Casey Jennings serving with Kevin Wong at the net
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Czech Republic, Prague, May 17, 2011 – Americans Casey Jennings and Kevin Wong were one of 14 teams to advance to the qualification tournament on Tuesday at the Prague Open, the first men’s only gender tournament of the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour 2011.
Jennings and Wong, who won gold last season in The Hague, eliminated their compatriots Michael Morrison and Ty Tramblie in straight sets, coming from behind in the second set to win 21-15 24-22.
“We only started playing together at the end of last year, competing in Aland and The Hague,†Jennings said. “We finished 25th in Brasilia and 17th in Shanghai so we do not have enough points to qualify directly.â€
Wong has moved in with Jennings and his wife, Olympic champion Kerri Walsh, in California. “We plan to play together for the next two years and aim for the Olympics,†Jennings said.
In addition to Jennings and Wong four teams from hosting country Czech Republic advanced to the qualification rounds, as well as three Austrian and three Russian, two German teams and one from Brazil.
Around 100 teams from 31 countries will compete in the $190,000 Prague Open. It is the first of two men’s single gender tournaments of the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour. The 32-team main draw starts on Thursday, with the semifinals being played on Saturday and the medal matches on Sunday. The winning team will split $30,000. Prague is hosting the Swatch World Tour for the third time, after 2008 and 2010. Americans Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal won the first edition. Last year Olympic champions Dalhausser and Rogers grabbed the gold, beating Brazilians Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego in the final. German world champions Brink and Reckermann finished third.
After Prague the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour will return to China for the June 6-11 Grand Slam in Beijing, before coming back to Europe again for the World Championships in Rome (June 13-19). The only other FIVB Swatch World Tour men-only event will be held in October in Agadir, Morocco.
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