Lausanne, Switzerland, July 28, 2015 - While the women’s leadership remained the same among the top six ranked beach volleyball teams on the 2015 FIVB World Tour, the men’s standings featured the rise of Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt to the top spot as the Brazilians became the first men’s team since 2011 to win three straight international events.
With a two-set win (21-15, 21-15) in 34 minutes over Chaim Schalk and Ben Saxton of Canada to capture the gold medal at the $800,000 Yokohama Grand Slam Sunday, Alison and Bruno climbed two spots on the men’s FIVB World Tour standings to assume the leadership of the ranking list over compatriots Evandro Goncalves and Pedro Solberg.
By compiling 63.1 percent of their points (2,600) the last four weeks by also topping the podium at the World Championships (July 5) in The Netherlands and the Gstaad Major in Switzerland (July 12), Alison and Bruno have now compiled 4,120 points to gain a 120 point edge over Evandro and Pedro, who finished ninth in Yokohama.
Dutchmen Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands entered Yokohama with a 260-point lead over Alison and Bruno on the FIVB World Tour ranking list, but finished 25th in the first men’s event in Japan since 1995. In posting their lowest finish internationally in 16 events, Brouwer and Meeuwsen started Yokohama 60 points behind Evandro and Pedro on the FIVB World Tour ranking list.
The last time a men’s team has won three straight FIVB World Tour events was in 2011 when Alison teamed with legendary Emanuel Rego to win international stops in the Czech Republic, China and Italy. After winning the 2011 World Championships in Rome, Alison and Emanuel placed fifth in the next event (Stavanger, Norway) before topping the podium in the next two events in Switzerland (Gstaad) and Russia (Moscow).
With a three-week break from international play before resuming competition August 18-23 in the United States at Long Beach, Alison and Bruno’s next goal will be attempting to become the first team to win four straight events in a season since 2010 when Americans Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers posted a four-peat by topping the podium in Austria (Klagenfurt), Poland (Stare Jablonki), Norway (Kristiansand) and Finland (Åland).
In becoming the second Canadian team to vie for a gold medal this season, Schalk and Saxton advanced from the 14th spot on the FIVB World Tour ranking list to No. 8. Josh Binstock and Sam Schachter, who dropped the silver medal match last month to Brouwer and Meeuwsen at the Porec Major in Croatia, were the seventh-ranked team on the international standings entering Yokohama, but fell to 13th after competing for Canada in the PanAmerican Games in Toronto.
A Yokohama gold medal performance by Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst propelled the Germans from No. 14 on the women’s FIVB World Tour ranking list to No. 7. In winning seven of eight matches in the first women’s event in Japan since 2009, Ludwig and Walkenhorst upset the fifth- (Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy of Australia), fourth- (Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca of Brazil) and the first-ranked (Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas of Brazil) internationally to win their second FIVB World Tour gold medal.
Despite losing 2-0 (21-14, 21-17) in the 38-minute gold medal match to Ludwig and Walkenhorst, Agatha and Barbara continue to lead the women’s rankings with 5,060 points with Canadians Heather Bansley and Sarah Pavan second with 4,230 points. Bansley and Pavan, who defeated Ludwig and Walkenhorst in a three-set pool play match Friday in Yokohama, won their second bronze medal this season by defeating Americans Jennifer Fopma and April Ross after losing to Agatha and Barbara in the semifinals.
The Brazilian pairs of Maria Antonelli/Juliana Felisberta (3,760 points) and Talita/Larissa (3,740) join Bawden/Clancy (3,460) and Canadians Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas (3,400) as women’s teams ahead of Ludwig and Walkenhorst on the 2015 FIVB World Tour ranking list.
With continental and domestic events highlighting the next three weeks of play on the beach volleyball calendars, the 2015 FIVB World Tour resumes play in Long Beach for the $800,000 ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball at the TrueCar Court at Alamitos Beach (386 E. Shoreline Drive, 90802) in Long Beach.
Americans Dalhausser/Sean Rosenthal and Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings are the defending ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball champions after defeating teams from Poland (Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel) and Brazil (Agatha/Barbara) in the 2014 finals, respectively. While Agatha and Barbara are the No. 1-ranked FIVB women’s team this season, Fijalek and Prudel are listed 11th on the men’s list.
Both American teams have been slowed by injuries this season with Dalhausser and Rosenthal playing in only two events this season and ranked 47th (520 points) on the FIVB World Tour ranking list. Ross, who has played in two other FIVB World Tour events this season with different partners, and Walsh Jennings have compiled 1,700 points together to rank 30th.
2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Rankings
Men’s Rankings, Team, Country, Points 1. Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, 4,120
2. Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Solberg, Brazil, 4,000
3. Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen, Netherlands, 3,740
4. Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst, Netherlands, 3,620
5. Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst, Austria, 3,280
6. Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson, United States, 3,200
7. Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera, Spain, 3,060
8. Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk, Canada, 3,040
9. Theo Brunner/Nick Lucena, United States, 2,920
10. Emanuel Rego/Ricardo Santos, Brazil, 2,900
11. Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel, Poland, 2,840
12. Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy, 2,800
13. Josh Binstock/Sam Schachter, Canada, 2,700
14. Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Konstantin Semenov, Russia, 2,640
15. Tri Bourne/John Hyden, United States, 2,520
16. Jonathan Erdmann/Kay Matysik, Germany, 2,380
17. Alexander Walkenhorst/Stefan Windscheif, Germany, 2,320
18. Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak, Poland, 2,080
19. Jackson Henriquez/Jesus Villafane, Venezuela, 2,040
19. Youssef Krou/Edouard Rowlandson, France, 2,040
21. Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen, Mexico, 2,020
22. Murat Giginoglu/Volkan Gogtepe, Turkey, 1,960
23. Matteo Ingrosso/Paolo Ingrosso, Italy, 1,920
24. Philip Gabathuler/Mirco Gerson, Switzerland, 1,860
24. Isaac Kapa/Christopher McHugh, Australia, 1,860
26. Vitor Felipe/Alvaro Filho, Brazil, 1,720
27. Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins, Latvia, 1,680
27. Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri, Italy, 1,680
29. Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen, Germany, 1,500
30. Ryan Doherty/John Mayer, United States, 1,360
31. Geir Eithun/Iver Horrem, Norway, 1,340
32. Esteban Grimalt/Marco Grimalt, Chile, 1,320
Women’s Rankings, Team, Country, Points 1. Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas, Brazil, 5,060
2. Heather Bansley/Sarah Pavan, Canada, 4,230
3. Maria Antonelli/Juliana Felisberta, Brazil, 3,760
4. Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca, Brazil, 3,740
5. Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy, Australia, 3,460
6. Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas, Canada, 3,400
7. Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst, Germany, 3,200
8. Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, Germany, 3,180
9. Madelein Meppelink/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands, 3,110
10. Fernanda Alves/Taiana Lima, Brazil, 2,980
11. Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude, Germany, 2,950
12. Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez, Spain, 2,940
13. Fan Wang/Yuan Yue, China, 2,870
14. Lauren Fendrick/Brooke Sweat, United States, 2,800
15. Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth, Italy, 2,780
16. Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler, Germany, 2,580
17. Monika Brzostek/Kinga Kolosinska, Poland, 2,380
18. Ekaterina Birlova/Evgeniya Ukolova, Russia, 2,360
19. Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland, 2,340
20. Melissa Humana-Paredes/Taylor Pischke, Canada, 2,300
21. Emily Day/Jennifer Kessy, United States, 2,240
22. Natalia Dubovcova/Dominika Nestarcova, Slovak Republic, 2,200
23. Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre, Switzerland, 2,000
24. Taru Lahti/Riikka Lehtonen, Finland, 1,880
25. Carolina Salgado/Maria Clara Salgado, Brazil, 1,870
26. Barbara Hansel/Stefanie Schwaiger, Austria, 1,830
27. Kristyna Kolocova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic, 1,760
27. Carolina Horta/Liliane Maestrini, Brazil, 1,760
29. Ana Gallay/Georgina Klug, Argentina, 1,720
30. April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States, 1,700
31. Tanja Goricanec/Tanja Huberli, Switzerland, 1,680
32. Sayaka Mizoe/Takemi Nishibori, Japan, 1,560