Lausanne, Switzerland, June 19, 2016 — Enjoying an exciting FIVB Grand Slam in Poland last week, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) will now see the 2016 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour enjoy a one-week break. The final countdown to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will continue next week with the double-gender $800,000 Swatch FIVB Porec Major in Croatia, the second event in the Swatch FIVB Major Series portion of the 2016 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.
Last week in Poland saw a team from the Latvia win the men’s gold medal and a team from Germany win the women’s gold medal at the $800,000 FIVB Olsztyn Grand Slam, the third of four FIVB Grand Slams in the 2016 FIVB World Tour. It was the 17th men’s event and 14th women’s event on the 2016 FIVB World Tour. All of the remaining events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour calendar are double gender events.
After the FIVB Olsztyn Grand Slam in Poland, there will be three more Swatch FIVB Major Series events in Croatia, Switzerland and Austria prior to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, Aug. 6-18. After the Olympics, concluding events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour will be a FIVB Grand Slam in the United States, the Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals and ending with a FIVB Open tournament in Mexico.
OLSZTYN MEN
In the men’s competition this past week at the FIVB Olsztyn Grand Slam the gold medal winners with a near-perfect 7-1 record was Latvia’s sixth-seeded Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins who upset Brazil’s second-seeded Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt in straight sets, 21-19, 21-15 in just 37 minutes.
For Latvia’s Olympians Samoilovs/J. Smedins, it was their seventh career FIVB World Tour gold medal as a team in 43 events, 18th final four finish, along with five silver medals and two bronze medals. Individually, it was the eighth career FIVB World Tour gold medal and 19th final four finish for Samoilovs in 139 FIVB Tournaments along with six silver medals, two bronze medals and three fourth place finishes. For J. Smedins, who won the bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympic games with Martins Plavins, it was his ninth career FIVB World Tour gold medal and 22nd final four finish with six silver medals, three bronze medals and four fourth place finishes.
For Brazil’s Alison/Bruno Oscar, who won the 2015 FIVB World Championships to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, it was their fourth silver medal in 27 career FIVB World Tour events as a team to go with eight gold medals, one bronze medal and one fourth-place finish. In their overall careers, Alison, who won the silver medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games with legendary Emanuel Rego, this was his 53rd career FIVB World Tour final four finish with 19 gold medals, 15 silver medals, 11 bronze medals and eight fourth-place finishes. For Bruno Oscar, he now has 30 career FIVB World Tour final fours with 10 gold medals, eight silver medals, four bronze medals and eight fourth-place finishes.
In the men’s bronze medal match in Olsztyn, winning was Brazil’s youthful 14th-seeded qualifier team of Saymon Santos/Gustavo Carvalhaes, both just 22 years old, who held on to upset USA’s third-seeded 2016 Olympians Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson, in three sets, 21-15, 19-21 and 15-11 in 48 minutes.
As a team, it was the fourth final four placement in just 11 FIVB events for Brazil’s Santos/Carvalhaes, who now have one gold medal, and three bronze medals. For USA’s Gibb/Patterson, now have nine final four finishes in 40 FIVB events as a team with two gold medals, two silver medals, two bronze medals and three fourth place finishes. Individually, Gibb has 27 career FIVB final four finishes wih six gold medals, eight silver medals, seven bronze and sixth fourth place finishes. For Patterson, his career FIVB final four totals are all with Gibb.
In the Olsztyn men’s semifinals, Latvia’s Samoilovs/J. Smedins came from behind to stop Brazil’s Santos/Carvalhaes in three sets, 18-21, 21-18 and 15-12 in 51 minutes and Brazil’s Alison/Bruno Oscar advanced to the gold medal match by holding off USA’s Gibb/Patterson in three sets, 21-16,18-21 and 18-16 in 51 minutes.
Latvia’s Janis Smedins was selected as the men’s most outstanding player in Olsztyn.
OLSZTYN WOMEN
In the women’s competition in Poland saw Germany’s third-seeded Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst win for the second gold for the second straight week with an unblemished 7-0 record as they held off Brazil’s second-seeded Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca in three sets to win the gold medal, 21-18, 15-21, and 15-10 in 41 minutes. For Germany’s blossoming Ludwig/Walkenhorst it was also their fourth gold medal in the last five weeks and followed last week’s three-set gold medal victory over Brazil’s reigning FIVB World Champions Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas. The week prior they won the CEV European Championships to go with their three FIVB World Tour gold medals.
For Germany’s Ludwig/Walkenhorst tandem who have earned a spot in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, it was their sixth gold medal as a team and 14th final four finish in 33 tournaments as a team on the FIVB World Tour. They also have three silver medals, three bronze medals and two fourth place finishes. Individually, for Ludwig, it was her 30th career FIVB World Tour final four with six gold medals, 11 silver medals, eight bronze medals and five fourth place finishes. For Walkenhorst, all of her final four finishes have been with Ludwig as her teammate.
For Brazil’s Talita/Larissa duo, confirmed to compete in the Rio Olympics as a host-country selection, this was their second silver medal to go with 12 gold medals and one bronze medal in just 22 FIVB World Tour events as a duo. Individually, for Talita this was her 16th career FIVB World Tour silver medal to with 30 gold medals and 15 bronze in 153 FIVB World Tour events. For Larissa, who won the bronze medal (with Juliana Felisberta) at the London 2012 Olympic Games, this was her 22nd career FIVB World Tour silver medal to go along with a FIVB-record 58 gold medals, 18 bronze medals and five four place finishes in 136 career FIVB World Tour events.
In the women’s bronze medal match in Olsztyn, Slovak Republic’s surprising 23rd-seeded Natalia Dubovcova/Dominka Nestarcova upset Brazil’s ninth-seeded Eduarda Lisboa/Elize Maia in straight sets, 22-20, 21-14 in 36 minutes.
For Slovak Republic’s Dubovcova/Nestarcova it was their third career FIVB World Tour bronze medal in 63 tournaments as a team and first since winning the bronze at the 2014 FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam in the United States. Even more impressive was that on their way to the bronze medal, they recorded upset wins over the first, fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth-seeded teams in the FIVB Olsztyn Grand Slam.
To reach the women’s gold medal match in Hamburg, in their respective semifinals, Germany’s Ludwig/Walkenhorst stopped Brazil’s Eduarda/Elize Maia in two sets, 21-16, 21-18 in 34 minutes and Brazil’s Talita/Larissa stopped Slovak Republic’s Dubovcova/Nestarcova in two sets, 21-16, 21-19 in 34 minutes.
Germany’s Kira Walkenhorst was selected as the women’s most outstanding player of the tournament for the second straight tournament.
MEN’S WINNERS SHARE
Last week’s FIVB Olsztyn Grand Slam men’s champions Samoilovs/J. Smedins picked up the FIVB Grand Slam gold medal purse of $57,000. Brazil’s runner-up Alison/Bruno Oscar earned $43,000 in prize money while Brazil’s bronze medalists Santos/Carvalhaes earned $32,000 and USA’s Gibb/Patterson received $24,000 in prize money for their fourth place finish.
WOMEN’S WINNERS ROLL
The FIVB Olsztyn Grand Slam women’s champions Ludwig/Walkenhorst of Germany earned the winner’s $57,000 purse. Brazil’s Talita/Larissa collected the runner-up $43,000 purse to split from their silver medal placement and Slovak Republic’s Dubovcova/Nestarcova earned $32,000 for their bronze medal finish. Brazil’s fourth-place finishers Eduarda/Elize Maia earned $24,000 in prize money.
MEN’S POINTS/EARNINGS
After 16 men’s events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour, Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak remain at the top of the FIVB World Tour point standings with 4,400 points, while Italy’s Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri are second with 4,340 points. Third is USA’s Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena with 3,870, fourth is USA’s John Hyden/Tri Bourne with 3,750 points and fifth is Mexico’s Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen with 3,710. Sixth is Germany’s Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen with 3,450, seventh is USA’s Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson with 3,340 points, eighth with 3,290 points is France’s Youssef Krou/Eduard Rowlandson, ninth is Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins with 3270 points and 10th is Latvia’s Martins Plavins/Haralds Regza with 3,220 points.
In the 2016 FIVB World Tour men’s season earnings after 17 events, Brazil’s Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt duo has moved all the way up to the top of the list with $138,000. Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak tandem is second with $128,750. Third is USA’s Dalhausser/Lucena with $128,000, fourth Netherlands’ Brouwer/Meeuwsen with $109,375, fourth with $109,375 and fifth is Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins with 104,875. is Sixth is Brazil’s Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Solberg with $92,000, seventh is USA’s Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson with $90,125, eighth is Italy’s Adrian Carambula/ Alex Ranghieri tandem with $88,500, ninth is Netherlands’ Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst with $85,125 and 10th is Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel with $73,750.
WOMEN’S POINTS/EARNINGS
For the women after 14 events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour, USA’s Kerri Walsh Jennings/April Ross continues the top rung on the ladder with 4,010 points. Moving up to second with 3,980 points is Germany’s Ludwig/Walkenhorst with 3,180, third is Germany’s Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler duo with 3,780 points, fourth with 3,410 points is Argentina’s Ana Gallay/Georgina Klug and fifth is Italy’s Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth tandem on the point leader board with 3,300 points. Sixth is Brazil’s Eduarda Lisboa/Elize Maia with 3,250 points, seventh is Germany’s Karla Borger/Brita Buthe with 3,220 points, eighth with 3,180 points is Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca, ninth with 3,160 points is Germany’s Chantal Labourer/Julia Sude and 10th with 3,030 points is Switzerland’s Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Vergé-Dépré.
In the 2016 FIVB World Tour women’s season earnings after 14 events, USA’s Kerri Walsh Jennings/April Ross duo continues in the top spot with $174,000 in earnings in just seven events while second is Germany’s Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst, in just eight events, with $169,375, third with $142,000 in just six events is Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca, fourth with $88,000 is Brazil’s Eduarda Lisboa/Elize Maia and fifth with $86,000 is Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas. Sixth with $78,875 is Germany’s Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, tied for seventh with $73,000 each are Poland’s Monika Brzostek/Kinga Kolosinska and Canada’s Heather Bansley/Sarah Pavan, ninth in the money standings with $67,375 is Netherlands’ Madelein Meppelink/Marleen Van Iersel and 10th is Brazil’s Juliana Felisberta/Taiana Lima with $67,000.
MEN’S FINAL FOURS
After 17 men’s tournaments on the 2016 FIVB World Tour schedule, 16 countries have at least one final four placement. Leader with 12 final four placements each is the United States (four gold medals, two silver medals, three bronze medals, three fourth place finishes), Second with 11 final four placements is Brazil (three gold medals, four silver, two bronze, two fourth place finishes), Tied for third with seven each are Italy (three gold medals, two silver medals, two fourth place finishes) and Poland (one gold medal, four bronze medals, two fourth places).
Fifth with six final four placements is Germany (one gold medal, two silver medals, one bronze medal, two fourth places). Sixth with five final fours is the Netherlands (one gold medal, two silver medals, two bronze). Seventh with four final fours is Russia (two silver medals, one bronze medal, one fourth place finish). Eighth with four final fours is Latvia (one gold medal, one bronze medal, one fourth place), ninth with three final fours is Mexico (one silver medal, two bronze medals). Tied for 10th with two final fours each are Chile (two fourth places), and Spain (one gold medal, one bronze medal). Tied for 12th with one final four finish each are Austria (one silver medal), Canada (one silver medal), France (one fourth place), Greece (one fourth place) and Qatar (one gold medal).
WOMEN’S FINAL FOURS
In 14 women’s FIVB international events to date on the 2016 calendar, 16 countries have earned at least one final four finish. Leader in final four placements with 13 is Brazil (three gold medals, five silver medals, three bronze medals, two fourth place finishes), Second with 10 final fours is Germany (four gold medals, one silver medal, four bronze medals, one fourth place), third with eight is the United States (four gold medals, one silver medal, two bronze medals, one fourth place finish), fourth with five is Switzerland (two gold medals, one bronze medal, two fourth place finishes) and tied for fifth with three final four placements each are Argentina (three fourth place finishes), Italy (one silver medal, one bronze, one fourth place) and the Netherlands (one silver, two fourth place finishes).
Eighth with two final four finishes is Spain (one silver medal, one bronze medal). Tied for ninth with one final four finish each are Austria (one silver medal), Australia (one fourth place), Canada (one bronze medal), China (one silver medal), Czech Republic (one gold medal), Finland (one silver medal), Poland (one silver medal), Slovak Republic (one bronze medal) and Vanuatu (one fourth place).
MEN’S WINNING PERCENTAGE/MATCH WINS
Based on percentage, statistically, in men’s action after 17 events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour calendar with a minimum of 30 matches played, the leader at 88.5% continues to be USA’s Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena (46-6) while second at at 84.8% is Brazil’s Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, third is 79.5% is Netherlands’ Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen (31-8), fourth at 73.9% is Brazil’s Gustavo Carvalhaes/Saymon Barbosa (34-12) and moving up to fifth at 72.9% is Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins (34-13). Sixth at 70.7% is Spain’s Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera (29-12), seventh at 70.1% is Italy’s Alex Ranghieri/Adrian Carambula (47-20), tied eighth at 69.0% are Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak (49-22) and Russia’s Konstantin Semenov/Viacheslav Krasilnikov (29-13) and 10th at 68.9% is Italy’s Paolo Nicolai/Daniele Lupo (31-14).
With 49 match wins this season through 17 events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour, leading this category is Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak (49-22), second with 47 match wins is 45 match wins is Italy’s Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri (47-20), third with 46 match wins is USA’s Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena (46-6) while fourth with 42 match wins each is Mexico’s Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgin (42-20) and tied for fifth with 38 match wins each are the duos of Germany’s Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen (38-20), USA’s Tri Bourne/John Hyden (38-25) and Canada’s Grant O’Gorman/Sam Pedlow (38-28), eighth with 36 wins is Latvia’s Martins Plavins/Haralds Regza (36-27), ninth with 35 wins is Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins (35-13) and 10th with 34 match wins is Brazil’s Saymon Santos/Gustavo Carvalhaes (34-12).
WOMEN’S WINNING PERCENTAGE/MATCH WINS
Based on percentage, statistically, in women’s action after 14 events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour calendar with a minimum of 25 matches played, the leader at 91.1% is Germany’s Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst (34-4), second at 90.0% is USA’s Kerri Walsh Jennings/April Ross (45-5), third at 86.1% is Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca (31-5), fourth at 76.7% is Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas (23-7), fifth at 74.5% is Germany’s Karla Borger/Britta Buthe (35-12.). Sixth at 71.4% is Brazil’s Eduarda Lisboa/Elise Maia (40-16), seventh at 69.6% is Switzerland’s Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr (32-14), eighth at 68.4% is Germany’s Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude (39-18), ninth at 67.5% is Czech Republic’s Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova (27-13) and 10th at 65.7% is Brazil’s Juliana Felisberta/Taiana Lima (23-12).
For the women in match wins following 14 events on the 2016 FIVB calendar, leader with 45 match wins is USA’s Kerri Walsh Jennings/April Ross (45-5), second with 41 match wins is Germany’s Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst (41-4), tied for third with 40 match wins each are Germany’s Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler (40-30) and Brazil’s Eduarda Lisboa/Elize Maia (40-16) and fifth with 39 match wins is Germany’s Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude tandem (39-18). Sixth with 36 match wins Argentina’s Ana Gallay/Georgina Klug (36-27), seventh with 35 match wins is Germany’s Karla Borger/Britta Buthe (35-12), eighth with 34 match wins is Italy’s Menegatti/Orsi Toth (34-20), ninth with 32 match wins is Switzerland’s Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr (32-14) and 10th with 31 match wins is Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca (31-5).
ON THE HORIZON
Qualification on the FIVB Olympic Rankings for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is now complete. In all, Brazil is hosting five international events in 2016. In addition to Maceió, Rio, Vitoria and Fortaleza, the Brazil events will be capped with the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Aug. 6-18).
After last week’s FIVB Olsztyn Grand Slam, remaining 2016 FIVB World Tour events prior to the Rio Olympics will be three events on the Swatch FIVB Major Series portion of the 2016 FIVB World Tour. They start with next week’s Swatch FIVB Porec Major Series in Croatia (June 28-July 3), followed by the Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major Series in Switzerland (July 5-9) and the Swatch FIVB Klagenfurt Major Series in Austria (July 26-31).
Following the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, there are three more events scheduled on the 2016 FIVB World Tour calendar. First event scheduled is FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam (Aug. 23-28), the Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals (Sept. 13-18, location TBA) and the FIVB Puerto Vallarta Open in Mexico (Oct. 11-16). All three are double-gender events.
GROWING HISTORY
The Swatch FIVB Porec Major in Croatia will be the 347th men’s tournament since the FIVB began play in 1987 and the 308th FIVB women’s tournament since their competition started in 1992.
FIVB 2016
Based in Lausanne, Switzerland as the international governing body for the Olympic sports of Beach Volleyball and Volleyball, the 2016 FIVB Beach Volleyball calendar featured a purse of US$8.8 million with a season that extended from last October to this October, competing at 23 venues in 13 countries. The schedule includes five FIVB Grand Slams, three Swatch FIVB Major Series events, 14 FIVB Opens and the special Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals in the United States. The showcase event will be the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil (Aug. 6-18).
The 2015 portion of the 2016 FIVB World Tour calendar started in October in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and included two more open events prior to the remainder of the schedule resuming at the FIVB Kish Island Open in Iran in February.
ROAD TO RIO
The Olympic qualification process began in 2015 with all FIVB World Tour events (except the Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals) in 2015 through June 13, 2016 counted towards the Olympic Ranking in order to determine 15 spots for each gender that will take part in each 24-team field in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Copacabana Beach in Brazil in August. Brazil also was awarded two additional spots in the field of 24, one in each gender as the host nation and the other as winning both the men and women’s gold medals in the 2015 FIVB World Championships in the Netherlands. With qualifying through the FIVB World Tour completed, the official announcement of teams and drawing of pool assignment will be held at the Swatch Gstaad Major Series.
FIVB WORLD TOUR PURSES
The four FIVB Grand Slam and four Swatch FIVB Major Series competitions in 2016, all double-gender, each have $800,000 in total purses. The total of $500,000 will be the purse for the Swatch FIVB World Tour Season Final which will feature the top eight teams in each gender and two wild card teams.
The 14 FIVB Open tournaments on 2016 calendar, 11 double-gender, and three men’s only, have $150,000 total purses for the double gender events and $75,000 for the single-gender competitions.
The gold medal teams in each gender at FIVB Grand Slam and Swatch FIVB Major Series events split $57,000, the silver $43,000, the bronze $32,000 and fourth place $24,000. The gold medal teams in each gender at FIVB Open tournaments each split $11,000, the silver $8,000, the bronze $6,000 and fourth place $4,500.
FIVB EVENT FORMAT
Implemented in 2013, the format of all the FIVB Beach Volleyball international tournaments – whether FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships, FIVB Beach Volleyball Grand Slam or FIVB Beach Volleyball Open – are the same, featuring pool play followed by single elimination knockout rounds. Country Quota playoffs returned as needed in 2015 to determine the final teams for the qualification tournament.