News 25/02/2016 Long day begins Maceió Open Main Draw rounds Maceió, Brazil, February 25, 2016 - Eight hours, 33 minutes after the conclusion of a men’s Main Draw contest between the United States and Venezuela here Wednesday evening, the $150,000 Maceió Open resumed on the Pajuçara in front of the Hotel Enseada with another 48-match schedule Thursday.Although records are not kept for the “longest day at the beach”, Wednesday’s 48 matches covered a 15 hour, 27 minute period featuring 32 men’s and 16 women’s pool play matches where 21 of the contests were three-setters on the four Pajuçara courts in the Brazilian coastal state of Alagoas.Quick links• Maceio Open website• Qualification results - Men• Qualification results - Women• Main draw results - Men• Main draw results - Women“I think it is the latest I have ever started a match,” said 35-year old Sean Rosenthal, who started playing beach volleyball full-time in 2000. “In a way, it is nice to be playing late due to less heat and humidity. But, we have to adjust to playing under the lights.”The reason for the late start of the United States and Venezuela match was that the Pajuçara Court No. 3 was running 86 minutes behind schedule when the preceding match featuring Italy and Switzerland was scheduled to start. The teams from the European countries completed the first two sets on Court No. 3 with the third and deciding set being moved to the center court under the lights.Italy's Adrian Carambula (left) and Alex Ranghieri work togetherWith 70 minutes between the final two sets, seventh-seeded Adrian Carambula and Alex Ranghieri of Italy defeated Philip Gabathuler and Mirco Gerson of Switzerland 2-1 (21-18, 25-27, 15-12) in a 60-minute match. The match started at 4:56 p.m. with the second set ending at 5:43 p.m. The third set between Italy and Switzerland resumed on the “lighted” center court at 6:53 p.m.Wednesday’s late night affair, which was originally scheduled for 4:20 p.m. (local time), featured the 16th-seeded Rosenthal and American partner Theo Brunner against 32nd-seeded qualifiers Jhonatan Golindano and Peter Hernandez of Venezuela. The match started six hours, 15 minutes late at 10:35 p.m. The young Venezuelans started strong and dominated the first set by defeating Brunner and Rosenthal 21-10.The second set was “nip-and-tuck” with the Americans winning 22-20 to force a third set where Brunner and Rosenthal’s experience led them to a 15-11 victory for their second win in the Maceió Open. Earlier Wednesday, the Americans posted a 2-0 (23-21, 21-13) win in 35 minutes over 17th-seeded Martins Plavins and Haralds Regza of Latvia.Latvia's Haralds Regza against USA's Theodore BrunnerBrunner and Rosenthal conclude Pool A play against top-seeded Evandro Goncalves and Pedro Solberg, who defeated Plavins and Regza 2-1 (22-20, 15-21, 15-12) in 55 minutes in the match played before the USA-Venezuela contest. The winner of Thursday’s pool match between the Americans and Brazilians wins the group and earns a first-round bye for Friday’s two rounds of elimination matches for both men and women.The Maceió Open concludes with the medal matches for both women and men where the gold medal teams will share the $11,000 first-place prize. The women’s 2015-2016 international calendar started last October with stops in Mexico and Turkey.Following the Maceió Open, the FIVB World Tour will take a week off before resuming competition March 8-13 on the famed Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, the first Grand Slam event on the 2015-2016 international beach volleyball calendar with an $800,000 purse. Print this Page News {{item.LocalShortDate}} {{item.Title}} All the News