Germans Brink/Reckermann win gold medal of men's beach volleyball

 LONDON, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Germans Julius Brink¹ and Jonas Reckermann beat reigning² FIVB world champions Emanuel Rego and Alison Cerutti of Brazil to win the gold medal of men's beach volleyball at London Olympics on Thursday.

The Germans won the match by 23-21, 16-21,16-14 in the fully-packed Horse Guard Parade, central London, which brought the duo their, and the Europe's first Olympic gold medal.

"The first set was pretty close, from the beginning to the end," Reckermann said. "In the second the Brazilians played great and we had trouble siding out. In the third we went point by point and then at 14-11 we lost three match points and we said 'stop, not this time'. It is unbelievable, there was so much pressure."

"It's great for European beach volleyball. It's great that we were the ones who won the gold. I hope it will bring up our sport in Europe," he said.

Both undefeated to sail into the final, the two duos met eight times already in international matches with the Brazilian's leading 5-3 including winning the last four straight. In their most recent meeting, the Brazilians came from behind to win in Moscow.

The Germans, however, were in a better shape in London with less errors and a thorough³ exhibition of their blocking skills. The Brazilians made eight service faults, while the Germans two.

The opener was never so tight in the tournament as the two pairs tie to 21-all. Brazilian Rego spiked⁴ out of sideline to give the Germans the set point, which the Germans grabbed⁵ to win 23-21.

The top-seeded Brazilians showed their quality at the second set to dominate⁶ the court, when their powerful service posed⁷ a huge threat for the rivals' reception. They quickly build a lead 10-7. Rego, a five-time Olympian, found his form at the back of the court, while Alison was his usual powerful presence at the net. The Germans saved one set point, but a Brink service error allowed the Brazilians to draw level.

The teams continued to push each other hard from the start of the third set. Germany grabbed the initiative⁸ and built up a four-point lead. The Brazilians saved three match points to draw level at 14-14, but the Germans immediately gained another and when Rego's shot dropped wide, it gave the Germans the win and the gold medal.

"Both teams deserved the gold medal, but winning the silver medal is a great motivation for our country towards the next Olympic Games in Rio," said Rego.

The 39-year-old is competing in his fifth consecutive⁹ Olympic Games with a gold medal in Athens and bronze medal in Beijing by playing with Ricardo Santos, while it is the first for the 26-year-old Cerutti.

On whether he will compete for another Olympic gold medal at the homeland four years later, he said, "I don't know if I will be in shape still, no one has played an Olympics at that age."

Disappointed as he is, Cerutti, the younger partner of the Brazilian duo, said the silver medal still meant a lot to Cerutti, though he had complains for the rule of Rego's last shot.

"They (the Germans) deserved the win. But the last ball, we believed it's in (the court), and at least they (the referees) should came to have a look, but they didn't," Cerutti said.

"But the silver medal is great too. I will share it with all the Brazilian people. It belongs to my country," he said.

Earlier, Latvia's Janis Smedins and Martins Plavins rallied¹⁰ back to beat Netherlands' Richard Schuil and Reinder Nummerdor to win the bronze medal.

The victory earned Latvia' s first medal of London. Latvia's President Andris Berzins called the pair to extend his congratulations.

"He said we are young and that we have a big future," said Smedins."He wished us well for the future and said he's very happy for us.

"We saw a Latvian (Ineta Radevica) finish fourth in the long jump last night and she missed bronze by a few centimeters. We knew we had one more chance to win a medal for Latvia. We don't get too many medals for Latvia, so there was a lot of pressure," he said.

"To win a medal is easy, but an Olympic medal is different. It's too heavy," he said.

1 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

2 reigning   

adj.统治的，起支配作用的

参考例句：

• The sky was dark, stars were twinkling high above, night was reigning, and everything was sunk in silken silence. 天很黑，星很繁，夜阑人静。
• Led by Huang Chao, they brought down the reigning house after 300 years' rule. 在黄巢的带领下，他们推翻了统治了三百年的王朝。

3 thorough   

adj. 彻底的，完全的，精心的

参考例句：

• He made a very thorough analysis on the situation.他对形势的分析很透彻。
• The committee reported its findings after a thorough investigation.委员会在彻底调查以后报告了调查结果。

4 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

5 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。

6 dominate   

v.支配，统治，高出，俯视，在...中占首地位

参考例句：

• They had the ambition to dominate this small country.他们有控制这个小国的野心。
• The strong usually dominate over the weak.强者常常支配弱者。

7 posed   

使摆姿势( pose的过去式和过去分词 )； 以…身份出现； 招摇； 炫耀

参考例句：

• The players strutted and posed for the cameras. 运动员昂首阔步，摆好姿势让记者拍照。
• After the wedding we all posed for a photograph. 婚礼之后，我们全体排好拍了一张照片。

8 initiative   

n.主动性，首创精神，主动权（的行动），倡议

参考例句：

• He went to see the headmaster on his own initiative.他主动去看望校长。
• His employer had described him as lacking in initiative and drive.雇主说他缺乏进取心和干劲。

9 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

10 rallied   

恢复( rally的过去式和过去分词 )； 价格回升； 集合起来； 嘲笑

参考例句：

• Has the child rallied from her high fever yet? 这个女孩的高烧退了吗？
• The enemy's forces rallied, and made a fresh attack on the town. 敌军重新调集兵力，对该城发动了又一次进攻。