Lausanne, Switzerland, August 6, 2018 - Beach volleyball tournaments this week in Russia and Liechtenstein conclude the regular season portion of the schedule for the players competing on the international circuit with the last remaining event being next week in Germany for the Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals in Hamburg.
The $300,000 Moscow Open begins Tuesday with qualifying at Gorky Park. Main Draw pool play is set for Thursday followed by elimination on Friday and Saturday leading to Sunday’s medal matches for both men and women where the winning teams will share the $20,000 first-place prizes.
The €10,000 Vaduz Open in Liechtenstein will begin with qualifying on Thursday, Main Draw group contests on Friday, elimination on Saturday, and semifinal and medal round matches on Sunday as the victorious men’s and women’s pairs will split the €1,000 first-place rewards.
While Moscow hosts a FIVB World Tour event for the 11th-straight season and 13th-time overall, Vaduz returns to the international calendar after staging European continental tournaments the past 10 years (2009-2017). Prior to the CEV events, Vaduz hosted FIVB challenger/satellite tournaments for four seasons (2005-2008).
A new champion will be crowned in both the men’s and women’s events as 2017 gold medal winners Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena of the United States and Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca of Brazil are not in the 2018 field. However, 2017 Moscow Open podium placers Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Nikita Liamin of Russia (men's silver) and Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda "Duda" Lisboa of Brazil (women's silver) are scheduled to compete in the 2018 FIVB event in the Russian capital.
Nikita Liamin (left) and Viacheslav Krasilnikov of Russia
The Vaduz Open is also the 10th of 10 events incorporated from the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) schedule into the FIVB World Volleyball World Tour for the 2017-2018 season. Other incorporated CEV events were in Austria (Baden), Croatia (Porec), Russia (Anapa), Slovenia (Ljubljana), Turkey (Mersin, Aydin, Alanya, Manavgat and Samsun).
Last week’s FIVB World Tour action featured men’s and women’s competition in Austria and Slovenia where pairs from the Czech Republic, Norway, Russia and Switzerland topped podiums to bring the 2017-2018 event total to 39 for the men and 40 for the women.
In Vienna on Saturday, Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova of the Czech Republic recovered from a first-set loss to defeat Brazil’s Fernanda Alves/Barbara Seixas for the women’s gold. It’s the fourth FIVB World Tour title for Barbora, the fifth for Marketa, and their third together.
In the men’s finale on Sunday, Norway’s Anders Mol/Christian Sorum followed their win in the Gstaad Major Series with their second FIVB World Tour gold medal, defeating Michal Bryl/Grzegorz Fijalek of Poland, for the gold medal. The Norwegians have now won 12-straight FIVB matches and 19 overall with seven consecutive wins at the European championships two weeks ago in the Netherlands.
In Ljubljana, Switzerland’s Esmee Bobner/Zoe Verge-Depre each won her first FIVB World Tour gold medal by defeating Inna Makhno/Iryna Makhno of the Ukraine. For the men, Taras Myskiv/Valeriy Samoday of Russia each won his first FIVB World Tour title by defeating Slovenia’s Jan Pokersnik/Nejc Zemljak.
The men's and women's podium in Ljubljana
Austria - Vienna, July 31-August 4, 2018, $300,000, FIVB Women's event No. 371
1. Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic, $40,000
2. Fernanda Alves/Barbara Sexias, Brazil, $32,000
3. Sanne Keizer/ Madelein Meppelink, Netherlands, $20,000
4. Maria Antonelli/Carolina Salgado, Brazil 3 $16,000
Gold - Hermannova/Slukova def. Fernanda/Barbara, 2-1 (10-21, 21-16, 15-12) (52 minutes)
Bronze - Keizer/Meppelink def. Antonelli/Carolina, 2-0 (21-19, 21-18) (43)
The Vienna Women's podium
Austria - Vienna, July 31-August 5, 2018, $300,000, FIVB Men's event No. 405
1. Anders Mol/Christian Sorum, Norway, $40,000
2, Michal Bryl/Grzegorz Fijalek Poland, $32,000
3, Cherif Samba/Ahmed Tijan, Qatar, $20,000
4. Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen Netherlands, $16,000
Gold - Mol/Sorum def. Bryl/Fijalek, 2-0 (21-12, 21-17) (38)
Bronze - Cherif/Ahmed Tijan, 2-1 (25-23, 17-21, 15-12) (57)
Slovenia - Ljubljana, August 3-5, 2018, $5,000, FIVB Women's event No. 372
1. Esmee Bobner/Zoe Verge-Depre, Switzerland, $1,000
2. Inna Makhno/Iryna Makhno, Ukraine, $700
3. Jelena Pesic/Ana Skarlovnik, Slovenia, $500
4. Agata Ceynowa/Martyna Kloda, Poland, $400
Gold - Bobner/Verge-Depre def. Makhnos, 2-0 (21-16, 21-17) (32)
Bronze - Pesic/Skarlovnik def. Ceynowa/Kloda, 2-0 (21-13, 21-19) (35)
Slovenia - Ljubljana, August 3-5, 2018, $5,000, FIVB Men's event No. 406
1. Taras Myskiv/Valeriy Samoday, Russia, $1,000
2. Jan Pokersnik/Nejc Zemljak, Slovenia, $700
3. Florian Breer/Yves Haussener, Switzerland, $500
4. Tadej Bozenk/Danijel Pokersnik, Slovenia, $400
Gold - Myskiv/Samoday def. Pokersnik/Zemljak, 2-0 (21-14, 21-17) (32)
Bronze - Breer/Haussener def. Bozenk/Pokersnik, 2-1 (17-21, 21-13, 15-10) (40)