Beach volleyball favorites confident ahead of Beijing Olympics
7/8/2008 17:14
US beach volleyballers Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser said today they are
confident ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
The two are considered favorites for
their momentum of winning in prominent competitions in the past two years. They
are also placed first on the Olympic qualification rankings.
"We're confident
but we hate to say we're favourites. In my opinion Ricardo and Emanuel (of
Brazil) are the favorites," said Dalhausser after training at the Chaoyang Park
beach volleyball ground.
"But being considered favourite is pretty cool," he
added.
Rogers said: "We're relaxed, we don't stress, we just do our
things."
There are good reasons to believe the Americans are serious
contenders for the Beijing Games championship.
They are winners of five FIVB
World Tour gold medalists and in 2007 they won the FIVB World Championships in
Gstaad, Switzerland. With a 21-match winning streak this year, the US duo
entered the Beijing Olympics.
The Americans are 1-1 this year against
Brazilians Emanuel Ricardo and Ricardo Santos, Athens Games champions.
The
year of 2008 is their "most productive year," said The 2.06-meter Dalhausser,
who was named FIVB World Tour best blocker in 2006 and 2007.
"We've won more
AVP (Associaton of Volleyball Professionals) events this year than last year.
We're definitely playing better and more consistently."
"We hate to lose and
maybe even more so than anyone else," said Rogers, who is nicknamed "The
Professor" for his extensive experience on the beach.
The two said their
cooperation is perfect.
"We compliment each other well. I like to describe
myself as quietly intense and I would describe him in a similar manner," said
Rogers.
Xinhua
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