Aussies Earn Beach Medal Round Berth

NEW YORK, N. Y. - Julien Prosser and Leo Zahner of Australia earned a spot in the 1998 Goodwill Games men's beach volleyball medal round here Friday (July 24) by downing previously unbeaten Martin Conde and Esteban Martinez of Argentina 15-7 in the day's first of four matches at Wollman Rink in Central Park.

Both the Aussies and the Conde/Martinez tandem finished with 2-1 round-robin match marks in Group B play, but Prosser and Zahner hold the tie-breaker with a plus-8 point differential (points scored minus points allowed) with Conde and Martinez at plus-3.  Point differentials are used as the first tie-breaker in case of two or more teams tying with the same record.

Conde and Martinez still have a chance to advance to Saturday's medal round semi-finals, but must hope that Jan Kvalheim and Bjorn Maaseide of Norway, the defending Goodwill Games beach volleyball champions, don't win their 5:30 p.m. (EDT) match today with the Martin and Paul Laciga of Switzerland by more than three points.  A win of 15-11 or better for the Norweigians provide Kvalheim and Maaseide with a point differential of plus-4 or better.

Guilherme Marques and Para Ferreira of Brazil, the top-rated team on the 1998 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, leads Group A with a 2-0 mark.  The Brazilians are scheduled to play John Child and Mark Heese of Canada at approximately 1:15 p.m. (EDT) in Friday's first Group A match in the FIVB-sanctioned event.

A pair of United States tandems conclude the group's schedule as Adam Johnson/Karch Kiraly play face fellow Americans Ricci Luyties and Sinjin Smith at approximately 6:45 p.m. With Thursday's 15-3 loss to the Brazilians, Johnson and Kiraly fell into third-place in Group A despite being tied with Child and Heese.  Both teams are 1-1 in pool play, but Child and Heese have a plus-3 point differential with Kiraly and Johnson at minus-5.