Mariehamn, Åland, Finland, August 16, 2010 - The first of seven days of competition for this week's SWATCH FIVB World Tour stop began here Monday with 12 teams from Brazil, Canada, Germany and Sweden competing for berths in the women's Qualification Tournament for the US$380,000 PAF Open.

The third annual PAF Open will also feature men's competition where action continues through the weekend with the women's "final four" matches Saturday followed by the men's semi-finals and podium placement matches Sunday on the Hotel Arkipelag centre court where the winning teams in both genders will share the $30,000 first-place prizes.

The 11th of 12 double gender events on the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar, the women's qualifier Tuesday will determine the last eight berths for Wednesday's opening Main Draw rounds featuring double-elimination bracket play. The men's Country Quota rounds will be Tuesday followed by the qualifier Wednesday and the opening "money" rounds Thursday.

Advancing from Monday's seven-match Country Quota playoffs were Vivian Cunha/Taiana Lima of Brazil, Kacie MacTavish/Kristina Valjas of Canada, Jana Kohler/Julia Sude and Stefanie Huttermann/Anni Schumacher of Germany, and Anna Asberg/Åsa Eriksson Sweden.

With both Finnish and Swedish Volleyball Associations working with the promoter to stage this week's event, both countries will have teams in the qualifier. Participating for Finland Tuesday will be Kirsi Hyttinen/Merja Korhonen, Evelina Koljonen/Taija Pekkarinen and Nora Isomaki/Laura Lahtela. Joining Asberg/Eriksson or Hellström/Larsson as Swedish pairs in the qualifier are Tora Hansson/Camilla Nilsson, Rivia Oliveira/Nora Tawhid and Nina Grawender/Frida Stahre.

The Nystrom twins (Emilia and Erika) of Finland will be the featured team for the host countries along with other co-host country teams in the PAF Open are Hanna-Mari and Riikka Arminen of Finland and Åsa Gustavsson/Angelica Ljungquist of Sweden. While the Nystroms have been playing together at FIVB-sanctioned events since 2001, the other two teams are competing internationally for the first-time this season.

In addition to capturing the bronze medal at last weekend's European Championships in Berlin, the Nystroms are the 15th-ranked on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour with three fifth-place finishes this season. The Finnish twins posted their best SWATCH placement in the 2010 season opener in Brazil followed by quarter-final appearances this year at the Swiss and Polish Grand Slams.

The PAF Open will be the Nystroms' 104th SWATCH FIVB World Tour event and they become the team to play in the second-most women's international events since the start of the circuit in 1992. Only legendary Brazilians Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede have competed in more SWATCH stops (120) than the Nystroms, who have also played in eight other FIVB-sanctioned events with a pair of FIVB/European Challenge/Satellite gold medals to their credit.

Headlining the international field will be two-time PAF Open champions Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca of Brazil, who are a Mikasa serve away from clinching the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour championship for the fifth-time in the past six seasons. The Brazilians defeated Americans Jen Kessy/April Ross for the 2009 PAF Open crown after an inaugural Mariehamn victory over China's Jia Tian/Jie Wang in 2007 for the gold medal.