NEW YORK, N. Y. - It’s the United States vs. Australia and Argentina vs. Brazil here Saturday (July 25) in the semi-finals of the medal round of the 1998 Goodwill Games men’s beach volleyball at Wollman Rink in Central Park.

The fourth of five days of FIVB-sanctioned men’s beach volleyball competition also features two playoff matches to determine the fifth- and seventh-place finishers. The top four teams battle for a berth in Sunday’s Gold medal match where the winning team shares the $30,000 first-place prize.

Adam Johnson and Karch Kiraly are the United States’ hopes for a men’s beach volleyball Gold medal as the Americans battle the Australia tandem of Julien Prosser and Leo Zahner at approximately 1:15 p.m. (EDT).

Saturday’s first semi-final match features Group B round-robin pool play winner Prosser and Zahner. The Aussies posted the same mark as the Argentina tandem at 2-1, but Prosser and Zahner had the point differential edge (plus-8 points to plus-3) to break the tie. Johnson and Kiraly posted a 2-1 record in Group A, including a 15-3 loss to Guilherme and Para Thursday.

Brazilians Guilherme Marques and Para Ferreira, the 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, will be challenged at approximately 5:54 p.m. by Martin Conde and Esteban Martinez of Argentina in the second semi-final match.

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 like the first two sets. The fifth- and seventh-place playoffs are one game to 15 points with a minimum lead of two points with a 17-pont cap.

Saturday’s play begins at 12 p.m. with the fifth-place playoff match for $8,000 between Jan Kvalheim and Maaseide of Norway and Canadians John Child and Mark Heese, who won the Bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. The Norwegians won the inaugural Goodwill Games beach volleyball competition in 1994 at St. Petersburg, Russia.

Ricci