Lausanne, Switzerland, July 4, 2016 — Relishing in the thrill of a Swatch FIVB Major in Croatia last week, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) will now see the 2016 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour continue the final countdown to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with this week’s double-gender $800,000 Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major in Switzerland, the third of four events in the Swatch FIVB Major Series portion of the 2016 FIVB World Tour.
Last week in Croatia saw a team from Brazil win the men’s gold medal and a team from Germany capture the women’s gold medal at the $800,000 Swatch FIVB Porec Major, the second of four Swatch FIVB Major Series events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour. It was the 18th men’s event and 15th women’s event in the 2016 FIVB World Tour. All of the remaining events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour calendar are double gender events.
After the Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major in Switzerland, there will be one more Swatch FIVB Major Series event in 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 at a location to be announced, ending with a FIVB Open tournament in Mexico.
POREC MENIn the men’s competition this past week at the Swatch FIVB Porec Major the gold medal winners with a near-perfect 6-1 record was Brazil’s top-seeded Olympians Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt who held off Austria’s 15th-seeded Olympians Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst in three sets, 21-13, 16-21 and 15-12 in just 52 minutes, the longest gold medal match on the 2016 FIVB World Tour. Brazil’s Alison/Bruno Oscar now lead the series history between the two teams, 7-1, and this was the Brazilians fourth straight win over the Austrians going back to last year’s FIVB World Championships in the Netherlands.
For Brazil’s Alison/Bruno Oscar, who won the 2015 FIVB World Championships to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, it was their ninth gold medal in 28 career FIVB World Tour events as a team to go with four silver 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 54th career FIVB World Tour final four finish with 20 gold medals, 15 silver medals, 11 bronze medals and eight fourth-place finishes in 102 career FIVB events. For Bruno Oscar, he now has 31 career FIVB World Tour final fours with 11 gold medals, eight silver medals, four bronze medals and eight fourth-place finishes in 104 career FIVB events.
For Austria’s Doppler/Horst, who will both be competing in their third Olympic Games in Rio and second together, this was their second career silver medal on the FIVB World Tour in 40 events as a team to go along with one bronze medal and two fourth place finishes. This was their first final four finish in 2016 as their last final four finish was a bronze medal in Yokohama, Japan in 2015.
In the men’s bronze medal match in Porec, winning was Canada’s sixth-seeded Olympians Chaim Schalk/Ben Saxton who came from behind to topple Latvia’s fifth-seeded Olympians Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins in a thrilling three sets, 19-21, 30-28 and 20-18 in 61 monumental minutes. With their third straight victory over Latvia’s Samoilovs/J. Smedins, Canada’s Schalk/Saxton increased their series lead over the Latvians to 4-2.
As a team in 44 FIVB World Tour events, Canada’s Schalk/Saxton now have three bronze medals and one silver medal with four final four finishes. This was their first final four finish on the 2016 FIVB World Tour.
For Latvia’s Olympians Samoilovs/J. Smedins, it was their fourth fourth-place finish on the FIVB World Tour gold medal as a team in 44 events, 19th final four finish along with eight gold medals, five silver medals and two bronze medals. Individually, it was the 19th final four placement for Samoilovs in 140 FIVB tournaments along with eight gold medals, six silver medals and two bronze medals. For J. Smedins, who won the bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympic games with Martins Plavins, it was his fifth career FIVB World Tour fourth place finish in 23 final four finishes with nine gold medals, six silver medals and three bronze medals.
In the Porec men’s semifinals, Austria’s Doppler/Horst came from behind to defeat Canada’s Schalk/Saxton in three sets, 17-21, 21-17 and 19-17 in 51 minutes and Brazil’s Alison/Bruno Oscar advanced to the gold medal match by also coming from behind to hold off Latvia’s Samoilovs/J. Smedins in three sets, 18-21,21-17 and 15-11 in 53 minutes.
Austria’s Alexander Horst was selected as the men’s most outstanding player in Porec.
POREC WOMENThe women’s competition in Croatia saw Germany’s 19th-seeded qualifiers Julia Sude/Chantall Laboureur compile a 6-1 record including two final wins over teams bound for the Olympics, defeating Canada’s fourth-seeded Sarah Pavan/Heather Bansley in straight sets to win the gold medal, 21-19, 21-18 in 38 minutes.
For Germany’s diligent non-Olympians Sude/Laboureur it was their first career FIVB World Tour gold medal in 36 events as a team to go along with three silver medals and two four place finishes. Germany’s Sude/Laboureur became just the 11th women’s team in FIVB World Tour history to advance from the qualifier and go on to win the gold medal in the same tournament.
For Canada’s Pavan/Bansley, it was their third career FIVB World Tour silver medal and second straight in Porec in 36 events as a team to go with three bronze medals and one fourth-place finish. Germany’s Sude/Laboureur won for the second straight time after losing three in the series history with Canada’s Pavan/Bansley.
In the women’s bronze medal match in Porec, Germany’s 10th-seeded Olympians Karla Borger/Britta Buthe upset Germany’s second-seeded Olympians Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst in three sets, 21-19, 21-23 and 15-11 in 51 minutes.
For Germany’s Borger/Buthe, it was their third career FIVB World Tour bronze medal in 61 events as a team to go along with one gold medal, two silver medals and two fourth place finishes. They also evened their career record against compatriots Ludwig/Walkenhorst 2-2 with their victory.
For Germany’s Ludwig/Walkenhorst, it was their 15th final four finish in 34 career FIVB World Tour events. As a team, they have earned six gold medals, three silver medals, three bronze medals and now three fourth-place finishes. Individually, Ludwig has 31 final four finishes with six gold medals, 11 silver medals, eight bronze medals and five fourth place finishes.
To reach the women’s gold medal match in Hamburg, in their respective semifinals, Germany’s Sude/Laboureur stopped compatriots Borger/Buthe in two sets, 21-19, 22-20 in 39 minutes and Canada’s Pavan/Bansley advanced by defeating Germany’s Ludwig/Walkenhorst in two sets, 21-17, 21-15 in 41 minutes.
Germany’s Julia Sude was selected as the women’s most outstanding player of the tournament for the first time in her career.
MEN’S WINNERS SHARELast week’s Swatch FIVB Porec Major men’s champions Alison/Bruno Oscar of Brazil picked up the Swatch FIVB Major gold medal purse of $57,000. Austria’s runner-up Doppler/Horst earned $43,000 in prize money while Canada’s bronze medalists Schalk/Saxton earned $32,000 and Latvia’s Samoilovs/J. Smedins received $24,000 in prize money for their fourth place finish.
WOMEN’S WINNERS ROLLThe Swatch FIVB Porec Major women’s champions Sude/Laboureur of Germany earned the winner’s $57,000 purse. Canada’s Pavan/Bansley collected the runner-up $43,000 purse to split from their silver medal placement and Germany’s Borger/Buthe earned $32,000 for their bronze medal finish. Germany’s fourth-place finishers Ludwig/Walkenhorst earned $24,000 in prize money.
MEN’S POINTS/EARNINGSAfter 18 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 4,760 points, while Italy’s Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri duo is second with 4,580 points. Third is USA’s Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena with 4,350, fourth is USA’s John Hyden/Tri Bourne with 4,110 points and fifth is Mexico’s Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen with 4,070. sixth is Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins with 3,830 points, seventh is USA’s Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson with 3,820 points, eighth with 3,700 points is Brazil’s Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, ninth is Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel with 3,480 points and 10th is Germany’s Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen with 3,450 points.
In the 2016 FIVB World Tour men’s season earnings after 18 events, Brazil’s Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt duo continues on the top of the list with $181,000. Second is USA’s Dalhausser/Lucena with $145,000, Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak tandem is third with $139,750, fourth is Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins with 128,875 and fifth is Netherlands’ Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen with $120,375. Sixth is Brazil’s Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Solberg with $109,000, seventh is USA’s Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson with $107,125, eighth is Netherlands’ Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst with $96,125, ninth is Italy’s Adrian Carambula/ Alex Ranghieri tandem with $95,500, and 10th is Canada’s Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk with $89,375.
WOMEN’S POINTS/EARNINGSFor the women after 15 events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour, Germany’s Ludwig/Walkenhorst moved up to the top rung on the ladder with 4,540 points. Moving up to second with 4,140 is Germany’s Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler duo while USA’s Kerri Walsh Jennings/April Ross is third with 4,010 points, fourth is Germany’s Julia Sude/Chantal Labourer with 3,960 points and fifth is Germany’s Karla Borger/Brita Buthe with 3,860 points. Sixth is Italy’s Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth tandem with 3,780 points, seventh with 3,540 points is Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca, eighth is Brazil’s Eduarda Lisboa/Elize Maia with 3,490 points, ninth with 3,410 points is Argentina’s Ana Gallay/Georgina Klug and 10th with 3,390 points is Switzerland’s Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Vergé-Dépré.
In the 2016 FIVB World Tour women’s season earnings after 15 events, Germany’s Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst has taken over the top spot with $193,375 in earnings in just nine events while second is USA’s Kerri Walsh Jennings/April Ross with $174,000 in just seven events, third with $153,000 in just seven events is Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca, fourth with $116,000 is Canada’s Heather Bansley/Sarah Pavan and fifth with $111,250 is Germany’s Julia Sude/Chantal Laboureur. Sixth with $110,875 is Germany’s Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, seventh with $97,000 is Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas, eighth with $95,000 is Brazil’s Eduarda Lisboa/Elize Maia, ninth with $79,875 is Italy’s Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth and 10th with $75,525 is Germany’s Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler.
MEN’S FINAL FOURSAfter 18 men’s tournaments on the 2016 FIVB World Tour schedule, 16 countries have at least one final four placement. Co-leaders with 12 final four placements each are Brazil (four gold medals, four silver, two bronze, two fourth place finishes) and the United States (four gold medals, two silver medals, three bronze medals, three 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 Austria (two silver medals), Chile (two fourth places), and Spain (one gold medal, one bronze medal). Tied for 13th with one final four finish each are Canada (one silver medal), France (one fourth place), Greece (one fourth place) and Qatar (one gold medal).
WOMEN’S FINAL FOURSIn 15 women’s FIVB international events to date on the 2016 calendar, 17 countries have earned at least one final four finish. Co-leaders in final four placements with 13 each are Brazil (three gold medals, five silver medals, three bronze medals, two fourth place finishes) and Germany (five gold medals, one silver medal, five bronze medals, two fourth places). 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). Ninth with two final four finishes is Canada (one bronze medal, one silver medal) and tied for 10th with one final four finish each are Austria (one silver medal), Australia (one fourth place), 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 WINSBased on percentage, statistically, in men’s action after 18 events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour calendar with a minimum of 32 matches played, the leader at 86.0% continues to be USA’s Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena (49-8) while second at 85.0% is Brazil’s Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt (34-6), third at 75.5% is Brazil’s Gustavo Carvalhaes/Saymon Barbosa (40-13), fourth at 75.0% is Netherlands’ Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen (33-11), and fifth at 72.3% is Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins (40-15).
Sixth at 71.1% is Spain’s Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera (32-13), tied for seventh at 69.0% is Italy’s Alex Ranghieri/Adrian Carambula (49-22) and Russia’s Konstantin Semenov/Viacheslav Krasilnikov (29-13), ninth at 68.9% is Italy’s Paolo Nicolai/Daniele Lupo (31-14) and 10th at 68.4% are Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak (52-24).
With 52 match wins this season through 18 events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour, leading this category is Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak (52-24), tied for second with 49 match wins each are Italy’s Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri (49-22) and USA’s Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena (49-8) while fourth with 45 match wins is Mexico’s Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgin (45-22) and fifth with 41 match wins is USA’s Tri Bourne/John Hyden (41-27). Tied for sixth with 40 wins each are the duos of Brazil’s Saymon Santos/Gustavo Carvalhaes (40-13) and Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins (40-15), tied for eighth with 38 wins each are Germany’s Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen (38-20), and Canada’s Grant O’Gorman/Sam Pedlow (38-28) and 10th 37 match wins is USA’s Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson (37-18).
WOMEN’S WINNING PERCENTAGE/MATCH WINSBased on percentage, statistically, in women’s action after 15 events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour calendar with a minimum of 27 matches played, the leader at 90.0% is USA’s Kerri Walsh Jennings/April Ross (45-5), second at 88.5% is Germany’s Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst (46-6), third at 85.0% is Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca (34-6), fourth at 75.9% is Germany’s Karla Borger/Britta Buthe (41-13.) and fifth at 74.3% is Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas (26-9).
Sixth at 71.0% is Canada’s Sarah Pavan/Heather Bansley (22-9), seventh at 70.8% is Germany’s Julia Sude/Chantal Laboureur (46-19), eighth at 68.3% is Brazil’s Eduarda Lisboa/Elise Maia (41-19),ninth at 68.0% is Switzerland’s Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr (34-16) and 10th at 65.7% is Brazil’s Juliana Felisberta/Taiana Lima (23-12).
For the women in match wins following 15 events on the 2016 FIVB calendar, co-leaders with 46 match wins each are Germany’s Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst (46-6) and Germany’s Julia Sude/Chantal Laboureur tandem (46-19). Third with 45 match wins is USA’s Kerri Walsh Jennings/April Ross (45-5), fourth with 43 match wins is Germany’s Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler (43-32) and tied for fifth with 41 match wins each is Germany’s Karla Borger/Britta Buthe (41-13) and Brazil’s Eduarda Lisboa/Elize Maia (41-19).
Seventh with 38 match wins is Italy’s Menegatti/Orsi Toth (38-22), eighth with 36 match wins Argentina’s Ana Gallay/Georgina Klug (36-27), and tied for 10th with 34 match wins each are the duos of Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca (34-6) and Switzerland’s Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr (34-16).
ON THE HORIZONQualification for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games from the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour complete, 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 the Swatch FIVB Porec Major last week, remaining 2016 FIVB World Tour events prior to the Rio Olympics will be two more events on the Swatch FIVB Major Series portion of the 2016 FIVB World Tour. First is this week’s Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major Series in Switzerland (July 5-10) and concluding with the Swatch FIVB Klagenfurt Major Series event 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 the $800,000 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 HISTORYThe Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major in Switzerland will be the 348th men’s tournament since the FIVB began play in 1987 and the 309th FIVB women’s tournament since their competition started in 1992.
FIVB 2016Based in Lausanne, Switzerland as the international governing body for the Olympic sports of Beach Volleyball and Volleyball, the 2016 FIVB Beach Volleyball calendar features a purse of US$8.8 million with a season that extends from last October to this October, competing at 23 venues in 13 countries. The schedule includes four FIVB Grand Slams, four Swatch FIVB Major Series events, 14 FIVB Opens and the special Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals. 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 RIOThe 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 for pool assignments will be held at the Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major.
FIVB WORLD TOUR PURSESThe 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 FORMATImplemented 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.