Lausanne, Switzerland, June 26, 2017 — The 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar featured the women’s FIVB Nantong tournament in China last week. A team from host country China won the gold medal with another team from China earning silver and a team from Lithuania capturing bronze.
Over the next two weeks, the 2017 FIVB World Tour has back-to-back tournaments on the Swatch FIVB Major Series portion of the tour with $600,000 double-gender events in Porec, Croatia (June 27-July 2) and Gstaad, Switzerland (July 4-9).
Nantong - Women
Winning the gold medal at the women’s Nantong event with a solid 5-0 match record was China’s 23rd-seeded Shuhui Wen/Xinyi Xia who beat their top-seeded Chinese compatriots Xinxin Wang/Chen Xue in two sets, 2-0 (21-18, 21-14) in just 31 minutes. It was the first career FIVB gold medal for Wen, the third for Xia and the first FIVB gold medal for Wen/Xia as a team.
For the second straight event on the FIVB World Tour (after the event in Jiangning, Nanjing), earning the women’s bronze medal in Nantong was Lithuania’s fifth-seeded Leva Dumbauskaite/Monika Povilaityte who held off Russia’s 14th-seeded Yulia Abalakina/Ksenia Dabizha in straight sets 2-0 (26-24, 21-19) in 38 minutes.
To reach the women’s gold medal match in Nantong from their respective semifinals, China’s Wen/Xia toppled Russia’s Abalakina/Dabizha in two sets, 2-0 (22-20, 21-14) in 36 minutes while China’s Wang/Xue battled back to defeat Lithuania’s Dumbauskaite/Povilaityte in three sets, 2-1 (20-22, 21-14, 15-11) in 53 minutes, the second-longest match in the tournament.
China’s Xinyi Xia was selected as the most outstanding player of the Nantong tournament.
Xinyi Xia in action at the net
Women's rankings/earnings
Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca duo is at the top of the current women’s FIVB World Rankings with 4,020 points and second is Gemany’s Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude with 3,960 points, third is Germany’s Olympic champions Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst with 2,716 points, fourth is Czech Republic’s Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova with 2,560 points, and fifth is Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa with 2,552 points.
In the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour women’s earnings, Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa duo is in the top spot with $62,000 in earnings in four events with one gold medal, second is Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca with $59,000 in four events with two gold medals, third is Brazil’s Fernanda Alves/Barbara Seixas with $31,500 in five events with one gold medal, fourth is Germany’s Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude with $30,500 in four events and fifth is USA’s Summer Ross/Brooke Sweat with $27,000 in three events.
Tied for sixth with $22,000 each are Czech Republic’s Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova in four events and Canada’s Sarah Pavan/Melissa Humana-Paredes in three events. Eighth is Brazil’s Josemari Alves/Liliane Maestrini with $18,100 in five events.
Women's Final Fours
After Nantong, 13 countries have earned at least one final four finish. Leader in final four placements with 11 is Brazil (six gold medals, one silver medal, two bronze medals, two fourth place finishes) and second with seven is Germany (two silver medals, two bronze medals, three fourth place finishes). Tied for third with four each are Canada (two gold medals, one silver medal, one fourth place finish), China (one gold medal, three silver medals) and the United States (two gold medals, one silver medal, one fourth place finish). Tied for sixth with three each are Australia (one silver medal, two bronze medals) and the Czech Republic (one silver medal, one bronze medal, one fourth place finish). Tied for eighth with two each are Austria (one bronze medal, one fourth place finish) and Lithuania (two bronze medals). Tied for 10th with one final four placement are Greece (one bronze medal), New Zealand (one fourth place), Russia (one fourth place finish) and Switzerland (one silver medal).
Women's winning percentage / match wins
Based on percentage, statistically, in women’s action on the 2017 FIVB World Tour calendar with a minimum of 11 matches played, the leader at 88.2 per cent is Brazil’s Maria Antonelli/Carolina Salgado (15-2), second at 81.8 per cent is Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca (18-4), third at 80.8 per cent is Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa (21-5), fourth at 73.3 per cent is Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes/Sarah Pavan (11-4) and fifth at 72.2 per cent is USA’s Summer Ross/Brooke Sweat (13-5).
Sixth at 70.6 per cent is Czech Republic’s Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova (12-5), seventh at 68.0 per cent is Brazil’s Fernanda Alves/Barbara Seixas (17-8) and tied for eighth at 66.7 per cent each are Canada’s Julie Gordon/Camille Saxton (8-4), Australia’s Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy (8-4) and Germany’s Kim Behrens/Anni Schumacher (8-4).
Quick links - Beach volleyball:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 2017FIVB.com - Beach VolleyballLatest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagramMedia GuidesFor the women in match wins on the 2017 FIVB calendar, the leader with 21 match wins is Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa (21-5), second with 18 wins is Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca (18-4), third with 17 wins is Brazil’s Fernanda Alves/Barbara Seixas (17-8), fourth with 15 match wins is Brazil’s Maria Antonelli/Carolina Salgado and tied for fifth with 13 match wins each are USA’s Summer Ross/Brooke Sweat (13-5) and USA’s Emily Day/Brittany Hochevar (13-8).
Tied for seventh with 12 match wins each are Czech Republic’s Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova (12-5), Germany’s Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude (12-7) and Germany’s Victoria Bieneck/Isabel Schneider (12-8).
On the horizon
Up next on the 2017 FIVB World Tour will be a pair of $600,000 double-gender tournaments that are part of the Swatch FIVB Major Series portion of the FIVB World Tour. The tour will be in Porec, Croatia (June 27-July 2) followed by another event to Gstaad, Switzerland (July 4-9). Following the two Swatch FIVB Majors, the FIVB U-21 Beach Volleyball World Championships will be held in Nanjing, China (July 11-16) and the women’s FIVB Daegu event will be held in Korea (July 14-16).
Growing history
The double-gender Swatch FIVB Porec Major will be the 361st men’s tournament since the FIVB began play in 1987 and the 325th FIVB women’s tournament since their competition started in 1992. The Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major will be the 362nd men’s tournament and the 326th women’s tournament.