FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 2013 - Rome Grand Slam - Final day

Brazil’s men set up the possibility of claiming the gold and silver medals at the smart Grand Slam – Rome, when both Pedro Salgado and Bruno Oscar Schmidt won their semifinals. 

Pedro and Bruno beat Germany’s Kay Matysik and Jonathan Erdmann to set up a clash against Sean Rosenthal and Phil Dalhausser to keep open the possibility of a second Grand Slam gold in two weeks following their glory at The Hague Grand Slam. 

Emanuel Rego and Alison Cerutti meanwhile beat Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek and Mariusz Prudel and will now play Latvia’s Janis Smedins and Aleksandrs Samoilovs.

Brazil also have the chance of a women’s gold medal after Talita Antunes and Taiana Lima set up a final showdown with USA’s April Ross and Jennifer Kessy. Their compatriots Liliane Maestrini and Barbara Seixas De Freitas will play German duo Britta Buthe and Karla Borger for the women’s bronze. 

Smedins and Samoilovs eye further World Tour glory 

Smedins and Samoilovs have further FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour glory in their sights after reaching the men’s semifinals. The duo had a hard struggle and had to fight back from a set down to beat Brazil’s Ricardo Santos and Alvaro Filho 2-1 (19-21, 22-20, 15-10) at the Foro Italico. 

They now face another Brazilian team in Emanuel and Alison, who reached the last four with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-17) victory against Fijalek and Prudel.

The other semifinal will pit The Hague Grand Slam winners Pedro and Bruno against Rosenthal, one half of the 2012 Rome gold medallists and Dalhausser. MORE

Talita and Lima on course for back-to-back gold

Talita and Lima are on course to win a second gold medal in consecutive FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour grand slams after they reached the final, where they will meet Kessy and Ross. 

The Brazilian pair held off a strong challenge from first-time semi-finalists Buthe and Borger to win 2-1 (21-19, 13-21, 15-11).

Kessy and Ross remain on course for a second consecutive podium finish with a 2-1 (21-19, 10-21, 15-13) win against Brazil’s Liliane and Barbara. A year ago they finished with the bronze medals, while in 2010 they won gold. MORE

The Rome Grand Slam is the fourth Grand Slam of 10 on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. The competition runs from June 17 until June 23, when both the men’s and women’s finals take place.