Moscow, Russia, July 6, 2008 -- Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers from the United States captured their third-straight SWATCH FIVB World Tour men’s title at the US$600,000 Moscow 2008 Grand Slam after beating a Chinese pairs here on Sunday.

The top-seeded Dalhausser and Rogers beat fourth-seeded Wu Penggen and Xu Linyin of China 16-21, 21-19 and 15-11 win in 60 minutes.

“The Chinese played very well, especially in the first set,” said the 34-year old Rogers, who has teamed with Dalhausser to top the qualifying list for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with 5,780 for their best eight finishes on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour since May 2007. Reigning Olympic champions Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos of Brazil are second with 5,500 qualifying points for Beijing.

“I made several errors in the first set and the Chinese’s service game was very good,” Rogers added. “The second set was close throughout, and we played our best in the third and deciding set. Tiny (Xu) and Peng (Wu) are a real force and we have been fortunate to beat them five times.”

Sunday’s win netted the Americans the $43,500 first-place check as Dalhausser and Rogers have reached the podium in nine of their last 10 SWATCH FIVB World Tour starts with four gold medals, including the 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Championship last July in Gstaad, Switzerland. For the 2008 season, the Americans have won 39 of 43 international matches with $188,000 in winnings. Dalhausser was also named the SWATCH most outstanding player for the Moscow 2008 Grand Slam.

Wu and Xu, who have dropped four gold medal matches this season in an effort to become the first Chinese men’s team to win a SWATCH FIVB World Tour title, split $29,500 for second-place. Despite the setback, Wu and Xu moved into the No. 6 Olympic ranking spot with 4,540 points.

In the All-German bronze medal match featuring the European countries Beijing entrants, fifth-seeded David Klemperer and Eric Koreng scored their third-straight SWATCH FIVB World Tour victory over compatriots Julius Brink and Christoph Dieckmann with a 21-18 and 21-15 victory in 47 minutes. Klemperer and Koreng shared $23,000 for third-place while Brink and Dieckmann shared $18,400 for fourth-place.

With the Germans in the semi-finals Sunday afternoon, Dalhausser and Rogers advanced to the finals with a 21-14, 18-21 and 15-11 win in 57 minutes Brink and Dieckmann. Wu and Xu earned a berth in the finale with a 21-19, 25-27 and 15-13 win over Klemperer and Koreng.