Berlin, Germany, June 29, 2003 - Brazil's Harley Marques Silva and Franco Jose Vieira won their first SWATCH-FIVB World Tour event together on Sunday when they downed Argentina's Mariano Baracetti and Martin Conde in the final of the $300,000 Berlin Grand Slam.
The duo, who only got together in March, defeated the 2002 World Tour champions 21-18, 21-16, which allowed Harley to successfully defend the title he won last year with his former partner.
It was an emotional and fully-deserved victory for the pair and gave Franco his first World Tour title since 1996, the year he finished top of the rankings.
The bronze medal went to another Brazilian pair, Ricardo Alex Costa Santos and Emanuel Rego, who silenced the packed Schlossplatz City Beach stadium in Berlin by defeating local favorites Markus Dieckmann, who was carrying an injury, and Jonas Reckermann 21-15, 21-16.
"This victory was very special and emotional for me. I have been playing this game for 15 years and it is my life - this is my first victory for seven years," said the 36-year-old Franco, who was unable to hide his tears as the Brazilian flag was raised to his national anthem.
"There are so many good teams in Brazil who have been together for many years, and when Harley and I got together earlier in the season nobody believed in us.
"But we believe in each other. Now we have a chance of achieving our objective which is to qualify for the Olympics next year. There is so little difference between the top teams and now we have to achieve more consistency."
It was Harley and Franco's third outing on the World Tour this year. They reached the quarterfinals at the season-opening Rhodes Open and the last 16 in Gstaad last week. They each receive $22,500 in prize money for their victory in Berlin as well as 600 vital ranking points, while Harley also received the Speedo Most Valuable Player award.
"The support of my family has allowed me to work so hard at this game, which I love," added Franco, the emotion clear in his voice. "We make a good pair - my experience and Harley's personality.
"After we lost our first pool match here in Berlin our mental preparation has been much better. We served very well today and our blocking was also good. That is one of the keys to our victory - we share all the blocking."
Sadly for the local hopes Dieckmann was not at his best during the bronze medal match owing to a strained stomach muscle which he had been carrying all week. But after seeking medical advice, which confirmed it would not get any worse, he decided to start the playoff to repay the superb support the pair had received from the German fans all week.
His partner can take some consolation from winning the SWATCH Fastest Serve Award (98.1 km/h) while the bronze medal collected by Emanuel and Ricardo made amends for what they considered a disappointing performance in the semis.
"Everything good that we did well in the bronze medal match we did not do in the semifinal," said Emanuel. "We did not prepare 100 per cent for the semis and it's a lesson we must learn for the next time.
"The World Tour is so tough now, the best standard in the world, and the best players always come to the front in the big events like this - they are confident and can deal better with the pressure in a grand slam."
The SWATCH-FIVB World Tour moves on to Norway next week for the $150,000 Stavanger Open. |
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