Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann hold nerve to knock out first seeds Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser at Foro Italico
Reigning world champions Julius Brink (left) and Jonas Reckermann can't hide their delight during their win over number one seeds Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser.
Rome, Italy, June 17 – Defending champions Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann had to use every ounce of their determination to fight back against number one seeds Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser and reach the men’s quarterfinals of the FIVB Swatch World Championships Rome 2011 powered by smart.
The Germans trailed after the first set and after coming back to win the second they appeared to be on their way home when the United States pair were two points off winning.
Instead Brink and Reckermann’s refusal to give up their title meant it was they who left centre court with the win, 17-21, 21-19, 18-16.
“I can tell you it was very up and down and I can tell you that it was very difficult for us to keep our self-confidence, especially in situations when we were down by five points,” Brink said.
“I think what we proved was that we kept fighting and kept thinking positive and maybe that was the thing that kept us in the game."
Next up for Brink and Reckermann is a quarterfinal clash with Mariusz Prudel and Grzegorz Fijalek of Poland on Saturday.
The 2009 champions will be in good heart for the match after ending a long losing streak against 2008 Olympic champions Rogers and Dalhausser.
“It was a very important win for us emotionally because I think in the last seven we lost against this pair,” Brink said.
“I can’t say I’m 100 per cent happy with everything. We struggled a little bit with our setting and that is something to focus on. But if we’re focused on our own game it doesn’t really matter who we are playing.”
