Brazil sweeps gold medals in The Hague Golf Tips

Brazil sweeps gold medals in The Hague

August 26, 2011, 4:54 pm

For the fifth time in six meetings this season, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh fell to top-ranked Brazilians Larissa Franca and Juliana Silva. But Sundays defeat in the gold-medal match of the FIVB Hague Open in The Netherlands will be the one that sits with the Americans all off season.

After taking the Brazilians to three sets but losing in their first three matchups of the year, May-Treanor and Walsh broke through to defeat their top rivals last month in the final of the Moscow Grand Slam. But in the two meetings since, Larissa and Juliana prevailed both times in straight sets. On Sunday, they won 21-17, 21-15.

Its the sixth gold medal of the year for Larissa and Juliana, including the world title they won in June by defeating May-Treanor and Walsh in the final. Its the fourth silver medal of the summer for the Americans, who also won three titles, but havent lost more finals than they won in a season since 2001.

One more womens tournament is left on the FIVB World Tour schedule, but its more than two months away and on the other side of the world in Phuket, Thailand, Nov. 1-6, meaning May-Treanor and Walsh are unlikely participants. May-Treanors agent said Sunday that she is done for the season unless something presents itself that they are unaware of now.

May-Treanor and Walsh, who own two Olympic gold medals and three world titles, can look back on their first season together since 2008 proudly, as it featured final appearances in seven of the 11 tournaments they played, the three gold medals, a silver at the world championships, and zero finishes outside the top five. But they can also be motivated by the fact that they were not the best team in the world.

That honor has undoubtedly gone to Larissa and Juliana for the past three years. With their win Sunday, they wrap up their third straight World Tour season title and have 21 FIVB gold medals in the past three years alone. They own 42 career titles overall from the World Tour, which is four better than May-Treanor and Walsh.

Earlier Sunday, Brazils Maria Antonelli and Talita Antunes crushed Xue Chen and Zhang Xi of China (21-11, 21-10) for their third bronze medal of the season, and fourth medal overall. Maria and Talita will likely finish fourth in the world rankings, right behind Xue and Zhang, who have six medals on the season.

Ricardo/Pedro grab another gold Brazil also won the mens title in The Hague, as Pedro Cunha and Ricardo Santos fended off Reinder Nummerdor and Richard Schuil of The Netherlands, who won the first set, but couldnt put the Brazilians away in front of their home crowd Sunday (15-21, 21-18, 15-8).

Its the second title in just four World Tour events together for Pedro and Ricardo, who teamed up a month ago after Ricardo split from his original partner, Marcio Araujo. And its the first FIVB medal since 2009 for Nummerdor and Schuil, who have struggled since winning three gold medals that year.

In the mens bronze-medal match, a meeting between two first-time FIVB semifinalists, Yaroslav Koshkarev and Konstantin Semenov of Russia defeated Petr Benes and Premysl Kubala of the Czech Republic (21-18, 21-19).

One mens event is also left on the World Tour schedule, Oct. 4-9 in Agadir, Morocco. Regardless of who shows up, Brazils Emanuel Rego and Alison Cerutti, who skipped The Hague event, have locked up the World Tour season title. Americans Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser, who are done for the year after Rogers injured his knee last week, finished second.

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