Marked

[Zdenko]

A whole-day commemorative sports-entertaining programme at Zagreb Jarun lake marked the 20th anniversary of the Universiade, which was hosted by Zagreb in 1987.

-Universiade was one of the greatest sports events ever held in Croatia, and the significance of this manifestation is that Zagreb was changed and reborn, thanks to welcoming best students – athletes of the world in 1987. At the same time, a huge number of constructed or renovated sports and other objects should be pointed out and everyone who attended the campaign in Zagreb, including foreign athletes and sports heads, remember Zagreb today as the best organiser of the Universiade competitions by far- said Mirko Novosel, head of the Universiade project at that time.

The anniversary was celebrated before a large number of citizens who followed competitions in beach volleyball and handball, running and rollerblading, while the entertaining programme ended with fireworks at midnight.

International University sports games (Universiade) brought more than 7,500 athletes-students, coaches and officials to Zagreb 20 years ago and Zagreb became wealthier wit h 29 sports objects even after the Universiade.

[Croagent]

Saturday was a great day for U.S. teams competing in Fortaleza, Brazil as Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won their fifth-straight international beach volleyball gold medal, Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs claimed their second-straight SWATCH-FIVB World Tour bronze medal and Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers advanced to the men’s final.

Top-seeded May-Treanor (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Walsh (Santa Clara, Calif.) extended their international beach volleyball women streak to 35 by defeating Brazil’s second-seeded Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca 21-16, 21-14 in the 40-minute finale at the US$400,000 Banco do Brasil Open. Juliana and Larissa went on to celebrate their third-straight season points title.
Elaine Youngs competes in the bronze-medal match on Saturday in Brazil. Photo courtesy of the FIVB.

With their 30th SWATCH title in 54 FIVB starts together since 2001, May-Treanor and Walsh shared the $32,000 first-place prize. Juliana and Larissa, who are now 3-8 against May-Treanor and Walsh in FIVB gold-medal matches, split $22,000 for second-place after winning their last three international starts in Norway, Finland and Russia.

“It was not our best Beach Volleyball in the first set,” said the 29-year old Walsh, who was named the SWATCH most outstanding player for the Banco do Brasil Open. “After trailing early, we were able to turn things around and make enough plays to win the first set. We played a lot better in the second set and put Juliana and Larissa on the defensive. The Brazilians are a great team and they are very deserving of winning the SWATCH tour championship.”

In the third-place match, fifth-seeded Branagh (Orinda, Calif.) and Youngs (El Toro, Calif.) claimed a 21-16 and 21-14 win in 43 minutes over Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede to share the $16,000 prize. A six-time FIVB tour season point’s winner, Adriana and Shelda split $12,000 for fourth-place.

With her fifth event SWATCH most outstanding player award this season, Walsh was honored at Saturday’s ceremonies as the tour’s top player this season. Larissa was the 2006 top player while May-Treanor compiled the most SWATCH event MOPs to claim the 2005 honor.
Phil Dalhausser blocks Switzerland's Jan Schnider during their match on Sept. 29 in Brazil. Photo courtesy of the FIVB.

The SWATCH-FIVB World Tour point’s title is based on a team’s best 12 finishes on the 2007 calendar. The reigning Olympic champions, May-Treanor and Walsh rank fifth internationally with 5,240 despite playing in only seven events this season. The Americans can move into the fourth spot ahead of Brazil’s Talita Antunes and Renata Ribeiro of Brazil (5,380) with a 13th or better finish in the women’s SWATCH-season finale in Phuket at the start of November.

May-Treanor and Walsh improved their 2007 SWATCH mark to 47-1 by winning 94 of 102 sets this season. With a 311-35 match mark since forming their partnership in 2001, May-Treanor and Walsh have now shared $1,378,040 in international winnings to rank second behind Adriana and Shelda ($2,207,965).

In the men’s bracket, fourth-seeded Dalhausser (Orlando, Fla.) and Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) will play Brazil’s top-seeded Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos in a Sunday match featuring past and present SWATCH-FIVB World champions.

Rogers, who will celebrate his 34th birthday Sunday, and Dalhausser joined May-Treanor and Walsh in winning the second most prestigious title in the sport of beach volleyball two months ago in the Swiss village of Gstaad. Emanuel and Ricardo recorded their world title at the 2003 finale.

Both men’s teams won semifinal matches Saturday afternoon. In rebounding from a 17th-place finish in their last SWATCH start last month in Austria, Dalhausser and Rogers scored a 21-16, 21-12 win in 36 minutes over 18th-seeded Martin Laciga and Jan Schnider of Switzerland.

The reigning Olympic champions, Emanuel and Ricardo rallied from a Friday afternoon setback to Dalhausser and Rogers (26-24, 21-16 in 49 minutes) to win a pair of matches Saturday, including a 21-23, 21-18, 15-10 win in 75 minutes over third-seeded and Brazilian rivals Marcio Araujo and Fabio Magalhaes.

Sunday’s title meeting will be the eighth SWATCH match between the two teams with Emanuel and Ricardo holding a 4-3 edge. The Americans have won the last two meetings, including a 21-16, 13-21, 19-17 semifinal win in 68 minutes as the 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Championships.

Both teams have competed twice against each other for 2006 FIVB gold medals with Emanuel and Ricardo netting a title against the Americans in Croatia (21-14, 21-17). Dalhausser and Rogers upset the Brazilians in the Austrian grand slam finale (21-19, 21-17).