Lausanne, Switzerland, November 10, 2019 - After a week on a Mediterranean beach, the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour heads to sites in Qatar and Mexico for the last two international events on the 2019 calendar year schedule.
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The Aspire Beach Volleyball Cup in Qatar opens this week's schedule with qualifying on Tuesday, pool play on Wednesday, elimination matches on Thursday and the final four matches on Friday at the Al Gharrafa Beach Complex in Doha.
The side courts at the Al Gharrafa Beach Complex in Doha.
The US$5,000 men's-only event will be the sixth FIVB World Tour event in Qatar and the first of two tournaments in Doha on the 2019-2020 international schedule. The second Qatari FIVB World Tour event is scheduled for March 9-13 in Doha.
This week's play concludes in Mexico for the expanded Chetumal Open where men's play joins the competition schedule. The inaugural event on the east coast of the country featured women's-only play as Canadians Heather Bansley/Brandie Wilkerson topped the October 2018 podium.
Brandie Wilkerson (centre) speaks at a media conference prior to the 2018 Chetumal Open flanked by Canadian partner Heather Bansley (left)
The $150,000 Chetumal Open begins on Wednesday with qualifying followed by main draw play where Thursday’s pool play leads to Friday’s opening elimination rounds. The quarter and semifinals will be played on Saturday followed by the podium placement contests on Sunday.
In action last week, the 2019- 2020 FIVB World Tour staged its third event with the double-gender Tel Aviv tournament for the first-event in Israel where pairs from Italy and Japan topped the podium by defeating pairs from Denmark in the finals.
In the women’s competition, Japan’s Reika Murakami and Kaho Sakaguchi won their first FIVB World Tour gold medal together by defeating Line Hansen/Okholm Hansen of Denmark in two sets. It was the second World Tour title for Murakami and the first for Sakaguchi.
Israel - Tel Aviv, November 6-9, €5,000, FIVB women's event No. 424
1. Reika Murakami/Kaho Sakaguchi, Japan, €1,000
2. Line Hansen/Okholm Hansen, Denmark, €700
3. Alexandra Moiseeva/Ekaterina Syrtseva, Russia, €500
4. Eva Freiberger/Valerie Teufl, Austria, €400
Gold - Murakami/Kaho Sakaguchi def. Hansen/Hansen, 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) (36 minutes)
Bronze - Moiseeva/Syrtseva def. Freiberger/Teufl, 2-0 (21-16, 21-19) (40)
The Tel Aviv podium featured pairs from Denmark, Italy, Japan and Russia
For the men, Samuel Cottafava and Jakob Windisch of Italy won their second FIVB World Tour event by defeating Denmark’s Daniel Thomsen/Martin Trans Hansen, who is the younger brother of Line Hansen.
Israel - Tel Aviv, November 6-9, €5,000, FIVB men's event No. 461
1. Samuele Cottafava/Jakob Windisch, Italy, €1,000
2. Daniel Thomsen/Martin Trans Hansen, Denmark, €700
3. Aleksandr Kramarenko/Serguey Prokopyev, Russia, €500
4. Sean Faiga/Netanel Ohana, Israel, €400
Gold - Cottafava/Windisch def. Thomsen/Hansen, 2-0 (21-12, 21-17) (30)
Bronze - Kramarenko/Prokopyev def. Faiga/Ohana by forfeit
Following the Qatari and Mexican events, the FIVB World Tour breaks until January for men and February for women. The first men's events on the 2020 portion of the schedule are scheduled for Iran (January 7-10 at Qeshm and February 3-7 at Bandar Abbas) and the Cook Islands (January 14-17). The first 2020 women's tournament is scheduled for Cambodia (February 13-16 at Siem Reap).