Martin Laciga Photo: eurobeachtour.com

Paul Laciga Photo: FIVB

Jody Holden Photo: Carola Fabrizia Semino

Conrad Leinemann Photo: FIVB

With Saturday's semifinals featuring four different countries for only the 23rd-time in 135 men's "open" FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour stops, the teams from Canada and Switzerland won semifinals matches over third-seeded Tande Ramos and Emanuel Rego of Brazil and fourth-seeded Mariano Baracetti and Martin Conde of Argentina.

The 15th-seeded Holdren and Leinemann scored a 23-21 and 21-19 win over Tande and Emanuel in 55 minutes while the eighth-seeded Martin and Paul Laciga scored a 21-19 and 21-19 win in 52 minutes over Baracetti and Conde, the 2001 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Champions.

"We told each other at the end of this match that this doesn't happen every day," Holden said after defeating Tande and Emanuel, who captured a FIVB Gold Medal earlier this season in Norway. "We didn't give up, played aggressive and changed our serve strategy twice. That was the key to win this match."

Sunday's title match will also mark the first time in the last 17 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour events where both finalists were not from a South American country. The Lacigas played in the last non-South American finale when they dropped the Gold Medal match to Julien Prosser and Lee Zahner of Australia in the 2002 German Open. The medal matches for the $150,000 Spanish Open are set for Sunday with the winning team sharing the $22,500 first-place prize.

Holden and Leinemann eliminated 25th-seeded Richard Kogel and Sander Mulder of the Netherlands 21-14, 19-21 and 15-12 to advance to their first "final four" since a fourth-place in the 1999 Portugal event. The 1999 Pan American Gold Medallists, Holden and Leinemann also placed third at the 1997 Brazilian Open in Rio de Janerio. Winners of only 15 of 31 matches this season, Holden and Leinemann had placed fifth in Portugal last month.

Baracetti and Conde prevented a "first" for Canada with two teams in an international semifinal as the Argentineans eliminated fifth-seeded John Child and Mark Heese 22-20 and 21-13 earlier Saturday on La Victoria beach where the wind was blowing extremely hard Saturday. Baracetti and Conde won the Swiss Open in June.

Two-time European champions, the Lacigas eliminated 16th-seeded Iver Horrem and Bjorn Maaseide of Norway 21-11 and 21-10 to advance to their first semifinal this season after finishing fifth in Germany and Canada. "On Friday, we played perfect," Martin Laciga said. "Against the Brazilians (Roberto Lopes and Franco Neto in a first-round elimination match Saturday), we had a shaky start, but we now have our form back. I like to play in the wind here. That was an advantage for us. I am happy to be in the semifinal, because this is exactly what we needed.¨

John Hyden and Christian McCaw, the only entry in the Spanish Open from the United States, dropped their opening Qualification Tournament match Thursday to placed 41st in the competition. While the other top USA men's teams competing in a domestic stop at Manhattan Beach, Calif., the ninth-seeded Hyden (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Christian McCaw (Santa Monica, Calif.) dropped a 21-19 and 21-19 decision in 36 minutes to 24th-seeded Mikko Esko and Toni Tuominen of Finland Thursday morning.

The men's 2002 international tour concludes with stops in Mallorca, Spain (September 4-8) and Fortaleza, Brazil (October 1-6). The Mallorca stop will be the sixth and final combined men's and women's event on the 2002 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.

Individual Match Results and Schedule
Pool Play Results
Tournament Results

~ Tim Simmons