Kristiansand, Norway, August 31, 2008 - Seventh-seeded Pablo Herrera and Raul Mesa of Spain scored a 21-18, 15-21 and 15-13 win in 65 minutes over sixth-seeded Joao Luis Pianca Maciel and Bruno Oscar Schmidt of Brazil to get the second SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medal for Spain in the 22-year history of the international men’s Beach Volleyball circuit.

SWATCH FIVB World Tour Otera Open 2008 finished with the men’s final at the Centre Court in Tresse, Kristiansand Sunday evening. Teams from Brazil and Spain met to their fifth international final, Brazil leading by 3-1 with Brazilian victories for Ze Marco de Melo/Emanuel Rego against Javier Bosma/Sixto Jimenez (coach of Herrera/Mesa) in Tenerife 1995, Emanuel Rego/Ricardo Santos against Javier Bosma/Pablo Herrera Allepuz in Olympic Games in Athens 2004 and Emanuel/Ricardo against Inocencio Lario Carillo/Adrian Gavira Collado in Stare Jablonki 2008. Spanish victory was in Lianyungang, China in 2004 with Bosma/Herrera against Emanuel/Ricardo.

New Zealander Jason Lochhead and Kirk Pitman, tenth-seeded in SWATCH FIVB World Tour Otera Open, won the bronze medal match against thirteenth-seeded Florian Gosch and Alexander Horst of Austria with 21-19, 22-24 and 15-12 in 73 minutes.

Since 1994 and the Hamilton brothers Glenn and Reid, who placed fifth in a FIVB World Tour-tournament in Miami, USA that year, New Zealand hasn’t been close to the podium except Lochhead/Pitman’s recent trainer Craig Seuseu placing seven in Moscow 1998 and a couple of ninth spots for Lochhead/Pitman in 2005 and 2006. Their fourth place from Klagenfurt Grand Slam is now improved with a bronze medal in Otera Open in Kristiansand.

The next stop on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour for the top men's Beach Volleyball players starts Tuesday in Mallorca, Spain for the sixteenth of twenty World Tour events on the 2008 calendar. Brazil, Dubai, Bahrain and China will follow to complete the SWATCH FIVB World Tour 2008.