Mariehamn, Finland, August 17, 2010 - Four teams from Norway competed here Tuesday for the final two spots in the Qualification Tournament for this week's SWATCH FIVB World Tour stop on the Isle of Åland as the PAF Open entertains the international Beach Volleyball community for the third-straight year.

With Norway hosting the international circuit last week in Kristiansand, it was only fitting that the Norwegians played two Country Quota matches Tuesday as the pairs of Ronny Berntsen/Geir Eithun and the Stromsvag brothers (Anders and Dag) advanced to Wednesday's opening qualifying rounds where the final eight spots will be determined for Thursday's first set of Main Draw matches at the US$380,000 PAF Open.

With competition being played on the on the Hotel Arkipelag courts, the PAF Open features coordination between the Finnish and Swedish Volleyball Associations as the 11th of 12 double gender events on the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar started Monday with women's Country Quota matches followed by Tuesday’s 45-team Qualification Tournament.

With two teams each from Finland and Sweden already in the Main Draw, the two countries will have a combined six pairs in Wednesday's qualifier. Finnish pairs in the Main Draw are Timo Haavisto/Toni Vahela and Lasse Maijala/Jani Saisa. Sweden's current "money" round participants are Hannes/Brinkborg/Stefan Gunnarsson and Kjell Jonsson/Lawrence Montas.

Competing for Sweden in the qualifier will be Daniel Andersson/Bjorn Berg, Simon Ekback/Andreas Ragfeldt, Bjorn Huitfeldt/Petter Jonsson and Hampus Randén/Jakob Wijk Tegenro along with the Finnish pairs of Jaakko Keskitalo/Erik Schmidt and Jyri Linnikko/Niko Salonoja. Berg is a two-time Beach Volleyball Olympian and long-time partner of Simon Dahl, the PAF Open tournament director.

A new men's PAF Open champion will be crowned this week as Reinder Nummerdor and Richard Schuil of The Netherlands will not be in the Isle of Åland field. The Dutch upset Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann in the 2009 PAF Open finale after the Germans had clinched the season's SWATCH FIVB World Tour championship earlier in the Hotel Arkipelag competition last August.

Brink and Reckermann are scheduled to compete in the 2010 PAF Open along with inaugural Åland winners Harley Marques and Pedro Salgado of Brazil. Harley and Salgado won the 2007 men's Finnish title by defeating Reckermann and Mischa Urbatzka for the gold medal. Due to conflicting dates with the Beijing Olympic Games, the PAF Open was not held in August 2008.

With Harley and Pedro the 2008 SWATCH FIVB World Tour champions, the 2010 PAF Open field has the past and present champions in the Main Draw as newly-crowned point's leaders Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers of the United States making their first appearance in the Finnish event. The Americans clinched their world tour title two weeks ago in Poland.

Also in the PAF Open "money" rounds will be Brazilian Olympians Marcio Araujo and Ricardo Santos, who have appeared in four-straight SWATCH FIVB World Tour semi-finals this season with two bronze medal finishes. Marcio Araujo teamed with Fabio Magalhaes to win the 2005 FIVB world champions before losing the gold medal match at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games to Dalhausser and Rogers.

Ricardo is the only player to win three Olympic Beach Volleyball medals (Sydney 2000 silver, Athens 2004 gold and Beijing 2008 bronze) and six tour championships with Ze Marco de Melo (2000) and Emanuel Rego (2002-2007). Emanuel was scheduled to compete this week with Alison Cerutti, but returned home to Brazil as his wife (Leila Barros) is expecting the couple's first child in the coming weeks.