Lausanne, Switzerland, November 14, 2015 — Holding the last of three double-gender events on the 2015 portion of the 2016 calendar this week, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) now takes just over two months off from the 2016 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.
With the qualifying process for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in high gear, the 2016 FIVB World Tour will resume with the double-gender FIVB Vitoria Open in Brazil to be held Jan. 26-31, 2016.
This week saw a team from Germany win the men’s gold medal for the second straight year at the men’s $75,000 FIVB Qatar Open in Doha, Qatar. It was the second FIVB World Tour men’s event in the last two years in Doha.
QATAR MEN
In the men’s competition this week in Doha, winning the gold medal with a perfect 7-0 record was Germany’s Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen. Germany’s fifth-seeded Bockermann/Fluggen won the gold medal match in three sets over USA’s top-seeded Nick Lucena/Phil Dalhausser, 21-18, 16-21 and 15-13 in 50 minutes. It was the German team’s second gold medal in 2015 and second career FIVB gold medal individually.
In the bronze medal match in Doha, USA’s John Hyden/Tri Bourne defeated France’s Youssef Krou/Edouard Rowlandson in three sets, 21-15, 20-22 and 15-12 in 50 minutes.
In the Doha semifinals, USA’s Lucena/Dalhausser came from behind to defeat France’s Krou/Rowlandson in three sets, 15-21, 21-16 and 15-7 in 44 minutes and Germany’s Bockermann/Fluggen were also extended to three sets before overcoming USA’s Hyden/Bourne, 21-14, 16-21 and 15-12 in 51 minutes to advance to the gold medal match. Both of USA’s podium teams finished 6-1 in Doha and all seven Lucena/Dalhausser matches went to the tiebreaker set to determine the winner.
MEN’S WINNERS SHARE
This week’s FIVB Qatar Open men’s champions Bockermann/Fluggen of Germany picked up the gold medal purse of $11,000. USA’s runner-up Lucena/Dalhausser earned $8,000 in prize money while USA’s bronze medalists Hyden/Bourne earned $6,000 and France’s Krou/Rowlandson received $4,500 in prize money for their fourth place finish.
MEN’S POINTS/EARNINGS
After three events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour, Italy’s Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri duo leads the FIVB World Tour point standings with 1,100 points. Germany’s Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen tandem is second in the standing with 1,090. Third is USA’s Lucena/ Dalhausser with 950 points, fourth with 880 points is Latvia’s Martins Plavins/Haralds Regza duo and tied for fifth with 780 points are Belgium’s Dries Koekelkoren/Tom van Walle and Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak. Seventh is USA’s Hyden/Bourne with 700 points.
In the 2016 FIVB World Tour men’s season earnings after three events, USA’s Lucena/Dalhausser duo leads with $19,000. Tied for second with $17,750 each in prize winnings are Italy’s Carambula/Ranghieri and Germany’s Bockermann/Fluggen. Fourth is Latvia’s M. Plavins/Regza tandem with $10,000, while fifth is USA’s Hyden/Bourne with $9,375 and tied for sixth are Mexico’s Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen and Netherlands’ Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen with $8,000 each.
WOMEN’S POINTS/EARNINGS
For the women after two 2016 FIVB World Tour events, Italy’s Menegatti/Orsi Toth are at the top of the point list with 850 points, Argentina’s Ana Gallay/Georgina Klug tandem is second with 650, tied for third with 540 points for each team are Austria’s Barbara Hansel/Stefanie Schwaiger and France’s Alexandra Jupiter/Laura Longuet and tied for fifth with 500 points for each team are Czech Republic’s Slukova/Hermannova and Germany’s Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst.
In the 2016 FIVB World Tour women’s season earnings after two events, Italy’s Menegatti/Orsi Toth is in the top spot with $14,000, tied for second with $11,000 for each team are Czech Republic’s Slukova/Hermannova and Germany’s Ludwig/Walkenhorst, fourth is Brazil’s Eduarda Lisboa/Elize Maia with $8,000 and fifth is Argentina’s Ana Gallay/Georgina Klug with $7,875 in 2016 FIVB earnings.
MEN’S FINAL FOURS
In three men’s tournaments on the 2016 FIVB competition calendar, seven countries have at least one final four placement. Co-leaders with three final four placements each are Germany (one gold medal, one bronze medal, one fourth place finish) and the United States (one gold medal, one silver medal, one bronze medal). Tied for third with one each are Chile (one fourth place), Italy (one gold medal), Latvia (one bronze medal), Mexico (one silver medal) and the Netherlands (one silver medal).
WOMEN’S FINAL FOURS
In two women’s FIVB international events on the 2016 calendar, seven countries have earned at least one final four finish. At the top with two final four placements is Italy (one silver medal, one bronze) and tied for second with one each are Argentina (one fourth place finish), Brazil (one silver medal), Czech Republic (one gold medal), Germany (one gold medal), Netherlands (one fourth place finish) and the United States (one bronze medal).
MEN’S WINNING PERCENTAGE
Based on percentage, statistically, in men’s action after three events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour calendar with a minimum of eight matches played, the leader at 92.9% is USA’s Lucena/Dalhausser (13-1) while tied for second at 85.7% are Mexico’s Ontiveros/Virgen (6-1) and Netherlands’ Brouwer/Meeuwsen (6-1) fourth at 82.4% is Italy’s Ranghieri/Carambula (14-3) and tied for fifth at 77.8% each are Germany’s Bockermann/Fluggen (14-4) and Germany’s Tim Holler/Jonas Schroder (7-2). Sixth at 75.0% is USA’s John Hyden/Tri Bourne (9-3) and seventh at 70.6% is Latvia’s M. Plavins/Regza (12-5).
With 14 match wins each this season so far, co-leading this category are Italy’s Carambula/Ranghieri (14-3) and Germany’s Bockermann/Fluggen (14-4) while third with 13 wins is USA’s Lucena/Dalhausser (13-1). Currently fourth with 12 wins is Latvia’s M. Plavins/Regza (12-5) and tied for fifth with 10 wins each are Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak (10-5), Belgium’s Dries Koekelkoren/Tom van Walle (10-6) and Austria’s Christoph Dressler/Thomas Kunert (10-6).
WOMEN’S WINNING PERCENTAGE
Based on percentage, statistically, in women’s action after two events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour calendar, the co-leaders at 100.0% are Germany’s Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst (7-0) and Czech Republic’s Hermannova/Slukova (7-0), while tied for third at 85.7% are Italy’s Menegatti/Orsi Toth (12-2) and USA’s Jennifer Kessy/Emily Day (6-1) and tied for fifth at 80.0% each are Vanuatu’s Miller/Matauatu (4-1) and Netherlands’ Rimke Braakman/Jolien Sinnema (4-1).
For the women in match wins following two events on the 2016 FIVB calendar, leading with 12 match wins is Italy’s Menegatti/Orsi Toth while second in match wins with eight is Argentina’s Gallay/Klug (8-4). Tied for third with seven match wins are Germany’s Ludwig/Walkenhorst (7-0) and Czech Republic’s Slukova/Hermannova (7-0). Tied for fifth with six wins each so far are USA’s Kessy/Day (6-1), Brazil’s Lisboa/Elize Maia (6-2), Austria’s Hansel/S. Schwaiger (6-3), and France’s Jupiter/Longuet (6-5).
ON THE HORIZON
Placement points for the FIVB Olympic Rankings for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games continued this week at the men’s $75,000 FIVB Qatar Open in Doha, Qatar. It was the last of three open tournaments on the 2015 portion of the 2016 FIVB World Tour. Taking nine weeks off, the 2016 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour will resume with the double-gender FIVB Vitoria Open in Brazil (Jan. 26-31).
GROWING HISTORY
When play resumes in January, the FIVB Vitoria Open in Brazil will be the 333rd men’s tournament since the FIVB began play in 1987 and the 297th FIVB women’s tournament since they started competition in 1992.
FIVB 2015-2016
Based in Lausanne, Switzerland as the international governing body for the Olympic sports of Beach Volleyball and Volleyball, the 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball calendar featured a record purse of US$9.6 million with a season that extended from late April to late September, competing at 20 venues in 15 countries. The schedule included five FIVB Grand Slams, the new Swatch FIVB Major Series of four events, four FIVB Opens and the special $500,000 Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals in the United States. A showcase event was the $1 million 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in the Netherlands.
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 after the first of the year.
The Olympic qualification process began in 2015 with all FIVB World Tour events (except the Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals) in 2015 up until June 13, 2016 counting towards the Olympic Ranking in order to determine 15 spots for each gender that will take part in each 24-team field in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games on Copacabana Beach in Brazil.
FIVB WORLD TOUR PURSES
The FIVB Grand Slam and Swatch FIVB Major Series competitions, all double-gender each have $800,000 in total purses. The total purse FIVB World Championships the Netherlands 2015 was $1,000,000 and $500,000 will be the total for the Swatch FIVB World Tour Season Final which will feature the top eight teams in each gender and two wild card teams.
The seven FIVB Open tournaments in 2015, six double-gender, and one women’s only, had $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 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 have returned as needed in 2015 to determine the final teams for the qualification tournament.