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Jen Boss & April Ross Rack Up Another International Win
In capturing their fourth three-set victory in the US$175,000 Phuket Thailand Open, Boss and Ross shared the $28,000 first-place prize after scoring an 18-21, 21-14 and 15-12 win in 63 minutes over Branagh and Turner, who split $19,500 for competing in their first-ever SWATCH FIVB World Tour together. Ross was named the SWATCH most outstanding player for the event and also had the top serve (82.5 km/h).
Competing internationally for the 19th-time, Boss and Ross have now claimed five SWATCH FIVB World Tour medals, including three podium placements in 2008 with a bronze in Berlin and a silver three weeks ago in Dubai where another All-American finale had Branagh and Kerri Walsh winning the title. Boss and Ross' first SWATCH gold medal was a Grand Slam victory at the 2007 Norwegian stop in Stavanager.
Earlier this week, Boss and Ross posted three-set wins over teams from Finland and Austria before defeating Branagh and Turner 21-16 and 21-12 in 39 minutes Friday to advance to the semi-finals where they scored a 21-16, 14-21 and 18-16 final four win in 58 minutes over eighth-seeded Geeske Banck and Anja Günther of Germany.
Sunday's title match was the third SWATCH stop this season where two women's teams from the United States competed for a FIVB women's gold medal while being the 19th overall since the start of the women's international tour in 1992. Boss also won her second Thailand gold medal as she captured a FIVB Challenger title in Pattaya with Heather Lowe in 2001.
American teams have now claimed the past two Phuket Thailand Open titles as Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh captured the 2007 SWATCH FIVB World Tour finale on Karon Beach by defeating Branagh and her Beijing 2008 Olympic Games partner Elaine Youngs for the gold medal. A two-time Olympic and three-time world champion with Walsh, May-Treanor's 2008 season ended with her participation on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars†program where she eventually ruptured her left Achilles tendon in a practice session.
Branagh was also attempting Sunday to become the first men’s or women’s player in the In the 22-year history of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour two win three international Beach Volleyball medals with different partners in the same season. In addition to the Dubai title, Branagh and Youngs captured a Spanish gold medal at the end of May in Barcelona.
Branagh, who finished fifth at the Beijing Games with Youngs, and Turner gained a spot in Sunday’s gold medal match with a 21-16 and 21-12 win in 41 minutes over 13th-seeded Tamsin Barnett and Becchara Palmer of Australia in Saturday’s first-semi-final.
In the bronze medal match, Banck and Günther posted their best SWATCH FIVB World Tour finishes as players and a team as the eighth-seeded Germans posted a 21-14 and 21-18 win in 43 minutes over Barnett and Palmer. Three weeks ago in Dubai, Banck and Günther had their best-ever placement with a fifth.
For achieving their fourth top nine placements on the SWATCH circuit in their last five FIVB events, Banck and Günther split $14,000 while the Aussies shared $10,500 for fourth-place in their first-ever international event together. Barnett was also playing in her first SWATCH FIVB World Tour event since placing fifth at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with Natalie Cook.
The calendar for the $8.325-million SWATCH FIVB World Tour in 2008 concludes this coming week in China with a $350,000 double gender event in Sanya. Featuring $350,000 in prize money, the China Sanya Open presented by Olympic Garden will be the 20th men’s and 19th women’s event on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour this season.
