News 29/05/2015 Brazil & Germany dominate Moscow Grand Slam men’s quarter-final pairings Moscow, Russia, May 29, 2015 - It will be three Brazilian, two German pairs in the quarter-finals of the US$800,000 Moscow Grand Slam along with tandems from Austria, The Netherlands and Spain as the third stop on the 2015 men’s FIVB World Tour calendar featured 16 matches at the Vodny Stadium Beach Sports Center here Friday.Brazilian pairs advancing are second-seeded Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, fourth-seeded Emanuel Rego/Ricardo Santos and 10th-seeded Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Salgado as the South Americans are guaranteed at least one spot in Saturday’s afternoon semi-finals.While Emanuel/Ricardo are challenged by Evandro/Pedro for the “guaranteed” semi-final berth, Alison and Bruno meet reigning FIVB world champions and 14th-seeded Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands in the first quarter-final match. If the Dutch do not conquer Alison and Bruno, Brazil will assure itself of a medal in the Moscow event that is appearing in the Russian capital for the eighth-straight year.With the Brazilians in the top-half of the bracket, the two German teams meet for a “guaranteed” semi-final berth as ninth-seeded Jonathan Erdmann and Kay Matysik meet compatriots Alexander Walkenhorst and Stefan Windscheif. The last quarter-final confrontations has 12th-seeded Pablo Herrera/Adrian Gavira of Spain playing 17th-seeded Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst of Austria.The tandems of Evandro/Pedro, Brouwer/Meeuwsen and Walkenhorst/Windscheif had to play two elimination matches Friday while the other five pairs only took the court once after receiving elimination first-round “byes” by winning their pools Thursday.Evandro and Pedro had the longest day by defeating teams from Italy and the United States in a pair of three-setters. After ousting the teenage Russian Youth Olympic champions, Brouwer and Meeuwsen snapped a four-match losing streak to seventh-seeded Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo of Italy with a 2-1 (21-13, 16-21, 15-13) win in 51 minutes.Walkenhorst and Windscheif survived a 67-minute three-set elimination match earlier Friday against a Switzerland tandem to earn a quarter-final berth opposite of compatriot Erdmann and Matysik with a two-set win over 19th-seeded Canadians Ben Saxton and Chaim Schalk Canada.Men’s champions Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Konstantin Semenov of Russia did not advance from pool play while Americans April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings placed 17th after forfeiting their last three matches due to the latter’s right shoulder injury.The first “big” event on the 2015 FIVB World Tour, the US$800,000 Moscow Grand Slam continues through Sunday when the medal matches for both men and women will be played. Following the first three rounds of women’s elimination play Friday, the semi-final contests will be staged Saturday.After this week’s event, the FIVB World Tour’s first “Major Series” stops are set for Croatia (Poreč, June 1-7) and Norway (Stavanger, June 8-14) before international circuit crosses the Atlantic for the final world championship “tune up” in the United States for the St. Petersburg Grand Slam in Florida (June 15-21). Print this Page News {{item.LocalShortDate}} {{item.Title}} All the News