Lucerne, Switzerland, May 14, 2015 - With the “money” rounds at the US$150,000 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Lucerne Open 2015 “going full throttle” with both men’s and women’s pool play matches in progress here Thursday on the shores of Lake Lucerne.
The inaugural event where more than 10,000 spectators where following the action throughout Thursday has created many positive comments from both the players and the Beach Volleyball fans watching the FIVB World Tour event.
Thursday was the fourth of seven days of competition in the second event on the 2015 FIVB World Tour calendar. The event is also the first of five-straight international Beach Volleyball tournaments on the European continent after opening the season last month in Fuzhou, China.
For young and old alike, the Lucerne Open features an array of the competitors featuring Olympic medal winners and world champions to a 16-year old that will be one of the leading candidates to qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after capturing the gold medal last August at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympics Games in China.
“What a great site for Beach Volleyball,” said Todd Rogers, who captured the 2007 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship gold medal in the Alp’s village of Gstaad with Swiss-born Phil Dalhauser. “The surroundings are beautiful and the venue is great for a world tour event.”
Rogers is playing in his 12th FIVB World Tour stop in Switzerland with his new partner Stafford Slick. “Except for losing a few matches on Swiss sand, I have enjoyed each and every one of my tournaments in Switzerland. Gstaad has been special since I won two gold medals there with Phil. Lucerne has the making of a first-class event at one of the most scenic locations on the international tour.”
With the first two days of play highlighted by country quota and qualifying action, the “money” rounds have attracted both local and international Beach Volleyball fans to the Lido where the center court stadium seats over 2,300 with the three side courts featuring a consistent flow of followers.
Thursday is a “national holiday in Switzerland as the country celebrates Ascension Day - the 40th day of Easter. It occurs 39 days after Easter Sunday as it is a Christian holiday that commemorates Jesus Christ’s ascension into heaven according to Christian belief.
This week’s double gender FIVB World Tour event is also the second event on the qualifying schedule for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The gold medal teams in each gender in the Lucerne Open will each split $11,000 Sunday for topping the Lido podium while the second-place pair shares $8,000.
Following Thursday’s 48-match schedule (32 for men, 16 for women), Friday’s play will feature both pool play and elimination matches. The men’s slate features 16 morning pool play matches and eight afternoon elimination bracket contests. The women will play 16 matches Friday with two rounds of elimination bracket play.
Saturday’s schedule is highlighted by the afternoon women’s semi-final matches that will be determined after the completion of the morning quarter-final contests. The men will play tge “round of 16” matches first Saturday followed by four quarter-final contests. Four teams from both genders will be playing Sunday as the men stage mid-day semi-finals followed by the afternoon medal matches for both men and women.
Lucerne now joins another 157 other sites that have hosted a FIVB-sanctioned Beach Volleyball event since 1987 when the international federation started promoting the sport for men. The women’s circuit began in 1992 when the FIVB sought Olympic status that was granted for the Atlanta 1996 Summer Games. The Lucerne Open is also the 316th FIVB-sanctioned men’s Beach Volleyball World Tour event and the 279th for women.
Lucerne now joins Gstaad as Swiss sites on the 2015 FIVB World Tour. While Gstaad has been a regular stop on the FIVB World Tour since 2000 and host site for the FIVB World Championships in 2007, Lucerne’s only international events were European confederation events for four years (2005-2008).
Following the Lucerne Open, the men will take the next week off while the women compete in a Czech Republic “Open” event May 19-24 in Prague. The two genders resume competition together at the end of May (25-31) with the Moscow Grand Slam. The FIVB World Tour remains in Europe for “Major Series” stops in Croatia (Poreč, June 1-7)) and Norway (Stavanger, June 8-14) before crossing the Atlantic for the final world championship “tune up” in the United States for the St. Petersburg Grand Slam in Florida (June 15-21).