Stars and stripes storm to success

2016-06-30 19:43:00 CET

Stars and stripes storm to success

Five wins from six for American heroes

Casey Patterson and Jake Gibb celebrate against their fellow Americans. Photocredit: Mike Ranz.

One American team might have bitten the dust in the women’s competition but it was a different story for the men as the stars and stripes stormed to five wins from six matches.

The opening day of men’s Pool Play was full of twists and turns but the Americans battled through to dominate on the sand on a thrilling Thursday to remember.

smart Major Hamburg winners Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena won both of their games, as did Casey Patterson and Jake Gibb. Not to be left out, Tri Bourne and John Hyden were also winners – but lost to Gibb/Patterson earlier in the day.

But it wasn’t all plain sailing for all the fancied teams in the main draw…just ask the Dutch and the Brazilians…

Number one seeds Alison/Bruno were shown a lesson in beach volleyball as they were beaten by Polish pair Fijalek/Prudel on Court 5.

And last year’s Poreč Major winners Brouwer/Meeuwsen suffered a set-back in the defense of their gold when losing to in-form Brazil young stars Saymon/Guto. There was some Dutch delight, though, as Nummerdor/Varenhorst triumphed twice in their pool matches.

There was merriment for last year’s Poreč Major silver and bronze medalists as Saxton/Schalk and Ranghieri/Carumbula both won both of their games to put themselves within touching distance of the round of 16.

The men’s Pool Play comes to a conclusion on Friday – make sure you stay with us on our social media and website to watch all the action unfold!

Two wins out of two today for Phil Dalhausser! Photocredit: Mike Ranz