Lausanne, Switzerland, May 25, 2015 — After visiting the Czech Republic for the only time in 2015, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) will see its 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour continue in Russia this week with the US$800,000 FIVB Moscow Grand Slam, the first of five double-gender grand slams on the 2015 competition calendar.
Round 3 of the 2015 FIVB World Tour, held last week, was the FIVB Prague Open, the lone women’s only event in 2015. The men last competed two weeks ago at the FIVB Lucerne Open in Switzerland.
LUCERNE MEN
In the men’s competition of two weeks ago in Switzerland, winning the gold medal in impressive fashion with a perfect 9-0 record was Italy’s illustrious duo of Caminati/Ranghieri. The Italians won the gold by forfeit over defending FIVB World Champions Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands as the Dutch forfeited because of a lingering knee injury to Meeuwsen. Turkey’s Giginoglu/Gogtepe earned their own and their country’s first FIVB World Tour final four finish when they came back and won the bronze medal over Switzerland’s Nico Beeler/Alexei Strasser in three sets.
PRAGUE WOMEN
In the women’s only competition, winning their second FIVB World Tour gold medal with a sterling display and a 7-0 record was Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas. In the gold medal finale, Brazil’s Bednarczuk/Seixas overpowered Canada’s Heather Bansley/Sarah Pavan, 21-12, 21-18 in just 37 minutes. With Brazil claiming three of the four positions in the final four placement, Brazil’s Eduarda Lisboa/Elize Maia won the bronze medal as their compatriots Carolina and Maria Clara Salgado forfeited because of injury.
MEN’S WINNERS SHARE
Last week’s FIVB Lucerne Open men’s champions Caminati/Ranghieri of Italy earned 500 points on the FIVB World Tour and picked up the gold medal purse of $11,000. Netherland’s Brouwer/Meeuwsen, the Dutch tandem coming back off an injury-riddled 2014 season, earned 450 valuable points in the FIVB World Season Rankings and the FIVB World Tour points as well as earning $8,000 in prize money.
WOMEN’S WINNERS ROLL
Last week’s FIVB Prague Open women’s champions Bednarczuk/Seixas of Brazil also earned 500 points on the FIVB World Tour and also picked up the gold medal purse of $11,000. Canada’s runner-up duo of Bansley/Pavan also earned 450 valuable points in the FIVB World Tour Season Rankings and the FIVB World Tour points as well picking up the $8,000 purse to split from their silver medal placement.
MEN’S POINTS/EARNINGS
The top three teams in each gender at FIVB Open events receive 500, 450 and 400 points respectively on the 2015 FIVB World Tour. After two events, with two silver medals, Netherlands’ Brouwer/Meeuwsen lead the tour points with 900 and in earnings with $16,000. Russia’s Konstantin Semenov/Viacheslav Krasilnikov are second in points with 540 and tied for third with 500 points each are the gold medalists from the first two events of the year--Germany’s Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen and Italy’s Caminati/Ranghieri.
In the 2015 FIVB World Tour men’s season earnings, tied for second behind Netherlands’ Brouwer/Meeuwsen with $11,000 each are Germany’s Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen and Italy’s Caminati/Ranghieri.
WOMEN’S POINTS/EARNINGS
For the women, Canada’s Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas duo continues at the top of both lists with 1,080 points and $18,200 in earnings. Second in points is Germany’s Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude with 990 and third is Canada’s Bansley/Pavan tandem with 750 total points.
In the 2015 FIVB World Tour women’s season earnings, second and third behind Canada’s Broder/Valjas are Germany’s Labourer/Sude with $13,375 second and third is Canada’s Bansley/Pavan with $11,375.
MEN’S FINAL FOURS
In two men’s tournament so far in 2015 on the FIVB World Tour, seven countries have at least one final four placement. Leading with two final four placements is the Netherlands (two silver medals) and with one each are France (one bronze), Germany (one gold), Italy (one gold), Switzerland (one fourth place), Turkey (one bronze) and the United States (one fourth place).
WOMEN’S FINAL FOURS
In three women’s event so far this year, six countries have earned at least one final four finish. Tied at the top spot with three each are Canada (one gold medal, one silver, one bronze) and Brazil (one gold, one bronze, one fourth place) while Germany has two final fours (one gold, one silver). With one final four finish each are China (one fourth place), Netherlands (one silver), Switzerland (one fourth place) and the United States (one bronze).
MEN’S WINNING PERCENTAGE
Based on percentage, statistically, in men’s action after two events, Germany’s Bockermann/Fluggen and Italy’s Caminati/Ranghieri both are at a perfect 100.0% winning percentage, but the Italians have a 9-0 record and the German’s have a 7-0 record (100.0% winning percentage). Tied third place are Netherlands’ Brouwer/Meeuwsen with a 12-2 record (85.7%) and Turkey’s Giginoglu/Gogtepe with a 6-1 record (85.7%). Tied for fourth place with 4-1 records (80.0%) are Spain’s Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera and USA’s Theo Brunner/Nick Lucena. Netherlands’ Brouwer/Meeuwsen duo has the most match wins with 12 and tied for second with nine each are Italy’s Caminati/Ranghieri and Russia’s Dmitri Barsouk/Yaroslav Koshkarev.
WOMEN’S WINNING PERCENTAGE
For the women to date, following three events on the 2015 FIVB World Tour, Germany’s Karla Borger/Britta Buthe and Brazil’s Bednarczuk/Seixas are tied on top with a 7-0 record (100.0% winning percentage) while tied for third with 6-1 records (85.7%) are USA’s April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings and Netherlands’ Madelein Meppelink/Marleen Van Iersel. Tied for fifth with 83.3% winning percentages are Canada’s Broder/Valjas duo with a 15-3 record and their Canadian compatriots Bansley/Paven with a 10-2 record to date. Canada’s Broder/Valjas tandem has the most match wins so far with 15, second is Brazil’s Eduarda Lisboa/Elize Maia with 14 (14-3) and third is Germany’s Laboureur/Sude with 12 (12-5).
ON THE HORIZON
Following this week’s first of five grand slams on the 2015 calendar with the $800,000 FIVB Moscow Grand Slam in Russia, June’s spectacular schedule starts with the first two $800,000 Swatch FIVB Major Series events (Porec, Croatia-June 1-7 and Stavanger, Norway-June 8-14) followed by a trip to Florida in the United States for the $800,000 FIVB St. Petersburg Grand Slam (June 15-21).
The dynamic month of beach volleyball will conclude with the $1,000,000 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships The Netherlands (June 26-July 5) being anchored in The Hague with pool play and the first two rounds of single-elimination also being played in Amsterdam, Apeldoorn and Rotterdam.
GROWING HISTORY
The FIVB Moscow Grand Slam will be the 317th men’s tournament since the FIVB began play in 1987 and the 281st FIVB women’s tournament since they started competition in 1992.
FIVB 2015
Based in Lausanne, Switzerland as the international governing body for the Olympic sports of Beach Volleyball and Volleyball, the 2015 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 20 venues in 15 countries. The schedule includes five FIVB Grand Slams, the new Swatch FIVB Major Series of four events, six FIVB Opens and a special Swatch FIVB World Tour Season Final in the United States. A showcase event will be the $1 million 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in the Netherlands.
The Olympic qualification process begins in 2015 with all FIVB World Tour events (except the 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 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 will be $1,000,000 and $500,000 total for the Swatch FIVB World Tour Season Final which will feature the top eight teams in each gender.
The nine FIVB Open tournaments in 2015, seven double-gender, one men only and one women only, will 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 Open tournaments will 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 will return as needed in 2015 to determine the final teams for the qualification tournament.