Lausanne, Switzerland, October 24, 2014 — Completing a two-week break during the final phase of the season, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) pauses to look back on some of the significant stats from its 2014 US$9.6 million FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. Following this two-week hiatus, the FIVB returns to action on the sand in Argentina with the double-gender US$150,000 FIVB Paraná Open on October 28-November 2. It will be thesixth time Argentina has hosted a FIVB World Tour event and first time on has been held in Paraná. Last year, a double-gender FIVB Grand Slam was held for the first time in Corrientes.
With 14 men’s events and 15 women’s tournaments now completed, here are some spicy sauces from the 2014 FIVB World Tour that are from the scrumptious succulent smorgasbord of today’s treats on the FIVB Beach Volleyball menu:
• Men 2014 final four country leaders – In 14 men’s tournaments so far in 2014 on the FIVB World Tour, 15 countries have at least one final four placement. With 11 final four placements each to lead the way are Brazil (two gold medals, four silver medals, two bronze medals, three fourth places) and the United States (four gold medals, one silver medal, four bronze, two fourths). With six final four placements each is Latvia (two gold medals, two silvers, two fourth places) followed by Italy with five (two gold medals, two silver medals, one fourth). With four final four placements is Germany (one bronze, three fourths). With three final four placements each are Poland (one gold, two silvers), Russia (one gold, one silver, one bronze) and Switzerland (two bronze medals, one fourth) With two is the Netherlands (one gold, one bronze) while Australia (bronze). Austria (fourth), Canada (fourth), France (gold), Kazakhstan (fourth), Mexico (bronze) and Spain have the other final four placements so far with one final four for each country..
• Men Top Rookies – The 2014 FIVB beach volleyball calendar has witnessed some impressive ‘rookies’ on the circuit. Playing nearly or totally fulltime this year are several players hoping their journey is on the road to Rio and the 2016 Olympic Games. Leading the men’s FIVB rookie points is USA’s Tri Bourne with 2,340 FIVB World Tour points in 10 events with one gold medal. Second is Russia’s Viacheslav Krasilnikov who has 1,635 points in nine events and one gold medal. Third so far is USA’s Theodore Brunner who has 1,105 points in seven events with a high of one bronze medal and one fourth-place finish while fourth is Latvia’s Aleksandrs Solovejs with 950 world season rankings points in 10 events with one gold medal. Completing the top five is Michiel van Dorsten of the Netherlands who has 750 points in eight events with one fifth place finish.
• Men Qualification Percentages - Of the 14 men’s events played on the 2014 FIVB World Tour. Overall for the men, the AVC had 36.11 % (13 of 36 teams qualify), CEV had 31.72% (59 of 186), CSV had 55.17% (16 of 29) and NORCECA had 57.45% (27 of 47). Among individual countries by confederation, China (AVC) has qualified 45.45% (5 of 11), Germany (CEV) 46.15% (6 of 13), Italy (CEV) 55.56% (5 of 9), Netherlands (CEV), 44.44% (4 of 9), Russia (CEV) 41.67% (5 of 11), Austria (CEV), 23.08% (6 of 26), Czech Republic (CEV) 41.67% (5 of 12), Brazil (CSV) 78.57% (11 of 14), Canada (NORCECA) 50% (10 of 20) and the United States (NORCECA) 80% (16 of 20).
• Women 2014 final four country leaders – In 15 women’s events so far this year, 12 countries have earned at least one final four finish. Brazil leads with 20 final four placements (six gold medals, six silver medals, three bronze medals and five fourths), Germany has 11 final fours (three gold medals, four silvers, three bronzes and one fourth). China has five (two silvers, two bronze, one fourth) as does the United States (four gold medals, one bronze), Czech Republic has four (two gold medals, one bronze, one fourth) along with Spain (one silver, three fourths). Netherlands has three final four finishes (two bronze, one fourth) while with two final fours are Italy (one silver, one fourth place), Russia (one silver medal, one bronze) and the Slovak Republic (two bronze medals). Austria (one fourth) and Greece (one fourth) each has one final four finish.
• Women Top Rookies – The 2014 FIVB World Tour has witnessed some impressive ‘rookies’ on the circuit. Playing nearly or totally fulltime this year are several players hoping their journey is on the road to Rio and the 2016 Olympic Games. Brazil’s Fernanda Alves, teamed on a regular basis for the majority of this season with 2013 tour champion Taiana Lima, won her first gold at The Hague Grand Slam in the Netherlands. Alves has played seven events with Lima and the duo also has one fourth place this season. Leading in women’s ‘rookie’ season points is China’s Xinyi Xia with 1,630 points and two bronze medals in 13 events while Alves is second with 1,360 points in seven events. Third is Germany’s Isabel Schneider with 680 points in seven events and a best finish of fifth. Fifth so far is USA’s Lane Carico with 590 points in six events this year.
• Women’s Qualification Percentages - Of the 15 women’s events played on the 2014 FIVB World Tour. Overall for the women, the AVC had 25.93 % (14 of 54 teams qualify), CEV had 38.17% (71 of 186), CSV had 80.95% (17 of 21) and NORCECA had 64.71% (22 of 34). Among individual countries by confederation, Kazakhstan (AVC) has qualified 50% (4 of 8), Germany (CEV) 82.5% (14 of 17), Italy (CEV) 33.33% (4 of 12), Poland (CEV) 68.75% (11 of 16), Russia (CEV) 47.37% (9 of 19), Switzerland (CEV), 50.00% (5 of 10), Brazil (CSV) 91.67% (1 of 12), Argentina (CSV) 100% (4 of 4), Canada (NORCECA) 64.71% (22 of 34), Mexico (NORCECA) 71.43% (5 of 7) and the United States (NORCECA) 62.50% (10 of 16).
• Match wins by Confederation/Country - Overall in men’s competition after 14 events, the CSV has won 57.8%(177-129) of its matches with NORCECA second at 57.5% (253-187), CEV third at 48.3% (689-738) and the AVC fourth with 35.9% (75-134) counting Top 24 elimination, pool play and qualifying matches. Individually for men, the United States (NORCECA) has had the best percentage at 65.0% (182-98), followed by Brazil (CSV) at 61.9% (146-90) and Latvia (CEV) third at 59.3% (73-50), Netherlands (CEV) fourth at 56.4% (79-61) and Chile fifth at 55.9% (19-15). After 15 events in women’s action, the CSV leads with at 66.9% (261-129) followed by the CEV at 48.1% (647-697), NORCECA at 47.7% (197-216), and AVC fourth at 41.2% (147-210). Individually, Brazil has topped all women’s play at 72.1% (225-87) with Germany second at 58.8% (173-121), Spain third at 58.6% (41-29), the Czech Republic fourth at 56.6% (69-53), Argentina fifth at 55.0% (33-27) and the United States sixth at 54.9% (128-105).
• Main draw wins by seeds - For the men after 14 events in 2014, seed No.1 leads at 81.1% (64-14 total) with seed 2 second at 72.2% (52-20), seed No. 7 third at 70.8% (51-21), seed No. 4 fourth at 70.3% (52-22) and No. 3 fifth at 65.8% (50-26). For the women after 15 events in 2014, seed No. 1 and No. 2 are tied in the winning percentage at 77.6% (66-19) each with seed No. 7 third at 73.7% (56-20, seed 3 fourth at 73.5% (58-22) with seed No. 4 in fifth at 71.4% (60-24).
• Men Match wins by events played together; events played total - Men after 14 events – 51 to 100 events 60.6% (120-78), 16 to 25 57.6% (277-204) and 10 to 25 third at 54.2% (269-227). Also for men--events played total --101 to 200 events, 59.1% (477-330), over 200, 54.1% (118-100) and third is 26 to 50 total events played, 48.9% (113-118).
• Women Match wins by events played together; events played total - Women after 15 events – as a team 51-100, 65.4% (119-63), 10 to 15, 61.7% (269-167), over 100, 55.1% (43-35) and 16 to 25, 52.7% (356-320); events played total--over 200 events played total 67.5 % (152-75), 101 to 200, 56.2% (451-351) and 51 to 100, 50.1% (433-431).
• Match Wins by Combined Age – For men after 14 events, combined age of 60-69, 56.8% winning percentage (311-237), 70 and over, 51.2% (62-59) and 50 to 59, 50.0% (607-607). For women after 15 events, combined age winning percentage, 60 to 69, 61.6% (263-164), 50 to 59, 50.4% (700-688) and 40 to 49, 45.3% (280-338).
• Total Entries –Through 14 men’s events and 15 women’s tournaments so far on the 2014 FIVB World Tour, there have been a total of 1,285 different teams entered in the various events, 635 men and 650 women. By Confederations, the CEV has had the most teams compete with 758 total (392 men, 366 women), followed way back by NORCECA with 203 (102, 101) the AVC with 175 (66, 109), CSV with 143 (69, 74) and the CAVB with 6 (6 men’s teams). By individual countries, Germany (CEV) has had the most with 115 (54 men, 61 women), followed by the United States (NORCECA) with 109 (55, 54), Brazil (CSV) with 101 (47, 54), Austria (CEV) with 72 (45, 27), Canada (NORCECA) also with 72 (35, 37), the Netherlands (CEV) with 71 (32, 39), Switzerland (CEV) with 67 (35, 32), Russia with 66 (27, 39) and China (AVC) with 63 (23, 40).
• Men 2014 final four by Confederation – So far in the men’s 2014 FIVB World Tour, the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) had recorded two final four finishes and one medal (Bronze) and one fourth place, the South American volleyball confederation (CSV) has 11 final four placements including eight medals (two gold, four silver and two bronze medals). The African volleyball confederation (CAVB) has no final fours, the European volleyball federation (CEV) has 30 final fours, including 22 medals (eight, eight, six). The North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) has 13 final four placements with 11 medals (four gold, two silver, five bronze).
• Women 2014 final four by Confederations – So far in the women’s 2014 FIVB World Tour, the AVC has earned five final four placements including four medals (two silver, two bronze), the CSV 20 final four finishes including 15 medals (six, six, three), the CAVB has no final four finishes, the CEV has recorded 27 final four placements including 19 podiums (five, six, eight) and NORCECA has earned four final four placements, all four being gold medals.
• Men 2014 Elimination rounds percentages – As confederations in the men’s 2014 FIVB World Tour, the AVC has advanced 48.84% of its main draw teams from pool play to the elimination rounds (21 of 43), the CEV has advanced 75.47% of its teams (200 of 265), the CSV has advanced 85.71% of its teams (48 of 56) and NORCECA has advanced 81.71% of its tandems (67 of 82) from pool play to the elimination rounds. Looking at individual federations in the men’s play, Australia leads the AVC at 75.00% (six of eight), among the leaders in the CEV are Spain at 83.33% (15 of 18), the Netherlands at 85.19% (23 of 27), Latvia at 85.0$ (17 of 20), Russia at 85.0% (17 of 20), Austria at 76 % (19 of 25) and Germany at 70.21% (33 of 47). Leading the CSV is Brazil at 90.91% (40 of 44) and the overall high percentage for advancing men’s teams from pool play to the elimination rounds is the United States (NORCECA) at 94.12% (48 of 51).
• Women 2014 Elimination rounds percentages –As confederations in the women’s 2014 FIVB World Tour, the AVC has advanced 65.22% of its main draw teams from pool play to the elimination rounds (45 of 69), the CEV has advanced 75.30% of its teams (251 of 189), the CSV has advanced 87.14% of its duos (61 of 70) and NORCECA has advanced 73.03% of its tandems (65 of 89) from pool play to the elimination rounds. Among the individual federations in women’s play China leads the AVC at 76.67% (23 of 30), among the leaders in the CEV are Spain at 100% (12 of 12), Switzerland at 96.30% (26 of 27), Italy at 83.33% (15 of 18), Czech Republic at 80.95% (17 of 21), Slovak Republic at 80.00% (eight of 10), Russia at 79.31% (23 of 29) and Germany at 77.59% (45 of 58). The leading federation from the CSV is Brazil 92.45% (49 of 53) and leading the NORCECA federation with the high percentage for advancing women’s teams from pool play is the United States at 81.25% (39 of 48).
NEXT UP
With the grand slam portion of the 2014 FIVB World Tour complete, the tour continues through December with four FIVB Open events remaining spread across the globe. Remaining on the 2014 calendar are three double-gender FIVB Open events along with one men-only FIVB Open tournament.
Next up, the 2014 FIVB World Tour will travel to Argentina for the double-gender FIVB Paraná Open (Oct. 28-Nov. 2).
After that events, the 2014 FIVB World Tour will head to Qatar for the men-only FIVB Doha Open (Nov. 4-8) then on to India for the double-gender FIVB Chennai Open (Nov. 25-30) before concluding in South Africa with the double-gender FIVB Mangaung Open (Dec. 9-14).
FIVB 2014
Based in Lausanne, Switzerland as the international governing body for the Olympic sports of Beach Volleyball and Volleyball, the 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar features a record purse of US$9.6 million with a season that extends from late April to mid-December competing at 19 venues in 17 countries. This year’s FIVB World Tour includes a record 10 FIVB Grand Slam events, the inaugural Grand Slam Finale and nine FIVB Open Tournaments throughout the world, helping expand the door for development of the sport even further.
The 10 FIVB Grand Slam competitions, all double-gender, have eight with $800,000 in total purses while both The Hague, Netherlands and the Long Beach, Calif., USA event have $1, 000,000 each in prize money, the most in FIVB Grand Slam history. The nine FIVB Open tournaments in 2014, seven double-gender, one men only event and one women only event, have $150,000 total purses for the double gender events and $75,000 for the single-gender competitions.
NEXT GEN
As part of the initiatives of FIVB President Dr Ary S. Graça F° and his leadership team, the 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball international calendar also included a record four age-group FIVB World Championships and the 2014 Nanjing (China) Youth Olympic Games Aug. 17-27).
Poland’s Maciej Kosiak/Maciej Rudol won the men’s gold medal for the home country and Australia’s Mariafe Artacho/Nicole Laird capturing the women’s gold medal for the second annual FIVB U23 World Championships in Myslowice, Poland. Capturing the gold medals in the inaugural FIVB U17 World Championships in Acapulco, Mexico were Switzerland’s Florian Breer/Yves Haussener and USA’s Morgan Martin/Kathryn Plummer. Winning the 14th FIVB U21 World Championships in Larnaka, Cyprus were Poland’s Michal Bryl/Kacper Kujawiak and Canada’s Sophie Bukovec/Tiadora Miric. The 13th FIVB U19 World Championships in Porto Portugal were won by Brazil’s Arthur Mariano/George Wanderley for the men and in the women’s competition the winners were Brazil’s Andressa Cavalanti/Eduarda Lisboa.