Rogers/Scott & Fonoimoana/Wong pace USA effort

For the second-straight week, the teams of Todd Rogers/Sean Scott and Eric Fonoimoana/Kevin Wong paced the efforts of the United States' pro beach volleyball teams on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour by both placing ninth on Saturday (May 29) after splitting a pair of matches.

The Rogers/Scott and Fonoimoana/Wong tandems each shared the $5,500 by combining to win six of 10 matches in the $180,000 SWATCH-FIVB Beach World Tour event, the fourth stop on the men's event of the 2004 international schedule. Rogers and Scott placed fourth last week in China where Fonoimoana and Wong tied for fifth.

Dax Holdren and Stein Metzger, the third American team in the 32-team Main Draw, placed 13th after losing a 22-20 and 24-22 elimination match Saturday morning to Fonoimoana and Wong to even the series between the two teams at 1-1. Holdren and Metzger split four matches this week to split $4,000.

All three teams were continuing their competition on this beach in Southeastern Europe for a spot on the United States Olympic beach volleyball team for the 2004 Athens Games. Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard, the top United States team on the Olympic qualification list, skipped the international event to participate this week in the first of three-straight domestic events in Southern California. Blanton won the Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medal with Fonoimoana.

With the Olympic qualifying process for men continuing the Fourth of July weekend, Blanton and Nygaard top the American list with 2,188 points after placing seventh last week in China for their best international finish this season. Rogers and Scott are second on the United States Olympic qualifying list with 1,624 points for their best eight finishes since the start of the Olympic-qualifying process in January 2003.

Holdren and Metzger, who placed 17th last weekend in China, rank third on the United States Olympic qualifying list with 1,512 points for six Olympic-qualifying events. Fonoimoana and Wong still have a chance for the second USA spot as the pair has compiled 890 Olympic qualifying points for their six events.

Seeded 14th in the competition, Rogers and Scott opened play Saturday by ousting 21st-seeded Bjorn Berg and Simon Dahl of Sweden 27-25 and 21-16 before being eliminated 23-21, 21-23 and 15-13 by second-seeded Benjamin Instran and Marcio Araujo of Brazil in 72 minutes. After defeating the seventh-seeded Holdren and Metzger 22-20 and 24-22, the 16th-seeded Fonoimoana and Wong were eliminated by fourth-seeded Patrick Heuscher/Stefan Kobel of Switzerland (21-14 and 21-12).

For the 29th-time in 151 "open" men's FIVB events, the semi-finals will be contested by teams from four different countries - Brazil, Estonia, Germany and Switzerland. Top-seeded Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos of Brazil will played Heuscher and Kobel in the first semi-final match Sunday while third-seeded Markus Dieckmann and Jonas Reckermann of Germany facing 27th-seeded Kristjan Kais and Rivo Vesik of Estonia in the second "final four" match.

Emanuel and Ricardo have now advanced to their fourth-straight "final four" this season after winning the season opener in Brazil before placing second in both South Africa and China. The teams of Dieckmann/Reckerman and Heuscher/Kobel earned their second semi-final berth this season after reaching the "final four" in March's Salvador, Brazil, stop where the Swiss pair dropped the title match to Emanuel and Ricardo.

Kais and Vesik's appearance is the first-time a team from Estonia has advanced this far in a "open" SWATCH-FIVB World Tour stop. The Estonians, who had to qualify for this week's Main Draw, best previous finish in an "open" international event was a 13th in Salvador in March. Kais and Vesik, who are competing in their 16th international event together, posted a third in a Greece challenger event last season.

Following the completion of the Serbia and Montenegro Open where the winning team shares the $27,000 first-place prize, the men's Olympic qualifying continues through July 11 with events scheduled the next five weeks in Portugal, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Germany and Norway to determine the 24 men's teams for the Athens Games.

The teams of Rogers/Scott and Holdren/Metzger have entered in the Portugal event. Rogers and Scott tied for fifth in last year in Espinho, which is hosting its 10th SWATCH-FIVB World Tour men's event. Metzger teamed with Wong to win the 2002 Portugal event.

For more information on FIVB beach volleyball, go to the FIVB web site.