Moscow, Russia, May 31, 2015 - Germany will join Brazil and Spain on the US$800,000 Moscow Grand Slam men’s podium as Jonathan Erdmann and Kay Matysik snapped a three-match losing streak to Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt to defeat the Brazilians in two sets to win the bronze medal Sunday at the FIVB World Tour event.
The first of four medal matches played at the Vodny Stadium Beach Sports Center Sunday, the ninth-seeded Erdmann and Matysik scored a 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) win in 39 minutes over the second-seeded Alison and Bruno. The Brazilians had won the last three matches in the head-to-head competition with Erdmann and Matysik winning the first meeting last year at the China Grand Slam in Shanghai when the Germans placed third for their last FIVB World Tour medal.
With the win, the Germans shared $32,000 for finishing third while collecting 640 points as the Moscow Grand Slam is the first “big” qualifying event on the “Road to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games”. Alison and Bruno split $24,000 for the fourth-place finish along with netting 560 points for the FIVB World Tour and Olympic rankings.
Both teams dropped semi-final matches Saturday to the Moscow Grand Slam finalists as Erdmann and Matysik were defeated 2-0 (21-17, 21-18) in 39 minutes by 12th-seeded Pablo Herrera and Adriana Gavira of Spain Saturday while Alison and Bruno lost to 10th-seeded Brazilian rivals Evandro Goncalves and Pedro Salgado 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) win in 42 minutes.
Erdmann and Matysik were playing in their 58th FIVB event with the Moscow Grand Slam being their fifth “final four” finish and now three bronze medals. The Germans were ninth in London 2012 Olympic Games after being eliminated by Alison and Emanuel Rego. The next year at the FIVB World Championships in Poland, Erdmann and Matysik netted the bronze medal by defeating Alison and Emanuel for third-place. The pair has a 152-113 match mark on the international circuit.
The Moscow Grand Slam was Alison and Bruno’s 12th FIVB World Tour event together as the pair has now posted six “final four” finishes together. The pair’s lone international gold medal finish was last season at the Austrian Grand Slam in Klagenfurt. Alison and Bruno have a 52-20 FIVB match mark together.