Gstaad, Switzerland, July 11, 2015 - It did not take long for Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt to rebound from an upsetting pool play setback as the newly-crowned FIVB Beach Volleyball world champions from Brazil won three elimination matches here Saturday to advance to the semi-finals of the US$800,000 Gstaad Major.After ousting 23rd-seeded qualifiers Ryan Doherty and John Mayer of the United States 2-0 (23-21, 21-18) in 37 minutes, the third-seeded Alison and Bruno eliminated a pair of Brazilian rivals to gain their third semi-final berth this season along with pairs from Italy, Latvia and The Netherlands.Alison and Bruno, who dropped a pool play match Thursday to a team from Poland to finish second in their group, will play 29th-seeded qualifiers Adrian Carambula and Alex Ranghieri of Italy while fifth-seeded Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins of Latvia meet seventh-seeded Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen of The Netherlands in the first semi-finals. The medal matches will be played Sunday afternoon with the winning team sharing the $57,000 first-place prize.While the Brazilians, Dutch and Italians have all played in “final four” matches on the 2015 FIVB World Tour, Samoilovs and Smedins are playing in their first semi-final this season after finishing the 2013 and 2014 international season on the top team on the ranking list. The Latvians will be playing the Dutch for the first-time on the world tour. Alison and Bruno defeated Carambula and Ranghieri 2-0 (33-31, 23-21) in a 51-minute pool play match May 27 in the Russian Grand Slam in Moscow.Facing legendary compatriots and sixth-seeded Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos in the “Sweet 16”, Alison and Bruno posted a 2-0 (21-12, 21-13) win in 32 minutes to advance to the quarter-finals to play second-seeded Brazilians Evandro Goncalves and Pedro Salgado, the top-ranked team on the FIVB World Tour and bronze medal winners at the world championships is past Sunday in The Hague.Playing Saturday’s final match on the Swiss Alps village center court after the All-Brazilian women’s finale won by Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca, Alison and Bruno scored a 2-0 (21-17, 21-12) win in 33 minutes over Evandro and Pedro. The victory avenged a semi-final setback to Evandro and Pedro at the end of May in the Russian Grand Slam.Like the Alison and Bruno, all three teams reaching the men’s semi-finals had to win three matches Saturday in the third of three SWATCH Major Series events this season. In addition, Carambula and Ranghieri had to win two qualifying matches Wednesday to earn a spot in “money” rounds of the eighth FIVB World Tour event this season for men.After eliminating teams from Venezuela and Austria, Samoilovs and Janis Smedins advanced to the semi-finals with a win over 13th-seeded Tri Bourne and John Hyden of the United States 2-0 (24-22, 21-16) in 37 minutes. Smedins missed last week’s world championships in The Netherlands due to injuries as the Americans placed fifth.The 2013 world champions, Brouwer and Meeuwsen earned a spot in their fourth semi-final this season with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-19) win in 32 minutes over 12th-seeded Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai of Italy. Earlier Saturday, the Dutch scored three-set wins over compatriots top-seeded Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst and a team from Poland. Nummerdor and Varenhorst lost the world championship gold medal match this past Sunday to Alison and Bruno in The Hague.Carambula and Ranghieri, who have won seven of eight matches this week, opened with wins over pairs from Poland and Canada Saturday before advancing to their second third semi-final this season by eliminating 24th-seeded qualifiers Michal Kadziola and Jakub Szalankiewicz of Poland 2-1 (21-19, 18-21, 15-11) in a 48-minute quarter-final match.Following the Gstaad Major, the FIVB World Tour takes a week off before resuming in the inaugural Yokohama Grand Slam July 21-26. It will mark the first-time that both men and women have competed together in Japan in a FIVB World Tour event. Seven FIVB men’s only events were held in Japan from 1989-1995, including a 1991 on stop in Yokohama. A total of 14 women’s only events were held in Osaka from 1994-2005 and in 2008 and 2009.