 Lausanne, Switzerland, August 9, 2010 - After staging the sixth and final Grand Slam event of the 2010 season in Poland this past weekend at Stare Jablonki, the SWATCH FIVB World Tour resumes "open" competition this week in Norway as Kristiansand hosts an international Beach Volleyball event for the fourth-straight season.
The US$380,000 Otera Open starts Monday on the City Center courts in Kristiansand as Norway entertains its second SWATCH FIVB World Tour event this season. The Scandinavian country has been a regular host on the international schedule since 1999 when Stavanger hosted its first of 12 tournaments.
China and Poland are the other countries that hosted two international events in 2010. Shanghai hosted the season's second double gender this past May with Sanya staging the next-to-last women's event at the end of October. Myslowice entertained a men's-only stop at the end of May for Poland first tournament of the season.
With Brazilians topping the podium in the first three women's events in Kristiansand, the gender's Country Quota playoff matches are scheduled for Monday followed by a Tuesday Qualification Tournament to set the field for the 32-team Main Draw that features double-elimination play. The women's competition concludes on Saturday with the "final four" matches.
The men's Country Quota matches will be Tuesday leading to Wednesday's qualifier to determine the last eight spots in the "money" rounds that begin Thursday. The Otera Open concludes Sunday with the men's semi-finals and medal matches as the winning teams for both genders will share the $30,000 first-place prizes. Teams from Brazil, Spain and Russia have collected the first three men's gold medals in Kristiansand.
The SWATCH FIVB World Tour leaders captured the season's last Grand Slam events in Poland with the pairs of Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers of the United States and Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca each winning their fourth "major" event in 2010. For the Americans it was their seventh title in 2010 to tie a men's single-season international record for gold medal in a year.
Three Brazilian teams have won seven men's titles in a single-season, including Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos twice in 2004 and 2007. Roberto Lopes and Franco Neto established the record in 1995 with Emanuel and Jose Loiola matching it in 1999. On the women's side, Juliana and Larissa won eight gold medals last season with seven titles for the Brazilians in 2006 that was matched by Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh in 2007.
Dalhausser and Rogers set the mark for men's SWATCH Grand Slam titles in a season after topping the podium this year in Italy, Norway, Switzerland and Sunday in Poland where the Americans defeated Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann 21-19 and 21-19 in the 49-minute finale. The Polish title also gave Dalhausser and Rogers 11 "major" titles to break a tie with Emanuel and Ricardo for most Grand Slam men's gold medals.
May-Treanor and Walsh set the women's record of four Grand Slam titles in a season with four gold medals in 2003, including the world championship crown in Rio de Janeiro. The Americans matched it in 2007 highlighted by third world 'two Olympic titles in 2004 and 2008;
In tying May-Treanor and Walsh, Juliana and Larissa won four-straight Grand Slams this season in Norway, Switzerland, Austria and Poland after finishing fifth and third in the first two "majors" in Rome and Moscow, respectively. Overall, May-Treanor and Walsh won 16 SWATCH FIVB World Tour events with Juliana and Larissa second on the list with eight Grand Slam crowns.
With their 14-21, 25-23 and 16-14 win in 55 minutes Saturday over China's Chen Xue and Xi Zhang, Juliana and Larissa tied May-Treanor and Walsh's record of 35 SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medals for a team. Emanuel and Ricardo top the men's list with 33 titles during their season's together (2002-2009).
Juliana and Larissa's successful defense of their Polish title in Stare Jablonki also made the Brazilians the second team in the 24-year history of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour to surpass $2-million in team earnings. Juliana and Larissa have totaled $2,028,350 to rank second to compatriots Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede ($2,207,965).
With Larissa surpassing the $1-million winnings mark two weeks ago in Austria, Juliana exceeded the milestone last weekend to become the sixth player to achieve seven-figures in earnings. The other millionaires are Emanuel Rego ($2,074,035), Ricardo Santos ($1,444,820), Shelda ($1,320,908) and Adriana ($1,198,438). Larissa has netted $1,032,935 and Juliana has earned $1,020,925.
After the Kristiansand stop, the European portion of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour season ends with stops in Finland (Aland, August 16-22) and The Netherlands (The Hague, August 23-29). The Hague is the final event of 14 stops for men in 2010. The women's 15-stop schedule concludes in China (Sanya, October 26-31) and Thailand (Phuket, November 2-7).
2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Men's Leaders (through August 8)
Men's Team Rank, points
1, Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers, United States, 6,780*
2, Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego, Brazil, 4,780
3, Adrian Gavira Collado/Pablo Herrera, Spain, 4,240
4, Julius Brink/Jonas Reckermann, Germany, 3,720
5, Penggen Wu/Linyin Xu, China, 3,600
6, Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel, Poland, 3,480
7, David Klemperer/Eric Koreng, Germany, 3,440
8, Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal, United States, 3,040
9, Pedro Cunha/Thiago Santos Barbosa, Brazil, 2,980
10, Benjamin Insfran/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, 2,920
11, Marcio Araujo/Ricardo Santos, Brazil, 2,820
12, Harley Marques/Pedro Salgado, Brazil, 2,800
13, Florian Gosch/Alexander Horst, Austria, 2,560
14, Matt Fuerbringer/Nick Lucena, United States, 2,540
15, Jefferson Bellaguarda/Martin Laciga, Switzerland, 2,320
16, Casey Jennings/Brad Keenan, United States, 2,200
17, Tarjei Skarlund/Martin Spinnangr, Norway, 2,100
18, Reinder Nummerdor/Richard Schuil, Netherlands, 2,060
19, Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Ruslans Sorokins, Latvia, 1,900
20, Petr Benes/Premysl Kubala, Czech Republic, 1,840
21, Igor Kolodinsky/Yaroslav Koshkarev, Russia, 1,680
22, Renato "Geor" Gomes/Jorge "Gia" Terceiro, Georgia, 1,560
23, Yury Bogatov/Serguei Prokopiev, Russia, 1,514
24, Martins Plavins/Janis Smedins, Latvia, 1,420
*clinched SWATCH FIVB World Tour championship based on a team's best 10 finishes.
Men's Team Rank, events, titles, US earnings
1, Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers, United States, 10, 7, $327,700
2, Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego, Brazil, 10, 0, $160,200
3, Adrian Gavira Collado/Pablo Herrera, Spain, 11, 0, $133,500
4, Penggen Wu/Linyin Xu, China, 10, 2, $130,450
5, David Klemperer/Eric Koreng, Germany, 9, 1, $129,600
6, Julius Brink/Jonas Reckermann, Germany, 7, 0, $129,500
7, Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel, Poland, 11, 0, $101,800
8, Marcio Araujo/Ricardo Santos, Brazil, 8, 0, $89,850
9, Harley Marques/Pedro Salgado, Brazil, 8, 1, $88,300
10, Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal, United States, 10, 0, $81,700
11, Pedro Cunha/Thiago Santos Barbosa, Brazil, 10, 0, $80,150
12, Benjamin Insfran/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, 11, 0, $79,600
13, Matt Fuerbringer/Nick Lucena, United States, 7, 0, $76,950
14, Tarjei Skarlund/Martin Spinnangr, Norway, 10, 0, $68,000
15, Florian Gosch/Alexander Horst, Austria, 10, 0, $66,600
16, Jefferson Bellaguarda/Martin Laciga, Switzerland, 11, 0, $64,400
17, Casey Jennings/Brad Keenan, USA, 10, 0, $64,100
18, Reinder Nummerdor/Richard Schuil, Netherlands, 7, 0, $51,350
19, Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Ruslans Sorokins, Latvia, 10, 0, $51,300
20, Petr Benes/Premysl Kubala, Czech Republic, 8, 0, $49,800
21, Martins Plavins/Janis Smedins, Latvia, 5, 0, $45,600
22, Igor Kolodinsky/Yaroslav Koshkarev, Russia, 5, 0, $45,500
23, Yury Bogatov/Serguei Prokopiev, Russia, 10, 0, $41,550
24, Jonathan Erdmann/Kay Matysik, Germany, 10, 0, $40,100
2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Women's Leaders (through August 7)
Women's Team Rank, points
1, Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, Brazil, 6,060
2, Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes, Brazil, 5,220
3, Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, China, 4,640
4, Jennifer Kessy/April Ross, United States, 4,580
5, Sara Goller/Laura Ludwig, Germany, 4,520
6, Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger, Austria, 3,220
7, Carolina Salgado/Maria Clara Salgado, Brazil, 3,180
8, Barbara Hansel/Sara Montagnolli, Austria, 3,140
9, Nicole Branagh/Misty May-Treanor, United States, 3,060
10, Angie Akers/Tyra Turner, United States, 2,500
11, Vassiliki Arvaniti/Maria Tsiartsiani, Greece, 2,480
12, Simone Kuhn/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland, 2,440
13, Sanne Keizer/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands, 2,340
14, Emilia Nystrom/Erika Nystrom, Finland, 2,280
15, Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler, Germany, 2,140
16, Kristyna Kolocova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic, 2,100
17, Lenka Hajeckova/Hana Klapalova, Czech Republic, 1,920
18, Andrezza "Rtvelo" Martins/Cristine "Saka" Santanna, Georgia, 1,784
19, Bibiana Candelas/Mayra Garcia, Mexico, 1,580
20, Louise Bawden/Becchara Palmer, Australia, 1,440
21, Vanilda Leao/Angela Vieira, Brazil, 1,360
22, Greta Cicolari/Marta Menegatti, Italy, 1,340
23, Ekaterina Khomyakova/Anastasia Vasina, Russia, 1,330
24, Madelein Meppelink/Marloes Wesselink, Netherlands, 1,308
Women’s Team Rank, events, titles, US earnings
1, Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, Brazil, 9, 6, $291,200
2, Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes, Brazil, 10, 1, $184,500
3, Jennifer Kessy/April Ross, United States, 10, 2, $171,000
4, Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, China, 10, 1, $160,700
5, Sara Goller/Laura Ludwig, Germany, 10, 0, $152,400
6, Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger, Austria, 10, 0, $95,400
7, Barbara Hansel/Sara Montagnolli, Austria, 10, 0, $92,800
8, Nicole Branagh/Misty May-Treanor, USA, 8, 0, $91,300
9, Carolina Salgado/Maria Clara Salgado, Brazil, 10, 0, $87,200
10, Angie Akers/Tyra Turner, United States, 8, 0, $74,300
11, Sanne Keizer/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands, 9, 0, $62,600
12, Vassiliki Arvaniti/Maria Tsiartsiani, Greece, 10, 0, $62,400
13, Simone Kuhn/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland, 8, 0, $61,700
14, Emilia Nystrom/Erika Nystrom, Finland, 10, 0, $60,500
15, Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler, Germany, 8, 0, $58,050
16, Kristyna Kolocova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic, 8, 0, $56,600
17, Lenka Hajeckova/Hana Klapalova, Czech Republic, 7, 0, $55,700
18, Andrezza "Rtvelo" Martins/Cristine "Saka" Santanna, Georgia, 10, 0, $46,450
19, Bibiana Candelas/Mayra Garcia, Mexico, 7, 0, $42,850
20, Louise Bawden/Becchara Palmer, Australia, 9, 0, $42,550
21, Ekaterina Khomyakova/Anastasia Vasina, Russia, 8, 0, $36,900
22, Greta Cicolari/Marta Menegatti, Italy, 7, 0, $36,750
23, Madelein Meppelink/Marloes Wesselink, Netherlands, 9, 0, $36,100
24, Liesbeth Mouha/Liesbet Van Breedam, Belgium, 8, 0, $34,100 |