Johnson/Kiraly Advance to Goodwill Gold Medal Beach Volleyball Match

NEW YORK, N. Y. - Adam Johnson and Karch Kiraly of the United States earned the first berth in the 1998 Goodwill Games Gold medal match for men's beach volleyball by downing Julien Prosser and Leo Zahner of Australia here Saturday (July 25) at Wollman Rink in Central Park.

The Johnson/Kiraly tandem scored a 12-2 and 12-10 win over the Australians to advance to Sunday's 2 p.m. (EDT) Gold medal match against the winner of Saturday's second semi-final match. The Americans led from the start to win the first set easily before Prosser and Zahner made a match of it in the second set by tying Johnson and Kiraly at 9s and 10s.

Brazilians Guilherme Marques and Para Ferreira of Brazil and Martin Conde are challenged in the second semi-final match by Esteban Martinez of Argentina at 5:45 p.m.  Sunday's Gold medalists will share the $30,000 first-place prize.

Guilherme and Para finished as only unbeaten team in the 1998 Goodwill Games after three days of round-robin play with a 3-0 mark to win the Group A pool.  Conde and Martinez placed second in Group B with a 2-1 round-robin record.

Both the semi-final and medal matches feature the FIVB's Format B with two out of three sets to 12 points.  The first two sets must be won with a minimum lead of two points with a point limit at 12-point cap.  The deciding set will feature the rally scoring system to 12 points with a minimum lead of two points.   There is no point cap for the deciding set.

Norway's Jan Kvalheim and Bjorn Maaseide scored a 15-13 win over John Child and Mark Heese of Canada to capture fifth-place earlier Saturday at Wollman Rink.  The Norwegians, who won the 1994 Goodwill Games Gold medal in St. Petersburg, Russia, shared the $8,000 purse for fifth-place while Child and Heese, the Bronze medalists at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, split $7,000 for sixth.

Ricci Luyties and Sinjin Smith of the United States face the Laciga Brothers (Martin and Paul) of Switzerland at 4:30 p.m. Saturday for seventh-place as the winners split $5,000.  The seventh-place playoff is one game to 15 points with a minimum lead of two points with a 17-point cap.