Gstaad, Switzerland, June 22, 2003 - Brazil's Benjamin Insfran and Marcio Henrique Araujo secured their first gold medal of the 2003 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour on Sunday when they overcame the brave challenge of Germany's Markus Dieckmann and Jonas Reckermann in the final of the Men's Gstaad Open.
The Brazilians, second on the 2002 World Tour rankings and runners up in this event last year, fought back from a set down to win 23-25, 21-13, 15-10. The result helped them make amends for their loss in the final of last week's Rhodes Open.
Swiss fans were given a boost when Stefan Kobel and Patrick Heuscher claimed the bronze medal thanks to a 21-18, 19-21, 15-10 victory over Austrians Clemens Doppler and Niki Berger.
The Brazilians' victory moves them into first place on the 2003 World Tour rankings and, having reached successive finals, makes them the form team going into next week's Berlin Grand Slam.
"I think our concentration was better than in last week's final," said Marcio Araujo. "We also lost the first set in last week's final in Rhodes but we were not well enough prepared to come back and win the second. This week we were ready if that happened again.
"We have practised really hard for this year's Tour because our goal is to make it to the Olympic Games in Athens next season. That is the only aim we have in life at the moment.
"It was great to win today and it makes up for losing in Rhodes. Our physical training has been going very well and hopefully now we can now relax a bit before Berlin."
It was a valiant effort by the Germans, playing in their first World Tour final, but ultimately the greater power and experience of their rivals proved one hurdle too many. Having won a hard-fought first set, they appeared to lose focus at the start of the second and after falling 5-1 behind were unable to make up the difference.
They battled hard in the tiebreak and were level at eight points all before the experience of the Brazilians began to show when they secured a couple of crucial points.
"We talked about it and tried to avoid losing concentration at the start of the second set, but unfortunately we didn't," said Dieckmann, who can take some consolation from winning the Speedo Most Valuable Player Award.
"After going so far behind we gave away the second set and just tried to get ourselves ready for the tiebreak. I think the difference was that they managed to retain their concentration for maybe four or five minutes longer than we did.
"They have reached many finals and that showed today," added Dieckmann, who despite being one of the smaller players in the Main Draw manages impressive height at the net
"But we have played at a high level all week and that gives us confidence going into next week's event."
Patrick Heuscher won the SWATCH Fastest Speed Award after being timed at 97.2 mph.
The 2003 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour moves to Germany next week for the Berlin Grand Slam, the first grand slam of the season. |
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