The season is over for Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser.
Rogers suffered a knee injury during the championship of the FIVB World Tour’s Aland Open in Finland and was forced to withdraw near the end of the first set.
“Coming home tomorrow. Done for the season,” Rogers said in an email to Presidio Sports. “I have had a small meniscus tear since before Beijing this year. Just been dealing with it. This was either a much worse tear or a ligament. Hurts like hell.”
Rogers and Dalhausser were ahead 18-15 against Brazil’s Marcio Araujo and Benjamin Insfran when Rogers tweaked his left knee. They called a time out and Rogers was limping when they resumed playing. At 21-21, he couldn’t continue and called it quits.
“I was jumping and when I jumped I felt it pop, snap, whatever you want to call it,” Rogers described.
Marcio-Benjamin were declared the gold medalists and Rogers-Dalhausser settled for the silver medal. It was the ninth medal in 12 tour events for the local pro beach volleyball players. They were seeking their fifth title, which would have tied them with tour leaders Brazil’s Emanuel Rego and Alison Cerutti.
For the fifth-seeded Marcio-Benjamin, it was their first title since 2004 and their eighth overall on the FIVB Tour. With a combined age of 76 years, they became the oldest team to win a tour event.
Rogers-Dalhausser hadn’t experienced any major injuries until this year. In June, Dalhausser suffered a sprained ankle that slowed him for a couple of tournaments.
Rogers-Dalhausser will miss the final two stops on the tour in The Netherlands and Morocco.
