Press Release

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 23, 2004 - The Brazilian men out-did their women counterparts here Thursday morning during the first round of the Main Draw in the US$360,000 Banco do Brasil Open, the final event on the 2004 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour for both genders.

Seven Brazilian women's team combined for a 14-2 match mark Wednesday during the opening rounds of the Main Draw, including a 5-2 record for the first set of matches. The Brazilian men posted a 6-1 opening mark Thursday.

Played on world famous Copacabana Beach where the women will be deciding their "final four" teams, the Brazilian men won six of seven first-round matches. One of the meetings was an All-Brazilian affair as second-seeded Franco Neto and Tande Ramos out-lasted 31st-seeded Bruno De Paula and Rodrigo Monteiro 21-16 and 22-20 to complete the first-round.

Brazil's men's Olympic teams at the Athens 2004 Summer Games also won their first matches Thursday as top-seeded Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos posted a 21-18 and 21-19 win over 32nd-seeded Phil Delhausser and Adam Roberts of the United States while fourth-seeded Marcio Araujo and Benjamin Insfran rallied to defeat 29th-seeded Thanassis Michalopoulos and Emmanouil Xenakis of Greece 28-30, 22-20 and 15-13 in 72 minutes.

Also posting wins for Brazil Thursday were seventh-seeded Harley Marques/Fred Souza, eighth-seeded Pará Ferreira/Pedro Cunha and ninth-seeded Fabio Magalhães/Paulo Emilio Silva. Harley and Fred, who earned a "wild card" for the Main Draw, posted a 21-17 and 21-17 win over 26th-seeded Florian Gosch and Bernhard Strauss of Austria.

A pair of qualifiers for the Main Draw, the teams of Pará/Cunha and Magalhães/Paulo Emilio will play each other in the second-round of the winner's bracket with the winner playing the victors of the match between Emanuel/Ricardo and Raul Papaleo Përez/Ramon Hernandez of Puerto Rico.

Pará and Cunha opened with a 21-18 and 21-15 win over 25th-seeded Fabio Galli and Andrea Raffaelli of Italy while Magalhães and Paulo Emilio posted a 21-14 and 21-11 victory over 25th-seeded Kirk Pitman and Jason Lochhead of New Zealand.

Athens bronze medallists Patrick Heuscher and Stefan Kobel of Switzerland began play Thursday with 21-19 and 23-21 win over Marvin Polte and Thorsten Schoen of Germany. The third-seeded Swiss face 14th-seeded Mariano Baracetti and Pedro Ramon Depiaggio of Argentina in their second match.

Javier Bosma and Pablo Herrera, who are playing with different partners for the second-time in three weeks after winning the silver medal in Athens last month, split their matches Thursday. The 18th-seeded Herrera and Raul Mesa posted a 22-20, 19-21 and 15-12 win over 15th-seeded Katshuiro Shiratori and Shinpei Aoki of Japan. Bosma and Juan Garcia Thompson dropped a 13-21, 22-20 and 15-13 decision to Papaleo Përez and Hernandez.