Lausanne, Switzerland, July 6, 2015 — Following on the heels of the amazingly successful FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships the Netherlands 2015, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) returns this week with qualifications for placement into the 2016 Rio Olympic Games continuing as the FIVB World Tour resumes in Switzerland with the double-gender $800,000 Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major, the third and final event in the special inaugural Swatch FIVB Major Series.
Anchored in The Hague with pool play and the first three elimination rounds held also in Amsterdam, Apeldoorn and Rotterdam, over 110,000 spectators attended the 208 total matches and enthusiastically embraced the internationally-televised competition as Brazil swept the women’s podium and claimed men’s gold and bronze with host Netherlands capturing the men’s silver medal.
NETHERLANDS MEN
In the men’s competition last week in the Netherlands, winning the gold medal against another strong field with an 8-0 record was Brazil’s third-seeded Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt. Brazil’s Alison/Bruno came from behind to upset home-country top-seeded favorites Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhost, 12-21, 21-14 and 22-20 in an exhilarating, emotional and exhausting 54 minutes. It was Brazil’s 175th all-time FIVB men’s gold medal and the 13th career FIVB gold medal for Alison and fourth for Bruno. Earning the bronze medal was Brazil’s 12th-seeded Pedro Solberg/Evandro Goncalves who upended USA’s 15th-seeded Nick Lucena/Theo Brunner in straight sets, 22-20, 21-13 in just 39 minutes.
NETHELANDS WOMEN
In the women’s competition in the Netherlands, Brazil swept the podium for a record 23nd time in FIVB history and for the second straight event. Brazil’s sixth-seeded Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas went 8-0 in the Netherlands and upended Brazil’s ninth-seeded Taiana Lima/Fernanda Alves, 21-18, 22-20 in 43 minutes. It was the sixth consecutive FIVB gold medal this year for Brazilian women, the 143rd all-time FIVB women’s gold medal for Brazil and fourth career FIVB titles for each player. Completing the Brazilian sweep, in the bronze medal match, Brazil’s seventh-seeded Maria Antonelli/Juliana Felisberta., rallied to defeat Germany’s fourth-seeded Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler, 23-25, 21-18 and 15-9 in 60 minutes.
MEN’S WINNERS SHARE
Last week’s FIVB World Championships men’s champions Alison/Bruno of Brazil earned 1,000 points on the FIVB World Tour and picked up the gold medal purse of $60,000. Netherlands’ Nummerdor/Varenhorst earned 900 valuable points in the FIVB World Tour Rankings as well as earning $45,000 in prize money. Brazil’s bronze medals Solberg/Goncalves earned $35,000 in prize money and 800 points that go toward the Olympic qualification rankings.
WOMEN’S WINNERS ROLL
Last week’s FIVB World Championships women’s champions Agatha/Barbara of Brazil also earned 1,000 points on the FIVB World Tour and also picked up the gold medal purse of $60,000. Brazil’s runner-up duo Lima/Alves earned 900 valuable points in the FIVB World Tour Rankings as well picking up the $45,000 purse to split from their silver medal placement and Brazil’s bronze medalists Antonelli/Juliana earned $35,000 in prize money and 800 points that go towards the Olympic qualification rankings.
MEN’S POINTS/EARNINGS
After seven events, Brazil’s FIVB World Championships bronze medalists Solberg/Goncalves now lead the tour points with 3,160. Second is Netherlands’ Brouwer/Meeuwsen with 2,940 points and third is Netherlands’ Nummerdor/Varenhorst with 2,900 and fourth is Spain’s Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera with 2,580 points. Moving all the way up to fifth in points is 2015 FIVB World Champions Alison/Bruno with 2,520 points.
In the 2015 FIVB World Tour men’s season earnings, leading is Brazil’s Solberg/Goncalves with $163,000 followed by Netherlands’ Nummerdor/Varenhorst with $131,000, Brazil’s Alison/Bruno with $113,000, Netherlands’ Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen with 108,000 and fifth is USA’s Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson with $104,000.
WOMEN’S POINTS/EARNINGS
For the women after eight events, following their second straight gold medal, Brazil’s Agatha/Barbara at the top of the point list with 3,860 points with Canada’s Heather Bansley/Sarah Pavan second with 2,950 points, moving up to third this week is Brazil’s Antonelli/Juliana with 2,920, fourth is Canada’s Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas with 2,680 points and fifth Australia’s Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy with 2,620 points.
In the 2015 FIVB World Tour women’s season earnings after eight events, Brazil’s Agatha/Barbara duo is tops with $199,000 with Brazil’s Antonelli/Juliana second with $153,000, while third is Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca with $136,000, fourth is Canada’s Bansley/Pavan with $100,375 and fifth is Netherlands’ Meppelink/ Van Iersel with $98,000.
MEN’S FINAL FOURS
In seven men’s tournament so far in 2015 on the FIVB World Tour, 12 countries have at least one final four placement. Leading is the Netherlands with six final four placements (one gold medal, four silver medals, one fourth place). Second with five final four placements is Brazil (two golds, one silver, one bronze, one fourth place). Third with four is the United States (one gold, one bronze, two fourth places). Fourth with three final four placements is Italy (one gold, one bronze, one fourth place). Tied for fifth with two final four placements each are Germany (one gold, one bronze) and Poland (one silver, one bronze) and tied for seventh with one each are Austria, (one fourth place), Canada (one silver), France (one bronze), Switzerland (one fourth place), Spain (one gold), Turkey (one bronze).
WOMEN’S FINAL FOURS
In eight women’s event so far this year, nine countries have earned at least one final four finish. At the top following their second straight podium sweep with 13 final four placements so far is Brazil (six gold medals, three silver medals, three bronze medals, one fourth place). Tied for second with five each are Canada (one gold medal, two silver, one bronze, one fourth place) and Germany (one gold, one silver, three fourth places), fourth with three is the Netherlands (two silver, one bronze); fifth is China with two (two fourth places) and tied for sixth with one each are Australia (one bronze), Italy (one bronze), Switzerland (one fourth place) and the United States (one bronze).
MEN’S WINNING PERCENTAGE
Based on percentage, statistically, in men’s action after seven events with 13 matches minimum, tied at 80.6% are Netherlands’ Nummerdor/Varenhorst (25-6) and Netherlands’ Brouwer/Meeuwsen (29-7) and third with their winning percentage this season at 80.0% is USA’s Gibb/Patterson (20-5) while fourth at 75.0% is Brazil’s Alison/Bruno (21-7) and fifth at 71.1% is USA’s Lucena/Brunner (27-11). Netherlands’ Brouwer/Meeuwsen duo has the most match wins with 29, second with 27 is USA’s Lucena/Brunner and third with 25 is Netherlands’ Nummerdor/Varenhorst.
WOMEN’S WINNING PERCENTAGE
For the women to date, following eight events on the 2015 FIVB calendar with a minimum of 14 matches, Brazilian tandems have all of the top five winning percentages. Brazil’s Agatha/Barbara lead at 89.5% (34-4), Brazil’s Talita/Larissa are second at 87.0% (2-3) followed by Brazil’s Eduarda Lisboa/Elize Maia with at 82.4% (14-3). Fourth at 76.0% is Brazil’s Lima/Alves and fifth is Brazil’s Antonelli/Juliana at 75.0% (24-8).
Leading with the most match wins so far with 34 is Brazil’s Agatha/Barbara (34-4), second with 29 is Germany’s Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude (29-13) while third with 26 is and Canada’s Broder/Valjas (26-19).
ON THE HORIZON
Following last week’s spectacular $1,000,000 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships the Netherlands 2015, the month of July continues with the third and final event of the Swatch FIVB Major Series, part of the FIVB World Tour, the $800,000 Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major to be held in Switzerland starting Tuesday and continuing through Sunday. The month’s competition schedule on the FIVB World Tour will conclude July 21-26 in Japan at the $800,000 FIVB Yokohama Grand Slam.
GROWING HISTORY
The Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major is the 322nd men’s tournament since the FIVB began play in 1987 and the 286th 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, seven 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 was $1,000,000 and $500,000 will be the total for the Swatch FIVB World Tour Season Final which will feature the top eight teams in each gender and two wild card teams.
The 10 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 have returned as needed in 2015 to determine the final teams for the qualification tournament.