Three weeks ago, the FIVB sanctioned events in Cambodia, The Philippines, Turkey and the United States. Two weeks ago, the World Tour staged events in Viet Nam, Thailand and Switzerland and last week the international contestants were competing in Brazil and Turkey.
This week, Miguel Pereira becomes the 13th site in Brazil to host a FIVB World Tour event as the $10,000 Open starts Thursday with qualifying and concludes May 27 with the men's and women's gold medal match. Located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, Miguel Pereira is situated in a mountainous area and is called as a "climatic health resort" and is known for its climate, rivers, waterfalls and the cleanliness of the water.
The Miguel Pereira Open will be the 22nd of 43 men's events on the 2017-2018 men's FIVB calendar and the 19th off 44 tournaments slated on the World Tour for women. The Miguel Pereira Open also marks the 45th men's and 40th women's FIVB World Tour event to be staged in Brazil where Itapema hosted the planet's best players last week where the host country topped both gender's podium.
With host country pairs of Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda "Duda" Lisboa and Evandro Goncalves/Andre Loyola topping the women's and men's podiums, respectively, Sunday at the $300,000 Itapema Open in the south of Brazil, the South American country has now won both gender's gold medals at the same FIVB World Tour event for the 59th-time.
Before the Brazilian sweep Sunday, the teams of Stefan Basta/Lazar Kolaric from Serbia and Mailen Deliz/Leila Martinez of Cuba where achieving milestone gold medal wins at the $10,000 Aydin Open in Turkey. Basta and Kolaric became the first men's or women's team from Serbia to win a FIVB gold medal while Deliz and Martinez captured the first-ever World Tour title for a Cuban women's tandem on the international circuit.
Sunday's golden moment in Turkey for the Serbians at the Aydin Open.
Here are the final four finishes and medal match results from last week's FIVB World Tour tournaments in Turkey and Brazil.
Turkey - Aydin, May 17-20, 2018, $5,000, FIVB men's event No. 387
1. Stefan Basta/Lazar Kolaric, Serbia, $1,000
2. Abolhamed Mirzaali/Rahman Raoufi, Iran, $700
3. Ruslan Bykanov/Maksim Hudyakov, Russia, $500
4. Hasan Mermer/Sefa Urlu, Turkey, $400
Gold - Basta/Kolaric def. Mirzaali/Raoufi, 2-1 (16-21, 25-23, 16-14) (61 minutes)
Bronze - Bykanov/Hudyakov def. Mermer/Urlu, 2-0 (23-21, 21-14) (41)
Turkey - Aydin, May 17-20, 2018, $5,000, FIVB women's event No. 349
1. Mailen Deliz/Leila Martinez, Cuba, $1,000
2. Ksenia Dabizha/Daria Mastikova, Russia, $700
3. Kristina Thurin/Susanna Thurin, Sweden, $500
4. Sigrid Simonsson/Tadva Yoken, Sweden, $400
Gold - Deliz/Martinez def. Dabizha/Mastikova, 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) (34)
Bronze - K. Thurin/S. Thurin def. Simonsson/Yoken, 2-1 (18-21, 26-24, 15-11) (58)
Brazil - Itapema, May 16-20, 2018, $150,000, FIVB women's event No. 350
1. Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda "Duda" Lisboa, Brazil, $20,000
2. Joana Heidrich/Anouk Verge-Depre, Switzerland, $16,000
4. Maria Antonelli/Carolina Salgado, Brazil, $10,000
3. Heather Bansley/Brandie Wilkerson, Canada, $8,000
Gold - Agatha/Duda def. Heidrich/Verge-Depre, 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) (36)
Bronze - Bansley/Wilkerson def. Antonelli/Carolina, 2-1 (21-18, 18-21, 15-11) (51)
The Itapema Open men's and women's podium placers with teams from Brazil, Canada, Norway, Poland and Switzerland
Brazil - Itapema, May 16-20, 2018, $150,000, FIVB men's event No. 388
1. Evandro Goncalves/Andre Loyola, Brazil, $20,000
2. Anders Mol/Christian Sorum, Norway, $16,000
3. Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak, Poland, $10,000
4. Gustavo "Guto" Carvalhaes/Vitor Felipe, Brazil, $8,000
Gold - Evandro/Loyola def. Mol/Sorum, 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) (37)
Bronze - Kantor/Losiak def. Guto/Felipe, 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) (36)