 Lausanne, Switzerland, August 16, 2010 - After a record-setting weekend in Norway for Brazilians Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca and Americans Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers, the SWATCH FIVB World Tour continues on the Finnish island of Åland starting Monday for the US$380,000 PAF Open.
The third annual event in Mariehamn features the coordination between the Finnish and Swedish Volleyball Associations as women's play starts Monday with Country Quota matches followed by a Tuesday qualifier and Wednesday's opening Main Draw rounds. The men's preliminary rounds will be staged Tuesday and Wednesday with the double-elimination "money" rounds beginning Thursday.
The PAF Open concludes Saturday with the women's "final four" matches Saturday followed by the men's semi-finals and medal matches Sunday as the winning teams for both genders will share the $30,000 first-place prizes. The PAF Open is the 11th of 12 double gender events on the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar.
Juliana and Larissa entered the SWATCH FIVB World Tour record book first on Saturday in Norway by winning their 36th international Beach Volleyball title together by posting a 21-19 and 22-20 win in 43 minutes over Chen Xue and Xi Zhang of China. It was the Brazilians' 14th win in 19 matches against Xue and Zhang, who also dropped a gold medal finale two weeks ago in Poland to Juliana and Larissa.
With six Kristiansand match wins last week, Juliana and Larissa also extended their personal winning streak to 35-straight victories. With five-straight gold medal finishes this season in Norway (Stavanger), Switzerland (Gstaad), Austria (Klagenfurt), Poland (Stare Jablonki) and Norway (Kristiansand), Juliana and Larissa are a Mikasa serve away of clinching their fifth SWATCH FIVB World Tour championship in Åland.
The previous team mark of 35 gold medals was set in 2008 by Americans Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh (2001-2008), who broke the previous best team mark of 31 titles by Brazilians Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede (1996-2007). The men's record for team titles is 33 by Brazilians Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos (2002-2009).
Dalhausser and Rogers set the SWATCH FIVB World Tour record Sunday for men's gold medals in a season as the Americans scored a 21-18 and 21-12 title win in 47 minutes over Harley Marques and Pedro Salgado of Brazil to top an international podium for the eighth-time in 2010.
Three Brazilian teams had won seven men's titles in a single-season, including Emanuel and Ricardo 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.
In the midst of their current 18-match winning streak, Dalhausser and Rogers clinched the men's SWATCH FIVB World Tour championship. Not counting a forfeit pool play setback at the Austrian Grand Slam, Dalhausser and Rogers have not lost on the sand in 24-straight matches since losing to compatriots Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal last month at the Swiss Grand Slam in Gstaad.
Juliana and Larissa will be seeking their third-straight gold medal in Åland as the Brazilians defeated Americans Jen Kessy/April Ross for the 2009 crown after an inaugural Mariehamn victory over China's Jia Tian/Jie Wang in 2007 for the title. Kessy and Ross will be playing in Tuesday's qualifier after placing fourth this past week in Kristiansand after losing to the Salgado sisters (Carolina and Maria Clara) in the bronze medal match.
The defending Mariehamn men's champions are Reinder Nummerdor and Richard Schuil as the Dutch enter this week's FIVB stop after winning the European championships last week in Berlin. Nummerdor and Schuil defeated German world champions Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann in the 2009 Åland finale. Harley and Salgado won the 2007 men's Finnish title by defeating Reckermann and Mischa Urbatzka for the gold medal.
After the Åland stop, the European portion of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour season ends with a stop in The Netherlands (The Hague, August 23-29). While The Hague event will be the men's season finale, 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 15)
Men's Team Rank, points
1, Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers, United States, 6,960*
2, Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego, Brazil, 5,100
3, Adrian Gavira Collado/Pablo Herrera, Spain, 4,240
4, Penggen Wu/Linyin Xu, China, 3,820
5, Julius Brink/Jonas Reckermann, Germany, 3,720
6, Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel, Poland, 3,480
7, David Klemperer/Eric Koreng, Germany, 3,440
8, Harley Marques/Pedro Salgado, Brazil, 3,340
9, Marcio Araujo/Ricardo Santos, Brazil, 3,240
10, Benjamin Insfran/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, 3,120
11, Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal, United States, 3,040
12, Pedro Cunha/Thiago Santos Barbosa, Brazil, 2,980
13, Matt Fuerbringer/Nick Lucena, United States, 2,840
14, Florian Gosch/Alexander Horst, Austria, 2,560
15, Jefferson Bellaguarda/Martin Laciga, Switzerland, 2,320
16, Tarjei Skarlund/Martin Spinnangr, Norway, 2,280
17, Casey Jennings/Brad Keenan, United States, 2,200
18, Reinder Nummerdor/Richard Schuil, Netherlands, 2,060
19, Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Ruslans Sorokins, Latvia, 1,900
19, Petr Benes/Premysl Kubala, Czech Republic, 1,900
21, Renato "Geor" Gomes/Jorge "Gia" Terceiro, Georgia, 1,760
22, Igor Kolodinsky/Yaroslav Koshkarev, Russia, 1,680
23, Jason Lochhead/Kirk Pitman, New Zealand, 1,562
24, Yury Bogatov/Serguei Prokopiev (II), Russia, 1,514
*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, 11, 8, $357,700
2, Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego, Brazil, 11, 0, $175,200
3, Penggen Wu/Linyin Xu, China, 11, 2, $138,050
4, Adrian Gavira Collado/Pablo Herrera, Spain, 11, 0, $133,500
5, David Klemperer/Eric Koreng, Germany, 9, 1, $129,600
6, Julius Brink/Jonas Reckermann, Germany, 7, 0, $129,500
7, Harley Marques/Pedro Salgado, Brazil, 9, 1, $109,300
8, Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel, Poland, 11, 0, $101,800
9, Marcio Araujo/Ricardo Santos, Brazil, 9, 0, $101,050
10, Benjamin Insfran/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, 12, 0, $88,700
11, Matt Fuerbringer/Nick Lucena, United States, 8, 0, $84,550
12, Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal, United States, 10, 0, $81,700
13, Pedro Cunha/Thiago Santos Barbosa, Brazil, 10, 0, $80,150
14, Tarjei Skarlund/Martin Spinnangr, Norway, 11, 0, $74,000
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, Petr Benes/Premysl Kubala, Czech Republic, 9, 0, $51,800
19, Reinder Nummerdor/Richard Schuil, Netherlands, 7, 0, $51,350
20, Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Ruslans Sorokins, Latvia, 10, 0, $51,300
21, Renato "Geor" Gomes/Jorge "Gia" Terceiro, Georgia, 12, 0, $45,900
22, Martins Plavins/Janis Smedins, Latvia, 5, 0, $45,600
23, Igor Kolodinsky/Yaroslav Koshkarev, Russia, 5, 0, $45,500
24, Jason Lochhead/Kirk Pitman, New Zealand, 11, 0, $42,800
2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Women’s Leaders (through August 14)
1, Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, Brazil, 6,660
2, Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes, Brazil, 5,340
3, Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, China, 5,180
4, Jennifer Kessy/April Ross, United States, 5,000
5, Sara Goller/Laura Ludwig, Germany, 4,520
6, Carolina Salgado/Maria Clara Salgado, Brazil, 3,660
7, Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger, Austria, 3,220
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, 2,740
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, Kristyna Kolocova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic, 2,340
15, Lenka Hajeckova/Hana Klapalova, Czech Republic, 2,280
15, Emilia Nystrom/Erika Nystrom, Finland, 2,280
17, Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler, Germany, 2,140
18, Andrezza "Rtvelo" Martins/Cristine "Saka" Santanna, Georgia, 1,964
19, Bibiana Candelas/Mayra Garcia, Mexico, 1,700
20, Louise Bawden/Becchara Palmer, Australia, 1,560
21, Greta Cicolari/Marta Menegatti, Italy, 1,520
22, Liesbeth Mouha/Liesbet Van Breedam, Belgium, 1,440
23, Vanilda Leao/Angela Vieira, Brazil, 1,360
24, Ekaterina Khomyakova/Anastasia Vasina, Russia, 1,330
Women's Team Rank, events, titles, US earnings
1, Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, Brazil, 10, 7, $321,200
2, Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes, Brazil, 11, 1, $187,300
3, Jennifer Kessy/April Ross, United States, 11, 2, $182,200
4, Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, China, 11, 1, $181,700
5, Sara Goller/Laura Ludwig, Germany, 10, 0, $152,400
6, Carolina Salgado/Maria Clara Salgado, Brazil, 11, 0, $102,200
7, Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger, Austria, 10, 0, $95,400
8, Barbara Hansel/Sara Montagnolli, Austria, 10, 0, $92,800
9, Nicole Branagh/Misty May-Treanor, USA, 8, 0, $91,300
10, Angie Akers/Tyra Turner, United States, 9, 0, $80,300
11, Lenka Hajeckova/Hana Klapalova, Czech Republic, 8, 0, $64,800
12, Sanne Keizer/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands, 9, 0, $62,600
12, Kristyna Kolocova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic, 9, 0, $62,600
14, Vassiliki Arvaniti/Maria Tsiartsiani, Greece, 10, 0, $62,400
15, Simone Kuhn/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland, 8, 0, $61,700
16, Emilia Nystrom/Erika Nystrom, Finland, 10, 0, $60,500
17, Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler, Germany, 8, 0, $58,050
18, Cristine "Saka" Santanna/ Andrezza "Rtvelo" Martins, Georgia, 11, 0, $50,700
19, Bibiana Candelas/Mayra Garcia, Mexico, 8, 0, $45,650
20, Louise Bawden/Becchara Palmer, Australia, 10, 0, $45,350
21, Liesbeth Mouha/Liesbet Van Breedam, Belgium, 9, 0, $41,700
22, Greta Cicolari/Marta Menegatti, Italy, 8, 0, $41,000
23, Ekaterina Khomyakova/Anastasia Vasina, Russia, 8, 0, $36,900
24, Madelein Meppelink/Marloes Wesselink, Netherlands, 9, 0, $36,100 |