Itapema, Brazil, November 1, 2018 - Known as the Ultralight Capital, Itapema returns to the international beach volleyball schedule for one of the top point-producing men's and women's events on the schedule with the winning teams securing 800 points for finishing atop the podium.
The Itapema Open in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina marks the 47th men's and 42nd women's event staged in Brazil since the start of sanctioned FIVB Beach Volleyball tournaments in 1987 for men and 1992 for women.
Brazilian teams captured both the men's and women's titles last season with Evandro Goncalves/Andre Loyola and Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda "Duda" Lisboa topping the podiums by defeating teams from Europe in the finals.
Evandro and Loyola posted a 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) victory in 37 minutes over Anders Mol/Christian Sorum of Norway in the men's gold medal match. Agatha and Duda defeated Joana Heidrich/Anouk Verge-Depre of Switzerland 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) in the 36-minute women's finale.
Brazilian teams have dominated the competition at Brazilian FIVB World Tour events with 53 gold medals followed by the United States (24), Germany (3), China (1), Latvia (1) the Netherlands (1), Poland (1) and Romania (1). Here is a list of gold medal teams at Brazilian FIVB World Tour events.
Men (Brazil 28 gold medals, United States 12, Germany 2, Latvia 1, the Netherlands 1, Poland 1)
1987 Rio de Janeiro - Randy Stoklos/Sinjin Smith, USA
1988 Rio de Janeiro - Karch Kiraly/Pat Powers, USA
1989 Rio de Janeiro - Stoklos/Smith, USA
1990 Rio de Janeiro - Stoklos/Smith, USA
1991 Rio de Janeiro - Stoklos/Smith, USA
1992 Rio de Janeiro - Stoklos/Smith, USA
1993 Rio de Janeiro - Adam Johnson/Kent Steffes, USA
1994 Rio de Janeiro - Franco Neto/Roberto Lopes, BRA
1994 Fortaleza - Franco/Roberto Lopes, BRA
1995 Rio de Janeiro Andre Gomes/Carlos Loss, BRA
1995 Fortaleza - Franco/Roberto Lopes, BRA
1996 Rio de Janeiro - Franco/Roberto Lopes, BRA
1996 Joao Pessoa - Paulao Moreira/Paulo Emilio Silva, BRA
1996 Fortaleza - Mike Dodd/Mike Whitmarsh, USA
1997 Rio de Janeiro - Emanuel Rego/Ze Marco de Melo, BRA
1997 Fortaleza - Emanuel/Ze Marco, BRA
1998 Rio de Janeiro - Ze Marco/Ricardo Santos, BRA
1998 Vitória - Guilherme Guilherme Marques/Para Ferreria, BRA
1999 Vitória - Ze Marco/Ricardo, BRA
2000 Guaruja - Marcio Araujo/Benjamin Insfran, BRA
2000 Vitória - Marcio Araujo/Benjamin, BRA
2001 Vitória - Emanuel/Tande Ramos, BRA
2002 Fortaleza - Marcio Araujo/Benjamin, BRA
2003 Rio de Janeiro World Championships - Emanuel/Ricardo, BRA
2004 Salvador - Emanuel/Ricardo, BRA
2004 Rio de Janeiro - Markus Dieckmann/Jonas Reckerman, GER
2005 Salvador - Emanuel/Ricardo, BRA
2006 Vitória - Julius Brink/Christoph Dieckmann, GER
2007 Fortaleza - Emanuel/Ricardo, BRA
2008 Guarajà - Harley Marques/Pedro Salgado, BRA
2009 Brasília - Emanuel/Ricardo, BRA
2010 Brasília - Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers, USA
2011 Brasília - Dalhausser/Rogers, USA
2012 Brasília - Dalhausser/Rogers, USA
2013 São Paulo - Pedro Salgado/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, BRA
2014 São Paulo - Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst, NED
2015 Rio de Janeiro - Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins, LAT
2016 Maceio - Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, USA
2016 Rio de Janeiro - Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak, POL
2016 Vitória - Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar, BRA
2016 Fortaleza - Oscar Brandao/Andre Loyola, BRA
2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics - Alison/Bruno Oscar, BRA
2017 Rio de Janeiro - Alison/Bruno Oscar, BRA
2018 Itapema - Evandro Goncalves/Loyola, BRA
2018 Miguel Pereira - Luciano Ferreira/Vinicius Rezende, BRA
2019 Miguel Pereira - to be determined
2019 Itapema - to be determined
Women (Brazil 25 gold medals, United States 12, China 1, Germany 1, Romania 1)
1993 Rio de Janeiro - Nancy Reno/Karolyn Kirby, USA
1993 Santos - Liz Masakayan/Kirby, USA
1994 Santos - Adriana Samuel/Monica Rodrigues, BRA
1995 Rio de Janeiro - Sandra Pires/Jackie Silva, BRA
1995 Santos - Linda Hanley/Barbra Fontana, USA
1996 Maceio - Sandra/Jackie, BRA
1996 Recife - Sandra/Jackie, BRA
1996 Rio de Janeiro - Sandra/Jackie, BRA
1996 Salvador - Samuel/Monica, BRA
1997 Rio de Janeiro - Samuel/Monica, BRA
1997 Salvador - Shelda Bede/Adriana Behar, BRA
1998 Rio de Janeiro - Shelda/Adriana, BRA
1998 Salvador - Shelda/Adriana, BRA
1999 Salvador - Shelda/Adriana, BRA
2000 Fortaleza - Holly McPeak/Misty May-Treanor, USA
2000 Vitória - Masakayan/Elaine Youngs, USA
2001 Fortaleza - Shelda/Adriana, BRA
2002 Vitória - Youngs/McPeak, USA
2003 Rio de Janeiro World Championships - May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh Jennings, USA
2004 Fortaleza - May-Treanor/Walsh Jennings, USA
2004 Rio de Janeiro - Ana Paula Connolly/Sandra, BRA
2005 Salvador - May-Treanor/Walsh Jennings, USA
2006 Vitória - Juliana Felisberta/Larissa Franca, BRA
2007 Fortaleza - May-Treanor/Walsh Jennings, USA
2008 Guarajà - Vivian Cunha/Larissa, BRA
2009 Brasília - Juliana/Larissa, BRA
2010 Brasília - Juliana/Larissa, BRA
2011 Brasília - Juliana/Larissa, BRA
2012 Brasília - Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, CHN
2013 São Paulo - April Ross/ Walsh Jennings, USA
2014 São Paulo - Talita Antunes/Larissa, BRA
2015 Rio de Janeiro - Talita/Larissa, BRA
2016 Maceio - Eduarda “Duda” Lisboa/Elize Maia, BRA
2016 Rio de Janeiro - Ross/Walsh Jennings, USA
2016 Vitória - Talita/Larissa, BRA
2016 Fortaleza - Duda/Elize, BRA
2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics - Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst, GER
2017 Rio de Janeiro - Agatha Bednarczuk/Duda, BRA
2018 Itapema - Agatha/Duda, BRA
2018 Miguel Pereira - Adriana-Maria Matei/Beata Vaida, Romania
2019 Miguel Pereira - to be determined
2019 Itapema - to be determined