Toronto, Canada, September 15, 2016 - A busy day of Beach Volleyball action awaits Canadian fans here Thursday with eight women’s and four men’s pool play matches scheduled on two courts on Polson Pier at the US$500,000 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals.
The women will be completing the second of two days of group action with all 12 teams advancing to Friday’s elimination rounds. The winner of the four pools will earn “byes” into Friday’s quarter-finals while the second- and third-place finishers in each group will meet in opening elimination bracket matches.
The women’s “elite eight” winners will advance to Saturday’s semi-finals where the two victorious teams will meet for the gold medal and the $100,000 first-place prize. The men conclude group action Friday and will play their two elimination rounds Saturday. The men’s semi-final and medal matches will be played Sunday with the winning pairs also sharing the $100,000 gold medal award.
Thursday’s women’s action will feature two matches each for Rio 2016 Olympic medal winners Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst of Germany (Pool B) and April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings of the United States (Pool A). Ludwig and Walkenhorst topped the Olympic podium in Rio with the Americans capturing the bronze medal on Copacabana.
Four women’s teams won opening pool play matches Wednesday, including defending SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals champions Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca of Brazil. Other women victors were the Swiss pairs of Isabella Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre and Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr, and Canadians Heather Bansley/Brandie Wilkerson.
Posting men’s wins Wednesday were Americans Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena and Tri Bourne/John Hyden, Brazilian Rio Olympic and 2015 FIVB world champions Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, and Latvians Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins.
Talita and Larissa defeated Ludwig and Walkenhorst for the 2015 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals gold medal in the United States on Fort Lauderdale Beach in south Florida. Alison and Bruno are also the defending SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals champions after defeating Dalhausser and Lucena for the 2015 title.
Thursday, September 15 - Center Court
12.30 - Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez, Spain vs. Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas, Canada (Elsa/Liliana lead 3-2)
13.30 - April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States vs. Louise Bawden/Talqua Clancy, Australia (Ross/Walsh Jennings lead 5-0)
14.30 - Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, United States vs. Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak, Poland (series tied 1-1)
15.30 - Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk, Canada vs. Tri Bourne/John Hyden, United States (series tied 1-1)
16.30 - Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst, Germany vs. Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland (series tied 1-1)
17.30 - Heather Bansley/Brandie Wilkerson, Canada vs. Chantal Laboureur/Julie Sude, Germany (1st meeting)
Court No. 1
12.30 - Ludwig/Walkenhorst, Germany vs. Ana Gallay/Georgia Klug, Argentina (Ludwig/Walkenhorst 6-0)
13.30 - Laboureur/Sude, Germany vs. Laura Giombini/Marta Menegatti, Italy (1st meeting)
14.30 - Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen, Netherlands vs. Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel, Poland (Brouwer/Meeuwsen leads 5-4)
15.30 - Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen, Mexico vs. Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri, Italy (Carambula/Ranghieri leads 1-0)
16.30 - Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca, Brazil vs. Elsa/Liliana, Spain (Talita/Larissa lead 5-1)
17.30 - Ross/Walsh Jennings, United States vs. Isabella Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre, Switzerland (Ross/Walsh Jennings 4-0)