Kristiansand, Norway, August 14, 2010 - It will be three teams from Brazil competing against reigning Olympic champions Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers of the United States for the medals at this week's SWATCH FIVB World Tour stop after each team won matches here Saturday at the US$380,000 Otera Open.

The top-seeded Dalhausser and Rogers will play third-seeded Marcio Araujo and Ricardo Santos in the first semi-final Sunday followed by fifth-seeded Harley Marques and Pedro Salgado challenging second-seeded Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego in the second match. The final two teams will be competing for the $30,000 first-place prize. The men's "final four" matches will be played Sunday at the Otera Open.

The top-seeded Dalhausser and Rogers, who clinched the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour championship for men last week in Stare Jablonki, Poland, joined Alison and Emanuel in netting the first two Otera Open semi-final berths Saturday by defeating pairs from Brazil and New Zealand, respectively.

Brazil secured the final two semi-final spots as Marcio Araujo/Ricardo and Harley/Salgado posted wins in the sixth-round of the elimination bracket with victories over teams from New Zealand and Brazil, respectively. Brazil has now advanced three teams to a SWATCH FIVB World Tour "final four"  50 times in the 24-year history of the international circuit with the Otera Open being men's event No. 255.

Dalhausser and Rogers, who will be competing in their 11th SWATCH FIVB World Tour semi-final this season and 28th overall in 36 international events since forming their partnership in 2006, advanced to the "final four" with a 21-11 and 21-16 victory in 44 minutes over Harley and Salgado. The Americans have won seven SWATCH gold medals this season and 15 FIVB titles overall.

Alison and Emanuel advanced to their seventh international semi-final this season with a 21-15 and 23-21 victory in 41 minutes over 19th-seeded Jason Lochhead and Kirk Pitman of New Zealand, who had posted three-straight upset wins over teams from Italy, Brazil and China to reach the quarter-finals in the winner's bracket. Emanuel won the 2007 Otera Open gold medal with Ricardo while Alison placed third last season with Harley.

With four match wins this week, Emanuel has now compiled 999 FIVB victories since starting his international career in 1994. The player with the most international tournament appearances (204), gold medals (70), podium placements (136), "final four" finishes (149) and earnings ($2,079,635), Emanuel has competed in 1,240 FIVB matches with an 80.6 winning percentage

Harley and Salgado rebounded from their setback to Dalhausser to advance to their first SWATCH FIVB World Tour semi-final since winning a gold medal together at May's Shanghai stop, with a 21-15, 18-21 and 21-19 win in 68 minutes over 11th-seeded compatriots Benjamin Insfran and Bruno Oscar Schmidt. Benjamin and Bruno had eliminated teams from The Netherlands and China to reach the final elimination round.

Marcio Araujo and Ricardo avenged a Thursday setback to Lochhead and Pitman by defeating the Kiwis 21-15 and 21-18 in 43 minutes in the elimination bracket quarter-finals. Earlier Saturday, Marcio Araujo and Ricardo ousted ninth-seeded Tarjei Skarlund/Martin Spinnangr of Norway (21-16, 20-22, 15-9, 59 minutes) and fourth-seeded Matt Fuerbringer/Nick Lucena of the United States (21-16, 12-21, 15-13, 50).