The Brazilians Emanuel Rego and Alison Cerutti win the Grand Slam 2011 in Gstaad. They defeated the Americans Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser in straight sets 22:20 and 21:19. 

The next Grand Slam in Gstaad will take place from July 2nd to July 8th 2012... 

An extremely exciting game from the beginning. Point by point the game starts, it always comes back to balance between the two teams, the Germans wons it in two sets with 22:20 and 21:17. 

Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser from the US qualified for the final. In a exciting semifinal they won against the Germans Brink-Reckermann in three sets (18:21, 21:13 and 15:13). 

Beautiful weather, sun and a lot of spectactors on this early Sunday morning match on Center Court between Emanuel-Alison BRA and Fijalek-Prudel POL. The Brazilians decided the first set with a clear 21:17, the second set with 21:16. Thus they are qualified for the finals this afternoon, against the winner of the running game: Rogers-Dalhausser USA or Brink-Reckermann GER.

Schedule for Sunday 

The Poles Mariusz Prudel and Grzegorz Fijalek won their quarter final game against vice world champions Ricardo Santos and Marcio Araujo from Brazil in two sets. 

Larissa Franca and Juliana Felisberta Silva won the Grand Slam 2011 in Gstaad! The Brazilians won against Xue/Zhang Xi from China in two sets (21:15 and 21:13).

The bronze medal goes to Cicolari/Menegatti from Italy. They won against Talita/Antonelli from Brazil also in two sets (22:20 and 21:14). 

Chen Xue and Xi Zhang form China will play against the Brazilians Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca in the final today at 15.35. In the semifinal Xue/Zhang Xi won against Talita/Anotnelli from Brazil in two sets (13:21 and 18:21). Larissa/Juliana won their semifinal against Cicolari/Menegatti form Italy also in two sets (17:21 and 10:21). 

Martin Laciga and Jonas Weingart lost their game against Penggen Wu and Linyin Xu form China in three sets 21:18, 19:21 and 12:15. Laciga/Weingart are now out of tournament whereas Xu/Wu are in the quarter final.

Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann from Germany won their game against the Brazilians Ferramenta/Pedro in three sets 23:21, 18:21 and 13:15. They are now in the quarter final. 

In the first match of the day on court two Nummerdor-Schuil (NED) defeated the Germans Klemperer-Koreng with a clear 21:11, 21:15. Schuils clever playing at the net made the diefference as he could place some very precise smashes against the poolwinners from Germany.

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Schedule: Saturday, July 9th 2011 

The last match on this friday turned out to be a teal thriller. The Germans Erdmann-Malysik won against the Swiss team Heuscher-Bellaguarda. No team was able to get away with more than 2 ot 3 points. Therefore details made the difference in the end. Result: 21:19, 19:21 and 13:15. more

Martin Laciga and Jonas Weingart won their single elimination game against the Amercicans Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal in two sets 21:15 and 22:20. They are now in the round of 16. 

Although they won the first set, Heyer Chevallier lost the match against Benes-Kubala (CZE) 21:16, 14:21 and 14:16. The two following sets. "There are only details which made the difference" Sebastian Chevallier said after the match.  

The Swiss team Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkehr played the last quarter's final against the world's best Brasilians Larissa-Juliana. They lost in two sets 18:21 and 12:21. The remaining four teams are:
Talita-Antonelli against Xue-Zhang Xi
Cicolari-Menegatti against Larissa-Juliana more

In the first quarterfinal of the women, seed number five Marta Menegetti-Greta Cicolari from Italy were in for the first sensation at this year's tournament. In a game of high quality, they defeated the Americans Kerry Walsh and Misty May-Treanor in three sets.

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Emanuel Tego -Alison Cerutti (BRA) won against Erdman Matysik from Germany. The first set was very clear with 21:16, but in the second set the German team became stronger which Alison explained as a phenomenon that happens often in Beachvolley. Still they were able to finish the match 21:19. 

World champions Larissa-Juliana from Brazil had a very hard first set this morning against Liliana-Baquerizo from Spain. The spanish team (seed 28) played very well and only lost the first set 25:27. They became a bit weaker during the second set which resulted in 16:21.

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Martin Laciga and Thomas Weingart have won the last game of their pool and pushed their way to the next round. Against the danish team Soderberg-Hoyer they tooked the last chance to remain in the tournament.

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The Swiss team Kuhn-Zumkehr has played it into the next round in a strong match against the Czech duo Klapalova-Hajeckova. The game ended with 2-0 records (21:18, 21:15) in favor of Swiss women.

This performance can be considered quite as successful. According to this, Nadine Zumkehr said after the game. "We started well in each set. Unfortunately, we have given away the lead. Simone Kuhn kept the swiss duo with some defensive actions in the game. Ultimately, the victory was never realized clearly. She looked forward to the next game at 5.00 p.m., says Nadine Zumkehr. 

The three top scored men’s team did a for the most time easily start. Only Marcio Araujo-Ricardo had to leave in her both matches of today in each case the first game to the adversaries. The number one setted Brazilians Emanuel-Alison won their two games; first against the Russians 2-1 and later against the Dutch Team Nummerdor-Schuil 2-0. Ricardo after the game: We did a good game, but we have even to concentrate more at the upcoming matches.

Perfect tournaments start for German’s Brink-Reckermann. No set lost for them. Until now, everything is going right. But- we have to grow, Jonas Reckermann says after.

The Brazilian team Marcio Araujo-Ricardo started with losing one set in each played game. Against Soderberg-Hoyer from Danmark they were not far away from a defeat, but in the third set they decided the game for them.

Schedule for Friday 

The American Team Rogers-Dalhausser played its first game in Gstaad against the Russians Prokopiev-Bogatov and won it in two sets 21:16, 21:14. Phil Dalausser who was born in Switzerland says after the game that they were pleased to start in the game today. "Gstaad is one of my favorite‘s tournaments because my family is here, and especially because of this special scenery, good vibes and the always very friendly people”.

The Swiss team Sascha Heyer-Sebastian Chevallier started with two victories into the tournament of Gstaad. They beat the Italian twins Ingrosso-Ingrosso clearly 21:17, 21:19. The Latuvian team Samoilovs-Sorokins however won the second set - therefore a third set had to be played which Heyer-Chevallier won 15:12. Chevallier said to have lost track of the tactics which they had decided upon for a short time.

For Heuscher-Bellaguarda the day started with a very tough match. After having lost the first set against Boersma-Spijkers (NL) they had to fight off several matchballs to win the second set. In their second match of the day they lost in two sets against Fuerbringer-Lucena of the US (15:21 and 15:21).

Martin Laciga and Jonas Weingart lost both of their matches: the first one against the Brazilians Marcio Araujo-Ricardo (21:16, 16:21 and 10:15) and the second one against the Russians Semenov-Koshkarev (15:21 and 18:21). 

The Swiss team Kuhn-Zumkehr won their pool this morning when defeating Goller-Ludwig from Germany. Although it seemed quite clear after the first set, they had to go through three sets. Both teams were fighting hard in the third set with the swiss having the better end with 17:15.

The two other swiss teams Gorianec-Grässli and Forrer-Vergé - Dépré are out after today. Gorianec-Grässli lost against the Chinese team Chen Xue-Xi Zhang 13.21 and 12:21. 19 year old Anouk Vergé-Dépré played with Isabelle Forrer against the Greeks Arvaniti-Tsiartsiani. The Greek team won with a clear 21:17 and 21:14. 

The top-seeded team Kessy-Ross had to fight through the single elimination. But finally they expressed no problems to qualify for the next round. "The first game we were not completely present, so we could not directly qualify for the next round," said April Kessy. But it seems to go better in every game, so she was still confident she went on. 

The Dutch Team Keizer-Van Iersel opened the tournament day with a duel against the Schwaiger sisters from Austria. Keizer-Van Iersel won the first set (29:27) but lost next with 20:22. After a service fault from the Austrians Keizer-Van Iersel finally won against the disappointed sisters in a third set. (16:14).

"The road to victory was harder than expected. We initially had difficulties to keep into the game, perhaps a slight exhaustion, because at the last time we played a lot of tournaments." But this afternoon, as we have no matches, we can relax a bit” 

Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkehr have also won their second group match. In the afternoon, they defeated the Canadians Lessard-Martin, against which they had previously lost twice, in two sets (21:14 and 25:23). With this victory, the two Swiss are on their way for the last sixteen.
"Simone and I were finally able to play our game and so we were able beat this strong Canadian team," said Nadine Zumkehr after the game. 

A particularly delicate task was waiting for the two italian teams Cicolari-Menegatti and Gioria Momoli. It is always difficult to play against compatriots in a Grand Slam, because there is one team which will lose, declared Cicolari-Menegatti. They won the first set 21:18, but it was only in the second set that they felt more at ease: "We had some adjustment problems and difficulty with breathing because of the altitude. But that has settled in the second set." The final result was: 21:18, 21:15.

In two straight sets Kessy-Ross (USA) wins against the Norwegians Maaseide-Ingrid 21:15 and 21:17. Nevertheless, this first set was somewhat more difficult, because of the inconsistent wind. Furthermore they had to change their tactics after the first few balls against the Norwegians, told the Americans.

It’s been twelve years since he is part of the organization commitee at the Gstaad Beach Volleyball Grand Slam and since this year he is the coach of the German national ice hockey-team: Köbi Kölliker signed an annual contract with the German Ice Hockey Federation and wants to lead the team to World Cup title. But he still finds time to visit the Beach Grand Slam in Gstaad,. "The date is permanently entered in my calendar," he says. Since the first tournaments edition Kölliker makes sure that the center court is playable. "Back then I had nothing to do with beach volleyball," says the former ice hockey player. Meanwhile he is looking forward to the tournament every year and the be a member of the organizing team. Immediately after the tournament he will fly to Berlin, where the preparation for the World Championships starts. The first match of the coming year will be Germany against Switzerland! 

Schedule, Thursday 7.7.11 

After having won the morning game against the Italian team Zauli-Cavaliere, Jan Schnider and Philip Gabathuler failed against another Italian team. The twins Ingrosso-Ingrosso won 21:19 and 21:19. The Swiss felt quite depressed and stated: “we just played badly, we feel it is going on like this during the whole season yet.” 

Austrias team Doppler-Mellitzer and Brouwer-Meuwsen from the Netherlands presented a very interesting match. They had to go over three sets after which the Austrians had the slightly better end and won 25:27, 21:17 and 15:12. 

Victory for Kuhn Zumkehr; defeat for Forrer-Vergé-Dépré
In their first game of the tournament Simone Kuhn-Nadine Zumkehr had to ply three sets. The always seem to have a very hard start at Gstaad. But after overcoming the nervosity they found their rhythm an won in 19:21, 21:15 und 15:12.
Forrer Vergé-Dépré had to go through a very difficult first draw. The lost against seed 2 of this tournament Larissa Franca and Juliana Felisberta 15:21 and 12:21. For 19 year old Anouk it was a very special moment to play here: “ I know a lot of people her – it just was a very exciting experience.

Out for Sutter-Sutter (SUI)
The very young swiss team Andreas Sutter/Roman Sutter has failed already this morning in the qualification games. They lost against Latvia’s team Samoilous-Sorokins 13:21 and 17:21. The two brothers knew that they had to play their best Beachvolleyball aginst the Latvians, but they made too many inherent errors. 

In men’s first qualifying rounds Ferramenta Pedro (BRA) won against Morais-Silva from Angola. The Brazilians won the game 21:10, 21:16.

"With this brazilian team we had a strong adversary. “It was difficult to foreseeing strategy from the team although we played already against them in Stavanger”. International tournaments are a good opportunity for us to improve, because as best team in Angola we have less resistance on matches. We're in good shape and still have a lot before," said the 42 year old. 

Match Schedule 

Results

Results 

During the qualifying rounds of the afternoon, already a large audience found the way to the grandstands. Even the players said they were surprised and delighted by the enthusiasm that already exists at the first day from the tournament.

In the second two last game of the qualifying rounds the Austrians Sara Montagnolli and Barbara Hansel managed to qualify for the main tournament, also the Finnish sisters Nystrom-Nystrom who won against the american team Rutledge-Hochevar.

After a somewhat sluggish game against the Swiss team in the morning, the Finnish twin sisters were with her second match of the day very happy. "We have played much better than in the morning, were athletic and technically at a higher level than before." The last year in Gstaad on rank 5 ranked team hopes for this year stuff.

No Beach Volley Tornament in Gstaad without SEAT Girls who enjoy each of the audience during the breaks.

Second Swatch World Tour Gstaad for the two young Swiss players Marlen Brunner and Joana Heidrich. After a thrilling first set, they lost the game (17-21, 12-21) about the two experienced twins Erika and Emilia Nystrom from Finland. Despite the defeat of the two Swiss women, the 1.65 m wide Marlen Brunner was satisfied after the game and commented positively on the atmosphere at the domestic audience.

In the first round of the women’s qualification, Y.Huang-Yue Y. (CHN) wins against the austrian Team Rimser-Pichler in three sets (15-21, 21-17, 15-6). In the second game the Brazilian team Vivian-Lima played against Syrtseva-Ushkova from Russia.

In the first set, after a equalized part until 18:18, the Brazilians decided the first round with 21:18 for themselves. Brazilian finally wins the game (21:18, 21:14), not least because of some mistakes of the Russians. 

In women’s country quota-games, two German teams qualified for the next round: Borger-Büthe and Hüttermann-Schumacher.

Also one Brazilian team qualified for the next round. Lima-Vivian defeated Lili-Vieira after they had won their first game against Renata-Lese Lima.

The surprise of the day are Lisa Rutledge and Brittany Hochevar of the US. They won against Akers-Branagh for the second time in eight days.

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