Lausanne, Switzerland, April 18, 2017 — The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) held the fifth event overall on the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar last week, marking the first FIVB World Tour event held in Malaysia.
Last week in Langkawi, Malaysia, a team from Cuba captured the men’s gold medal and a team from the United States captured the women’s gold medal.
This week, the FIVB World Tour moves to China for the double-gender FIVB Xiamen event.
Langkawi - Men
Winning the men’s gold medal at the FIVB Langkawi 1-Star event with a perfect 4-0 match record was Cuba’s top-seeded Nivaldo Diaz/Sergio Gonzalez who defeated Austria’s seventh-seeded Peter Eglseer/Florian Schnetzer in two sets, 2-0 (21-17, 21-18) in 35 minutes. It was the first career FIVB World Tour gold medal for both Diaz and Gonzalez.
Cuba's Nivaldo Diaz, above, and teammate Sergio Gonzalez stretched out far to earn their first FIVB World Tour gold medal in Langkawi.Earning the men’s bronze medal in Langkawi was Estonia’s fifth-seeded Kusti Nolvak/Mart Tiisaar who won in straight sets over Serbia’s sixth-seeded Djordje Klasnic/Lazar Kolaric in straight, twin-score sets, 2-0 (21-17, 21-17) in 35 minutes.
In the Langkawi’s men’s semifinals, Cuba’s Diaz/Gonzalez beat Estonia’s Nolvak/Tiisaar in three sets, 2-1 (19-21, 21-13, 15-13) in 47 minutes and Austria’s Eglseer/Schnetzer advanced to the gold medal match by defeating Serbia’s Klasnic/Kolaric in straight sets, 2-0 (21-19, 21-19) in 37 minutes.
Estonia's Kusti Nolvak, above, dove for the Mikasa as he and Mart Tiisaar won the bronze medal in Malaysia.Cuba’s Nivaldo Diaz was selected as the men’s most outstanding player of the FIVB Langkawi event.
Langkawi - Women
Winning the women’s gold medal with an unblemished 4-0 match record was USA’s second-seeded Kim DiCello/Emily Stockman who held on to stop the Czech Republic’s Martina Bonnerova/Sarka Nakladalova in three hard-fought overtime sets 2-1 (24-22, 22-24, 17-15) in 52 minutes in the second-longest match of the tournament. It was the first FIVB World Tour gold medal for both DiCello and Stockman, who were playing in just their third FIVB event as a team.
USA's Kim DiCella, right, passes the Mikasa to Emily Stockman during their gold medal victory in LangkawiEarning the women’s bronze medal in Sydney was Austria’s third-seeded Lena Pleslutschnig/Carnelia Rimser who stopped their top-seeded Austrian compatriots who are twin sisters, Nadine Strauss/Teresa Strauss in straight sets, 2-0 (21-18, 21-23) in 33 minutes.
To reach the women’s gold medal match in Langkawi from their respective semifinals, USA’s DiCello/Stockman came from behind to defeat Austria’s Plesiutschnig/Rimser in three sets, 2-1 (17-21, 21-10, 18-16) in 55 minutes while Czech Republic’s Bonnerova/Nakladalova came back to stop Austrain twins N. Strauss/T. Strauss Behrens/Schumacher in another three-setter, 2-1 (14-21, 21-14, 15-9) in 37 minutes.
USA’s Kim DiCello was selected as the women’s most outstanding player of the tournament.
New FIVB World Ranking system
Part of the latest edition of the FIVB Sports Regulations for beach volleyball, the new FIVB World Ranking system has been established based on the FIVB Beach Volleyball Ranking Points earned at the eight best performances as a team in all FIVB sanctioned or homologated beach volleyball events over a 365-days period. The FIVB World Ranking is updated every Monday after an FIVB sanctioned or homologated event granting FIVB Beach Volleyball Ranking Points.
FIVB World Ranking - MenFIVB World Ranking - WomenMen's rankings/earnings
After four men’s events on the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins leads this week’s FIVB World Rankings with 4,650 points while USA’s Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena duo is second with 4,580 points. Third is Brazil’s Olympic champions Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt with 3,672 points, fourth is Brazil’s Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Solberg with 3,532 points and fifth is Spain’s Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera with 3,480 points.
In the 2017 FIVB World Tour men’s earnings after four events, Brazil’s Saymon Barbosa/Alvaro Filho duo is still on top of the early money list with $40,000 in one event with one gold medal. Second is Brazil’s Evandro Goncalves/Andre Loyola with $32,000 in one event, third is USA’s Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena with $20,000 in one event and fourth is Russia’s Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Nikita Liamin with $19,000 and tied for fifth with $16,000 each are USA’s Ryan Doherty/John Hyden and Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak.
Women's rankings/earnings
For the women after four events on the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, Germany’s Olympic champions Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst are at the top of the current women’s FIVB World Rankings with 4,960 points and Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca duo is second with 4,936 points. In third with 4,360 points is USA’s April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings, fourth with 4,130 points is Gemany’s Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude and fifth with 3,730 points is Spain’s Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez.
In the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour women’s earnings after four events, Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca duo is in the top spot with $40,000 in earnings in one events with one gold medal, second is Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa with $32,000, third is Germany’s Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude with $20,000 and fourth is USA’s Summer Ross/Brooke Sweat with $16,000. Tied for fifth with $12,000 each in one event are Brazil’s Fernanda Alves/Barbara Seixas, Brazil’s Josemari Alves/Liliane Maestrini, Czech Republic’s Kristyna Kolocova/Michala Kvapilova and USA’s April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings.
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Men's final fours
After four men’s tournaments on the 2017 FIVB World Tour regular season schedule, 11 countries have at least one final four placement. Leading with three final four placements is the United States (one bronze medal, two fourth place finishes) and tied for second with two each are Brazil (one gold medal, one silver medal), Australia (one gold medal, one silver medal) and Russia (one gold medal, one bronze medal) and tied for fifth with one final four placement each are Austria (one silver medal), Cuba (one gold medal), Estonia (one bronze medal), Germany (one fourth place finish), New Zealand (one bronze medal), Poland (one silver medal) and Serbia (one fourth place finish.
Women's final fours
After four women’s FIVB World Tour events to date on the 2017 calendar, seven countries have earned at least one final four finish. Leader in final four placements with four is Germany (one silver medal, one bronze medal, two fourth place finishes) while second with three is Australia (one silver medal, two bronze medals), tied for third with two each are Austria (one bronze medal, one fourth place finish), Brazil (one gold medal, one silver medal), Canada (two gold medals) and the United States (one gold medal, one fourth place finish) and seventh with one final four placement is the Czech Republic (one silver medal).
Men's winning percentage/match wins
Based on percentage, statistically, in men’s action after four events on the 2017 FIVB World Tour calendar with a minimum of four matches played, the co-leaders at 100.00 per cent is Brazil’s Saymon Barbosa/Alvaro Filho (8-0), Australia’s Christopher McHugh/Damien Schumann (4-0) and Cuba’s Nivaldo Diaz/Sergio Gonzalez (4-0) and fourth at 85.7 per cent is USA’s Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena (6-1). Tied for fifth at 80.0 per cent each are USA’s Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb (4-1), Poland’s Michal Bryl/Grzegorz Fijalek (4-1) and Italy’s Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai (4-1). Tied for eighth at 77.8 per cent are Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak (7-2) and Russia’s Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Nikita Liamin (7-2).
With eight match wins this season through four events on the 2017 FIVB World Tour, leading this category is Brazil’s Saymon Barbosa/Alvaro Filho (8-0), tied for second with seven match wins each are Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartoz Losiak (7-2) and Russia’s Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Nikita Liamin (7-2) and tied for fourth with six match wins each are Australia’s Cole Durant/Zachery Schubert (6-2) and USA’s Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena (6-1). Tied for sixth with five match wins each are USA’s Ryan Doherty/John Hyden (5-3), Brazil’s Evandro Goncalves/Andre Loyola (5-3), Russia’s Oleg Stoyanovskiy/Artem Yarzutkin (5-4) and Switzerland’s Nico Beeler/Marco Krattiger (5-4).
Tied for 10th with four match wins each are Australia’s Christopher McHugh/Damien Schumann (4-0), Cuba’s Nivaldo Diaz/Sergio Gonzalez (4-0), USA’s Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb (4-1), Poland’s Michal Bryl/Grzegorz Fijalek (4-1), Italy’s Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai (4-1), Brazil’s Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt (4-2), USA’s Trevor Crabb/Sean Rosenthal (4-2) and Germany’s Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen (4-4).
Women's winning percentage/match wins
Based on percentage, statistically, in women’s action after four events on the 2017 FIVB World Tour calendar with a minimum of four matches played, the leader at 88.9 per cent is Canada’s Julie Gordon/Camille Saxton (8-1), second at 85.7 per cent is Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca (6-1), tied for third at 80.0 per cent Australia’s Mariafe Artacho/Jessyka Ngauamo (4-1) and USA’s Kerri Walsh Jennings/April Ross (4-1). Tied for fifth at 75.0 per cent are USA’s Kim DiCello/Emily Stockman (6-2), Czech Republic’s Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova (3-1), Australia’s Phoebe Bell/Nicole Laird (3-1), Czech Republic’s Martina Bonnerova/Sarka Nakladalova (3-1) and Austria’s Lena Plesiutschnig/Cornelia Rimser (3-1), Tied for 10th at 71.4 per cent are USA’s Summer Ross/Brooke Sweat (5-2), Germany’s Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude (5-2), Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa (5-2), Brazil’s Josemari Alves/Liliane Maestrini (5-2) and Brazil’s Fernanda Alves/Barbara Seixas (5-2).
For the women in match wins following four events on the 2017 FIVB calendar, the leader with eight match wins is Canada’s Julie Gordon/Camille Saxton, tied for second with six match wins each are Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca (6-1) and USA’s Kim DiCello/Emily Stockman (6-2) while tied for fourth with five match wins each are USA’s Summer Ross/Brooke Sweat (5-2), Germany’s Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude (5-2), Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa (5-2), Brazil’s Josemari Alves/Liliane Maestrini (5-2), Brazil’s Fernanda Alves/Barbara Seixas (5-2) and Germany’s Kim Behrens/Anni Schumacher (5-3).
On the horizon
Following the FIVB Langkawi event will be the double-gender FIVB Xiamen event in China (April 20-23) followed by the double-gender FIVB Rio de Janeiro event in Brazil (May 17-21).