Swiss Beach Tandem Spikes Defending Champions

NEW YORK, N. Y. - The Laciga brothers of Switzerland eliminated the Norweigian tandem of Jan Kvalheim and Bjorn Maaseide from medal contention here Friday (July 24) evening as the 1998 Goodwill Games started its final session of round-robin men's beach volleyball competition at Wollman Rink.

Martin and Paul Laciga rallied from a 14-11 deficit to score a 16-14 decision over Kvalheim and Maaseide to oust the Goodwill Games defending champions.  The Norweigians had to win the match against the Swiss along with posting a 15-11 or better winning score to advance.

However, the Lacigas mounted a "tremendous" comeback to tie Kvalheim and Maaseide in the Group B standings with 1-2 marks.  The Norweigians had a better point differential (minus-2 to minus-9) to earn a spot in the fifth-sixth playoff while the Lacigas will play for seventh in the overall Goodwill Games standings.

With the Swiss win, Martin Conde and Esteban Martinez of Argentina will advance to the medal round as the second-place Group B team with Julien Prosser and Leo Zahner of Australia winning the pool.  Both teams tied with a 2-1 mark with the Aussies have a point differential edge (plus-8 to plus-3).

The Brazilian tandem of Guilherme Marques and Para Ferreira finished their round-robin Group A pool play with a perfect 3-0 to advance to the Goodwill Games semi- finals against Conde and Martinez Saturday at Wollman Rink in Central Park.

Prosser and Zahner downed previously unbeaten Martin Conde and Esteban Martinez of Argentina 15-7 in the day's first match before the Brazilians rallied to defeat John Child and Mark Heese of Canada 15-11.  Guilherme and Para, the top-rated team on the 1998 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, were down 6-0 to the Canadians before rallying to take a 10-9 lead.  The two teams were tied at 11-11 before Brazil scored the last four points.

A pair of United States tandems conclude the group's schedule as Adam Johnson/Karch Kiraly play fellow Americans Ricci Luyties and Sinjin Smith at approximately 6:45 p.m. Johnson and Kiraly must win the match to advance to Saturday's semi-final medal round.  A Luyties/Smith win would propel Child and Heese into the medal round as Group A's second- place finish.   Child and Heese finished with a minus-1 point differential while Johnson and Kiraly are currently minus-5 and Luyties and Smith minus-23.

Saturday's two sessions start at 12 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.  The men's Gold and Bronze medal matches will be Sunday starting at 12 p.m.  The Goodwill Games men's beach competition features $100,000 in prize money with Sunday's winners sharing $30,000 for first-place.