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Barcelona, Spain, September 13, 2009 - Two days after capturing their fourth international Beach Volleyball “tour” championship together, Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca became the first women’s or men’s team to win eight SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medals in a season by capturing the US$190,000 Hyundai Open Barcelona here Sunday. With their 21-17 and 28-26 victory in the 55-minute All-Brazilian finale over second-seeded Talita Antunes and Maria Antonelli, the top-seeded Juliana and Larissa have now won the last three SWATCH events and five of the last six FIVB stops. Juliana, who was named the SWATCH most outstanding player for the Hyundai Open Barcelona, and Larissa have also won their last 19 FIVB matches.
“The most important thing this weekend was clinching the tour championship,” said the 26-year old Juliana, who shared the $30,000 first-place prize with Larissa to improve their 2009 FIVB earnings to $368,100. “Winning eight gold medals also means that we have been able to play at a very high level each week against the best teams in the worlds. Except for the world championships, this has been a great season.” With the Hyundai Open Barcelona being the 14th of 16 women’s events on the 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar, Brazilians have now topped the podium 12 times. Talita and Antonelli have captured four gold medals this season with Americans Jen Kessy and April Ross stopping the South American sweep with titles at the world championships in Norway and a Grand Slam crown in France. Kessy and Ross, who captured the Hyundai Open Barcelona bronze medal after losing to both Brazilian finalists during the competition on the Plaza Carles Bulgas in front of the Museu Nacional d`Art de Catalunya (MNAC), defeated Juliana and Larissa for the world championship title July 4 in Stavanger followed by a semi-final win over Talita and Antonelli enroute to the Marseille Grand Slam gold medal. Sunday’s win for Juliana and Larissa was also the eighth in nine meetings with Talita and Antonelli this season. Six of the wins have been on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour with the only setback being a 21-17, 16-21 and 15-12 gold medal victory by Talita and Antonelli July 11 at the Swiss Grand Slam in Gstaad. The Hyundai Open Barcelona gold medal match also marked the fifth-time this season and the 42nd-time in the history of the women’s SWATCH FIVB World Tour that two Brazilian pairs competed for an international gold medal. Overall, Brazilian women have 104 SWATCH titles to their credit with 282 medals while appearing in 155 of the 200 finales since the start of the tour in 1992 at Almeria, Spain. The Hyundai Open Barcelona was the 200th women’s event in the 18-year history of the tour. In the All-American bronze medal match, the third-seeded Kessy and Ross rebounded from their pair of Brazilian defeats to down sixth-seeded Angie Akers and Tyra Turner 21-13 and 21-19 in 43 minutes. With Talita and Antonelli sharing $21,000 for second-place, the USA pairs combined for $26,200 in winnings as Kessy and Ross split $15,000 for their 10th SWATCH medal in their last 13 FIVB starts. Prior to Saturday’s late afternoon semi-final matches, legendary Brazilian Shelda Bede was recognized by the SWATCH FIVB World Tour for her 15 seasons of competition on the international Beach Volleyball circuit where she ranks as the top women’s player in terms of tournaments and matches played, earnings, podium placements and match wins.
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