Posted at 7:14 a.m., Sunday, June 24, 2007
Beach volleyball: Hawaii's Lambert, Metzger 3rd in Paris
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Hawai'i's Mike Lambert and Stein Metzger defeated Germany's Julius Brink and Christoph Dieckmann, 21-12, 21-17, today to finish third in the Henkel Grand Slam in Paris, the first of four Grand Slam events on beach volleyball's SWATCH FIVB World Tour.Lambert and Metzger, seeded 14th in the tournament, shared $23,000.
"This is a good way to start the season with a good finish in a grand slam event," Metzger said in a story at the FIVB Web site. "We played well internationally last season, but not great. Hopefully, Mike and I will put together a string of medal finishes enroute to earning a spot in the Olympics. We defeated a very good team today and hade a good week against the world."
Lambert and Metzger won six of their seven matches this week with their only loss in the semifinals to reigning Olympic champions Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos of Brazil.
The Henkel Slam is part of the qualifying process for the Beijing 2008 Olympics, where 24 teams per gender will compete for gold medals. It will also help finalize entries for the 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Championships, July 24 to 29 in the Swiss Alps village of Gstaad. The $1 million World Championships is the second most prestigious beach volleyball event behind the Olympics. It features 48-team main draws for both men and women.
