Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann established themselves as one of the top beach volleyball teams in the world as the Germans captured the gold medal here Sunday at the 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Championships.

Seeded third in the 48-team event, Brink and Reckermann won eighth-straight matches the past 10 days on the dockside courts in this southwestern Norwegian port city to claim the 60,000-US-dollar winner prize in the most prestigious beach volleyball event outside of the Olympic Games.

Brink and Reckermann opened play Sunday by scoring a 21-17, 16-21 and 15-10 semifinal win in 67 minutes over second-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers of the United States, the reigning Olympic and world champions.

After Dalhausser and Rogers earned their spot on Sunday's podium with a win over a second German team in this week's men's "final four", Brink and Reckermann claimed their world championship with a 21-16 and 21-19 win over top-seeded Alison Cerutti and Harley Marques of Brazil in the 50-minute gold medal match in front of a packed house of over 8,000 excited fans at the center court.

"We knew that we had to defeat the world's best teams to win the gold medal this week," said Brink, who will celebrate his 27th birthday Monday after being named the SWATCH most outstanding player for the 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Championships.

"We defeated three teams with Olympic credentials to reach the finals, including two Olympic and world champions to reach the finals. It is great to know that Germany will now be listed among the world champions on a very elite list," he said.

The 1-million-US-dollar SWATCH FIVB World Championships also featured women's action where Americans Jen Kessy and April Ross defeated Brazilians Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca 30-28 and 23-21 in 58 minutes to win the gold medal on Saturday.