Lausanne, Switzerland, June 18, 2012— The fourth of eight Grand Slams and the fifth of nine double-gender events on the 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour were held this past week with US $600,000 smart Grand Slam Rome in Italy. On the women’s side, Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkehr of Switzerland won their first event of the 2012 season and second together overall defeating Germans Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig, 21-12 and 21-18. For the men, Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal of the United States also claimed their first gold of 2012 and their third overall together by defeating Brazilians Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego of Brazil, 21-13 and 21-12. The Grand Slam in Rome was the final event in the 2012 Olympic qualifying period, but the tour will continue with both genders together for the fifth Grand Slam of 2012 in Gstaad from July 2-8 after taking off two weeks.
2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour HighlightsThe 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour calendar is highlighted by an FIVB-record eight Grand Slam events along with the 2012 London Olympics as the international Beach Volleyball schedule starts in April and concludes in October. 2012 marks the 25th anniversary of the first FIVB Beach Volleyball event held February 17-22 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The gold medal was won by USA’s Sinjin Smith/Randy Stoklos. The men’s world tour began in 1989, the women’s in 1992. Smith/Stoklos were the champions of the inaugural season in 1989-90.• In 2012, international beach volleyball events will visit 18 sites in 15 countries over a seventh-month period.• With the 2012 world tour calendar featuring 13 women’s and 13 men’s events within the African, Asian, European and South American confederations, the FIVB SWATCH World Tour will offer US$6.32 million in prize money.• Nine of the tournaments will be combined men’s and women’s events, including all eight Grand Slam stops.• Women’s-only stops will be in China (Sanya), Finland (Aland) and Thailand (Bang Saen).• Men’s only stops will be in Poland (Myslowice), Czech Republic (Prague) and Morocco (Agadir).• The new Grand Slam event this year will be in China (Shanghai).• The $4.8 million FIVB SWATCH World Tour Grand Slam series will also return to 2011 venues in China (Beijing), Russia (Moscow), Italy (Rome), Switzerland (Gstaad), Austria (Klagenfurt) and Poland (Stare Jablonki). The tour will also return for the first time since 2008 to Germany (Berlin).• Klagenfurt and Gstaad have each staged 10 or more FIVB-sanctioned Beach Volleyball events. Both sites have hosted the FIVB SWATCH World Championships with Klagenfurt in 2001 and Gstaad in 2007.• The opening event on the 2012 FIVB SWATCH World Tour calendar was a double gender open event in Brasília April 15-22 as the Brazilian capital celebrated its 52nd anniversary on the seventh day of competition. During the April 21 Brasília celebration crowds of more than 1-million attended various holiday activities around the SWATCH event. • The iconic Horse Guards Parade in central London will be the site of the London 2012 Olympic Games which will run from July 28 through August 9. A special Olympic test event for 24 women’s teams was held on the site last August with Brazil’s Liliane Maestrini/Angela Vieira defeating USA’s Jennifer Kessy/April Ross in the gold medal match.• A total of 16 teams from each gender out of the 24 teams participating in the 2012 London Olympics, will qualifying through qualification rankings from the FIVB SWATCH World Tour. For the latest rankings, for men’s visit… http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2012/OlympicRanking_M.asp and for women’s visit http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2012/OlympicRanking_W.asp • China will again stage three and Poland will once again present two FIVB SWATCH World Tour stops in 2012.• The men’s international schedule will conclude in early October in Morocco (Agadir) while the women’s competition will end in late October in Thailand (Bang Saen).• The international beach volleyball calendar will also feature world championships for players under the age of 21 and under the age of 19. Larnaca, Cyprus will host the 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH Youth World Championships July 11-14 for players under the age of 19. For the second consecutive year, Canada will host in Halifax, Nova Scotia Aug. 29-Sept. 2 the 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH Junior World Championships for players under the age of 21. This will be the first time for Cyprus to host one of these age group FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Championships. The U-19 world championships in 2011 were held in Umag, Croatia before Canada hosted the U-21s in Halifax.• IMG Sports Media will continue to have the exclusive distribution media rights for the 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour. For the third straight year, the tour will exclusively use the Mikasa VLS 300 ball. It was introduced in 2009 in October and November at events in Sanya and Phuket. 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour Men’s Leaders (through June 17)Men (Team Rank, points)1, Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego, Brazil, 3,4802, Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal, United States, 3,4003, Pedro Cunha/Ricardo Santos, Brazil, 3,2804, Marcio Araujo/Pedro Salgado, Brazil, 2,8005, Matt Fuerbringer/Nick Lucena, United States, 2,7406, Reinder Nummerdor/Richard Schuil, Netherlands, 2,5607, Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Ruslans Sorokins, Latvia, 2,3608, Jonathan Erdmann/Kay Matysik, Germany, 2,2409, Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers, United States, 2,04010, Adrian Gavira Collado/Pablo Herrera, Spain, 1,98011, Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy, 1,82012, Emiel Boersma/Daan Spijkers, Netherlands, 1,76013, Sebastian Dollinger/Stefan Windscheif, Germany, 1,67014, Martins Plavins/Janis Smedins, Latvia, 1,54015, Sebastian Chevallier/Sascha Heyer, Switzerland, 1,38016, Benjamin Insfran/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, 1,36017, Petr Benes/Premysl Kubala, Czech Republic, 1,34018, Penggen Wu/Linyin Xu, China, 1,18018, Tarjei Skarlund/Martin Spinnangr, Norway, 1,18020, Jon Stiekema/Christiaan Varenhorst, Netherlands, 96021, Jefferson Bellaguarda/Patrick Heuscher, Switzerland, 94022, David Klemperer/Eric Koreng, Germany, 92423, Jason Lochhead/Kirk Pitman, New Zealand, 80024, Julius Brink/Jonas Reckermann, Germany, 720NOTE - The 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour champions will be determined by calculating the points for a team’s best 9 men’s and women’s finishes based on 75 percent of the 13 men’s and women’s events (Open, World Championship and Grand Slam events only) staged during season and rounded down.
Men (Team Rank, events, titles, US earnings)1, Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego, Brazil, 6, 1, $137,800 2, Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal, United States, 7, 1, $125,700 3, Pedro Cunha/Ricardo Santos, Brazil, 7, 2, $122,000 4, Reinder Nummerdor/Richard Schuil, Netherlands, 6, 1, $101,400 5, Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers, United States, 4, 2, $93,600 6, Marcio Araujo/Pedro Salgado, Brazil, 7, 0, $85,200 7, Matt Fuerbringer/Nick Lucena, United States, 7, 0, $83,400 8, Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Ruslans Sorokins, Latvia, 7, 0, $64,200 9, Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy, 6, 0, $60,100 10, Jonathan Erdmann/Kay Matysik, Germany, 6, 0, $59,500 11, Adrian Gavira Collado/Pablo Herrera, Spain, 7, 0, $57,500 12, Emiel Boersma/Daan Spijkers, Netherlands, 7, 0, $48,200 13, Sebastian Chevallier/Sascha Heyer, Switzerland, 6, 0, $44,400 14, Sebastian Dollinger/Stefan Windscheif, Germany, 7, 0, $40,500 15, Benjamin Insfran/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, 5, 0, $39,600 16, Martins Plavins/Janis Smedins, Latvia, 6, 0, $39,350 17, Petr Benes/Premysl Kubala, Czech Republic, 5, 0, $37,400 18, Penggen Wu/Linyin Xu, China, 6, 0, $32,600 19, Tarjei Skarlund/Martin Spinnangr, Norway, 6, 0, $31,650 20, Jefferson Bellaguarda/Patrick Heuscher, Switzerland, 5, 0, $28,900 21, Jon Stiekema/Christiaan Varenhorst, Netherlands, 6, 0, $26,200 22, David Klemperer/Eric Koreng, Germany, 6, 0, $24,300 23, Julius Brink/Jonas Reckermann, Germany, 2, 0, $23,500 24, Jason Lochhead/Kirk Pitman, New Zealand, 5, 0, $20,300
2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour Women’s Leaders (through June 17)Women (Team Rank, points)1, Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, China, 3,4802, Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, Brazil, 3,3603, Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes, Brazil, 3,0604, Greta Cicolari/Marta Menegatti, Italy, 2,3205, Jennifer Kessy/April Ross, United States, 2,2406, Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh, United States, 2,2006, Sara Goller/Laura Ludwig, Germany, 2,2008, Sanne Keizer/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands, 2,1409, Simone Kuhn/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland, 2,08010, Kristyna Kolocova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic, 1,96011, Louise Bawden/Becchara Palmer, Australia, 1,88012, Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler, Germany, 1,64013, Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger, Austria, 1,44013, Katrien Gielen/Liesbeth Mouha, Belgium, 1,44015, Madelein Meppelink/Sophie van Gestel, Netherlands, 1,38016, Vassiliki Arvaniti/Maria Tsiartsiani, Greece, 1,26017, Natalie Cook/Tamsin Hinchley, Australia, 1,22018, Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez Steiner, Spain, 1,08019, Vivian Cunha/Taiana Lima, Brazil, 1,04020, Barbara Hansel/Sara Montagnolli, Austria, 96020, Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, Germany, 96020, Anastasia Vasina/Anna Vozakova, Russia, 96023, Heather Bansley/Elizabeth Maloney, Canada, 92424, Emilia Nystrom/Erika Nystrom, Finland, 850NOTE - The 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour champions will be determined by calculating the points for a team’s best 9 men’s and women’s finishes based on 75 percent of the 13 men’s and women’s events (Open, World Championship and Grand Slam events only) staged during season and rounded down.
Women (Team Rank, events, titles, US earnings)1, Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, China, 6, 3, $153,200 2, Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, Brazil, 6, 1, $129,700 3, Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes, Brazil, 6, 1, $114,900 4, Simone Kuhn/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland, 6, 1, $76,600 5, Greta Cicolari/Marta Menegatti, Italy, 5, 0, $76,000 6, Jennifer Kessy/April Ross, United States, 5, 0, $68,600 7, Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh, United States, 5, 0, $67,800 7, Sara Goller/Laura Ludwig, Germany, 5, 0, $67,800 9, Sanne Keizer/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands, 5, 0, $67,300 10, Kristyna Kolocova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic, 5, 0, $51,500 11, Louise Bawden/Becchara Palmer, Australia, 6, 0, $49,400 12, Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler, Germany, 5, 0, $45,200 13, Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger, Austria, 5, 0, $41,000 14, Katrien Gielen/Liesbeth Mouha, Belgium, 6, 0, $40,050 15, Madelein Meppelink/Sophie van Gestel, Netherlands, 5, 0, $36,700 16, Vassiliki Arvaniti/Maria Tsiartsiani, Greece, 6, 0, $33,250 17, Natalie Cook/Tamsin Hinchley, Australia, 6, 0, $32,300 18, Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez Steiner, Spain, 5, 0, $31,300 19, Barbara Hansel/Sara Montagnolli, Austria, 6, 0, $30,400 20, Vivian Cunha/Taiana Lima, Brazil, 5, 0, $29,300 21, Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, Germany, 6, 0, $27,400 22, Heather Bansley/Elizabeth Maloney, Canada, 6, 0, $25,400 23, Daniela Gioria/Giulia Momoli, Italy, 6, 0, $25,200 24, Emilia Nystrom/Erika Nystrom, Finland, 6, 0, $24,350
2012 Men FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour Schedule/Results (as of June 17, 2012)Dates Site Open/GS/OG Gold Medal Team or PurseApril 17-22 Brasília, Brazil Open Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers, United StatesApril 24-29 Myslowice, Poland Open Pedro Cunha/Ricardo Santos, BrazilMay 1-6 Shanghai, China Grand Slam Dalhausser/Rogers, United StatesMay 8-13 Beijing, China Grand Slam Reinder Nummerdor/Richard Schuil, NetherlandsMay 22-27 Prague, Czech Republic Open Cunha/Ricardo, BrazilJune 7-12 Moscow, Russia Grand Slam Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego, BrazilJune 13-17 Rome, Italy Grand Slam Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal, United StatesJuly 3-8 Gstaad, Switzerland Grand Slam $300,000July 10-14 Berlin, Germany Grand Slam $300,000July 17-22 Klagenfurt, Austria Grand Slam $300,000July 28-Aug 9 London, Great Britain Olympic Games August 14-19 Stare Jablonki, Poland Grand Slam $300,000October 2-7 Agadir, Morocco Open $190,000
2012 FIVB SWATCH World Tour – Men’s Final Four resultsBrazil – Brasília, April 17-22, $US$190,0001. Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers, United States, $30,0002. Matt Fuerbringer/Nick Lucena, United States, $21,0003. Pedro Cunha/Ricardo Santos, Brazil, $15,0004. Adrian Gavira Collado/Pablo Herrera, Spain, $11,200Gold – Dalhausser/Rogers def. Fuerbringer/Lucena, 21-17, 21-18 (44 minutes) Bronze – Cunha/Ricardo def. Gavira Collado/Herrera, 21-18, 21-14 (39)MOP – RogersSWATCH Serve – Evandro Goncalves, Brazil 95.3
Poland – Myslowice, April 24-29, $US$190,0001. Cunha/Ricardo, Brazil, $30,0002. Marcio Araujo/Pedro Salgado, Brazil, $21,0003. Gavira Collado/Herrera, Spain, $15,0004. Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy $11,200Gold – Cunha/Ricardo def. Araujo/Salgado, 21-8, 19-21, 15-13 (53) Bronze – Gavira Collado/Herrera def. Lupo/Nicolai, 21-16, 21-11 (34)MOP – RicardoSWATCH Serve – Eric Koreng, Germany 101.2
China – Shanghai, May 1-6, $US$300,0001. Dalhausser/Rogers, United States, $43,5002. Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal, United States, $30,0003. Marcio/Salgado, Brazil, $23,0004. Benjamin Insfran/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, $18,400Gold – Dalhausser/Rogers def. Gibb/Rosenthal 21-19, 22-24, 15-11 (67)Bronze – Marcio/Salgado def. Benjamin/Bruno 16-21, 21-15, 15-13 (57)MOP – BenjaminSWATCH Serve – Dalhausser, 89.1 km/h
China – Beijing, May 8-13, $US$300,0001. Reinder Nummerdor/Richard Schuil, Netherlands, $43,5002. Lupo/ Nicolai, Italy, $30,0003. Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego, Brazil, $23,0004. Gibb/Rosenthal, United States, $18,400Gold –Nummerdor/Schuil def. Lupo/ Nicolai, 21-11, 21-16 (31)Bronze – Alison/Emanuel def. Gibb/Rosenthal, 21-13, 21-16 (32)MOP – SchuilSWATCH Serve – Alison, 88.9 km/h Czech Republic – Prague, May 22-27, $US$190,0001. Cunha/Ricardo, Brazil, $30,0002. Alison/Emanuel, Brazil, $21,0003. Dalhausser/Rogers, United States, $15,0004. Marcio/Salgado, Brazil, $11,200Gold – Cunha/Ricardo def. Alison/Emanuel 21-15, 19-21, 15-10 (55)Bronze – Dalhausser/Rogers def. Marcio/Salgado 21-13, 21-19 (40)MOP – CunhaSWATCH Serve – Stefan Windscheif, Germany 98.9 km/h
Russia – Moscow, June 7-12, $US$300,0001. Alison/Emanuel, Brazil, $43,5002. Nummerdor/Schuil, Netherlands, $30,0003. Cunha/Ricardo, Brazil, $23,0004. Julius Brink/Jonas Reckermann, Germany, $18,400Gold – Alison/Emanuel def. Nummerdor/Schuil, 21-16, 29-27 (47)Bronze – Cunha/Ricardo def. Brink/Reckermann 21-19, 21-14 (41)MOP – EmanuelSWATCH Serve – Ruslans Sorokins, Latvia, 96.9 km/h
Italy – Rome, June 13-17, $US$300,0001. Gibb/Rosenthal, United States, $43,5002. Alison/Emanuel, Brazil, $30,0003. Sebastian Chevalier/Sascha Heyer, Switzerland, $23,0004. Fuerbringer/Lucena, United States, $18,400Gold – Gibb/Rosenthal def. Alison/Emanuel, 21-13, 21-12 (36)Bronze – Chevalier/Heyer def. Fuerbringer/Lucena 23-21, 21-13 (41)MOP – RosenthalSWATCH Serve – Kevin Ces, France, 95.0 km/h
2012 Women FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour Schedule/Results (as of June 17, 2012)Dates Site Open/GS/OG Gold Medal Team or PurseApril 15-20 Brasília, Brazil Open Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, ChinaApril 24-29 Sanya, China Open Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes, BrazilApr 30-May 5 Shanghai, China Grand Slam Xue/Zhang, ChinaMay 7-12 Beijing, China Grand Slam Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, BrazilJune 6-11 Moscow, Russia Grand Slam Xue/Zhang, ChinaJune 12-17 Rome, Italy Grand Slam Simone Kuhn/Nadine Zumkehr, SwitzerlandJuly 2-7 Gstaad, Switzerland Grand Slam $300,000July 11-15 Berlin, Germany Grand Slam $300,000July 16-21 Klagenfurt, Austria Grand Slam $300,000July 28-Aug 9 London, Great Britain Olympic Games August 13-18 Stare Jablonki, Poland Grand Slam $300,000Aug 28-Sept 2 Aland, Finland Open $190,000October 23-28 Bang Saen, Thailand Open $190,000
2012 FIVB SWATCH World Tour – Women’s Final Four resultsBrazil – Brasília, April 15-20, $US$190,0001. Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, China, $30,0002. Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes, Brazil, $21,0003. Greta Cicolari/Marta Menegatti, Italy, $15,0004. Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, Brazil, $11,200Gold – Xue/Zhang def. Maria/Talita, 21-17, 21-15 (38 minutes)Bronze – Cicolari/Menegatti def. Juliana/Larissa, 21-14, 17-21, 15-13 (52)MOP - ZhangSWATCH Serve – Raquel Pellucci, Brazil, 82.2 km/h
China – Sanya, April 24-29, $US$190,0001. Maria/Talita, Brazil, $30,0002. Juliana/Larissa, Brazil, $21,0003. Xue/Zhang, China, $15,0004. Barbara Hansel/Sara Montagnolli, $11,200Gold – Maria/Talita def. Juliana/Larissa, 21-17, 17-21, 15-13 (56)Bronze Xue/Zhang def. Hansel/Montagnolli, 21-16, 21-17 (45)MOP – TalitaSWATCH Serve – Taliqua Clancy, Australia 78.4 km/h
China – Shanghai, April 30-May 5, $US$300,0001. Xue/Zhang, China, $43,5002. Maria/Talita, Brazil, $30,0003. Juliana/Larissa, Brazil, $23,0004. Sanne Keizer/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands, $18,400Gold – Xue/Zhang def. Maria/Talita, 21-17, 21-18 (42)Bronze Juliana/Larissa def. Keizer/Van Iersel, 29-27, 21-13 (44)MOP – ZhangSWATCH Serve – Yuan Ye, China, 81.0 km/h
China – Beijing, May 7-12, $US$300,0001. Juliana/Larissa, Brazil, $43,5002. Cicolari/ Menegatti, Italy, $30,0003. Keizer/ Van Iersel, Netherlands, $23,0004. Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler, Germany, $18,400Gold – Juliana/Larissa def. Cicolari/ Menegatti, 21-13, 21-15 (33)Bronze Keizer/ Van Iersel def. Holtwick/ Semmler, 21-14, 24-26, 16-14 (55)MOP – JulianaSWATCH Serve – Jamie Lynn Broder, Canada, 80.6 km/h
Russia – Beijing, June 7-12, $US$300,0001. Xue/Zhang, China, $43,5002. Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh, United States, $30,0003. Juliana/Larissa, Brazil, $23,0004. Maria/Talita, Brazil, $18,400Gold – Xue/Zhang def. May-Treanor/Walsh, 21-14, 21-14 (34)Bronze Juliana/Larissa def. Maria/Talita, 19-21, 21-18, 15-8 (52)MOP – XueSWATCH Serve – Svetlana Popova, Russia, 80.9 km/h
Italy – Rome, June 12-17, $US$300,0001. Simone Kuhn/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland, $43,5002. Sara Goller/Laura Ludwig, Germany, $30,0003. Jennifer Kessy/April Ross, United States, $23,0004. Cicolari/Menegatti, Italy, $18,400Gold – Kuhn/Zumkehr def. Goller/Ludwig, 21-12, 21-18 (41)Bronze Kessy/Ross def. Cicolari/Menegatti, 21-17, 15-21, 15-13 (59)MOP – LudwigSWATCH Serve – Ross, 80.0 km/h