Lausanne, - For the 23rd-straight year, Brazil will host an international Beach Volleyball event as the capital city of the South American country will stage the first event on the 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar when 102 teams from 29 countries begin competing this week. The Esplanada dos Ministérios in Quadrante 1 in Brasília will be the site for the US$380,000 Banco do Brasil Open presented by KIA as the Brazilian capital hosts its first-ever SWATCH FIVB World Tour event after the South American country staged a 2008 stop in Guarajà where the host country teams of Harley Marques/Pedro Salgado and Vivian Cunha/Larissa Franca captured the gold medals. All four players will be competing in the Banco do Brasil Open presented by KIA with different partners. Harley will be playing with Alison Cerutti while Salgado will be paired with Pedro Salgado. Larissa teamed with Vivian last September as her regular partner, Juliana Felisberta Silva, was recovering from knee surgery. Juliana is ready to start the 2009 season with Larissa with Vivian playing with Angela Vieira. The top women’s team on the 2008 FIVB tour was Shelda Bede and Ana Paula Connelly, who won three titles and placed third in Guarajà. The Banco do Brasil Open presented by KIA Country quota playoff matches for Brazilian teams will be held Monday (April 20) for women and Tuesday for men. The Main Draw rounds start Wednesday for women and Thursday for men as the teams head into the weekend seeking the $30,000 first-place prizes. The medal matches will be Saturday for women and Sunday for men. With Rio de Janeiro staging the first-ever men’s FIVB Beach Volleyball event in 1987, the “famed” Brazilian city has hosted 14 tournaments, including the 2003 SWATCH-FIVB World Championships. Brazilian men have collected 20 gold medals on their home sand with eight by American teams and two for German tandems as the Banco do Brasil Open presented by KIA will be the 31st SWATCH FIVB World Tour in the South American country. The Banco do Brasil Open presented by KIA will be the 26th SWATCH stop in Brazil since the start of the women’s international tour in 1992. While Guarujà was staging a women’s event for the first-time, Rio de Janeiro had hosted seven female stops with other events in Salvador (five), Fortaleza (four), Vitoria (three), Santos (three), Maceio and Recife. Brazilian women have won 15 of the events with the United States claiming 10 gold medals. Of the 22 men’s and 17 women’s season opening events, 10 men and six women have been staged in Brazil with host country teams winning four men’s and three women’s gold medals. Overall, Brazilian teams have won 10 men’s and 10 women’s season-opening events. American men’s teams won the first seven season-opening events and eight overall. Men’s teams from Norway, Switzerland, Argentina and Germany have also won season opening events. Women’s teams from the United States have won five season-opening events with one gold medal each for Australia and China. Harley and Salgado won the past two men’s season-opening events in China (Shanghai 2007) and Australia (Adelaide 2008) with Juliana and Larissa winning three of the past four women’s season openers in China (Shanghai 2005), Italy (Modena 2006) and Australia (Adelaide 2008). After the Brasília stop, the 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar continues with double gender event in the China (Shanghai, April 28-May 3) before single gender events in Italy (men, Rome, May 12-17), Japan (women, Osaka, May 19-24), Korea (women, Seoul, May 26-31) and Poland (men, Myslowice, May 26-31). After more than a three-week break, the international Beach Volleyball tour resumes with the 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Championships presented by ConocoPhillips. The $1-million event will be staged June 25-July 5 in Stavanger, Norway. | |
