Lausanne, Switzerland, June 24, 2019 - Brazilians Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda "Duda" Lisboa have regained their position as the No. 1-ranked women's team on the FIVB World Tour after 35-week leaders Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson of Canada have dropped to the fourth spot on the list.
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Agatha and Duda were first on the international beach volleyball ranking list in mid-October before being replaced October 22 by Bansley and Wilkerson after the Canadians had won their first of two-straight FIVB World Tour gold medals in the United States at Las Vegas.
Bansley and Wilkerson strengthened their hold on the top spot by winning the next week in Mexico at the inaugural Chetumal Open and maintained their position through last week as the ranking of teams is based on the pair's best eight (8) results at all FIVB-recognized events over the last 365 days.
Agatha and Duda, who were ranked seventh on May 27, moved up the list by winning the gold medal on June 2 at the Ostrava Open in the Czech Republic and placing third on June 15 at the Warsaw Open in Poland.
Mariafe Artacho/Taliqua Clancy of Australia and Rebecca Cavalcanti/Ana Patricia Silva of Brazil have moved ahead of Bansley and Wilkerson as the Canadians have placed fifth, third, fifth and ninth in their last four FIVB World Tour events since the Mexico gold medal victory.
Mariafe Artacho (second from left) and Taliqua Clancy (third from the left) of Australia celebrate with Norwegians Christian Sorum (left) and Anders Mol (third from the right) and Rebecca Cavalcanti (second from the right) and Ana Patricia Silva of Brazil
Artacho and Clancy's rise to the second spot has featured three podium placements in five FIVB events this season highlighted by a gold medal at the last World Tour event in Warsaw where the Australians defeated Rebecca and Ana Patricia in a three-set quarterfinal match. A week earlier in Ostrava, Artacho and Clancy lost an elimination match to Agatha and Duda in three sets.
Rebecca and Ana Patricia have competed in nine FIVB events this season with three gold medals, six podium placements and seven final four finishes. The young Brazilians have sandwiched two gold medal wins in China (Qinzhou and Xiamen) with a January title in The Hague.
In the men's rankings, Anders Mol and Christian Sorum of Norway continue to be No. 1 followed by Michal Bryl/Grzegorz Fijalek of Poland, Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Oleg Stoyanovskiy of Russia and Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins of Latvia.
Anders Mol (left) and Christian Sorum of Norway
Since capturing the gold medal at the Vienna Major last August, Mol and Sorum have been ranked as the No. 1 men's team for 47-straight weeks as the Norwegians replaced Poland's Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak as the top team on the list. Due to a right foot injury for Losiak, the Polish pair is currently ranked ninth in the world.
After a weekend off from international play, the world's elite players return to action starting Friday at the 2019 FIVB World Championships in Hamburg, Germany. Both Agatha/Duda and Mol Sorum will be playing Friday as both teams will meet teams from Cuba.
Seeded first in the 48-team men's field Mol and Sorum will be challenged by 48th-seeded Sergio Gonzales/Luis Reyes while the sixth-seeded Agatha and Duda will meet 43rd-seeded Mailen Deliz/Leila Martinez. Both Cuban teams earned their World Championship berths via the continental pathway as the two pairs have combined to win eight NORCECA events the past two seasons.
Men (Team Rank, events, points)
1, Anders Mol/Christian Sorum, Norway, *13, 6,920
2, Michal Bryl/Grzegorz Fijalek, Poland, *13, 5,280
3, Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Oleg Stoyanovskiy, Russia, 8, 4,960
4, Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins, Latvia, *15, 4,860
5, Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera, Spain, *13, 4,840
6, Cherif Samba/Ahmed Tijan, Qatar, *16, 4,720
7, Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen, Netherlands, *12, 4,360
8, Ilya Leshukov/Konstantin Semenov, Russia, 8, 4,220
9, Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak, Poland, *10, 4,100
10, Grimalt M./Grimalt E., *18, 4,080
11, Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy, *9, 4,000
12, Martins Plavins/Edgars Tocs, Latvia, *15, 3,960
13, Julius Thole/Clemens Wickler, Germany, *12, 3,920
14, Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb, United States, 8, 3,840
15, Ondrej Perusic/David Schweiner, Czech Republic, *12, 3,760
16, Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst, Austria, *13, 3,560
17, Sam Pedlow/Sam Schachter, Canada, *10, 3,540
18, Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, United States, 7, 3,480
19, Robin Seidl/Philipp Waller, Austria, *11, 3,400
20, Grant O'Gorman/Ben Saxton, Canada, *13, 3,360
20, Tri Bourne/Trevor Crabb, United States, 8, 3,360
22, Mirco Gerson/Adrian Heidrich, Switzerland, *15, 3,200
23, Evandro Goncalves/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, 6, 3,040
24, Dries Koekelkoren/Tom van Walle, Belgium, *9, 3,020
25, Philipp Bergmann/Yannick Harms, Germany, *17, 2,880
Women (Team Rank, events, points)
1, Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda "Duda" Lisboa, Brazil, *10, 5,400
2, Mariafe Artacho/Taliqua Clancy, Australia, *15, 5,360
3, Rebecca Cavalcanti/Ana Patricia Silva, Brazil, *11, 5,320
4, Heather Bansley/Brandie Wilkerson, Canada, *12, 5,300
5, Alix Klineman/April Ross, United States, *10, 5,160
6, Melissa Humana-Paredes/Sarah Pavan, Canada, *13, 5,040
7, Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic, *9, 4,840
8, Sara Hughes/Summer Ross, United States, *13, 4,760
9, Maria Antonelli/Carolina Salgado, Brazil, *12, 4,720
10, Sanne Keizer/Madelein Meppelink, Netherlands, *11, 4,360
11, Kelley Larsen/Emily Stockman, United States, *10, 4,340
12, Brooke Sweat/Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States, *9, 4,140
13, Fernanda Alves/Barbara Seixas, Brazil, 8, 3,960
14, Nina Betschart/Tanja Huberli, Switzerland, *13, 3,940
15, Svetlana Kholomina/Nadezda Makroguzova, Russia, *13, 3,680
16, Miki Ishii/Megumi Murakami, Japan, *19, 3,600
17, Taru Lahti/Anniina Parkkinen, Finland, *10, 3,580
18, Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth, Italy, *11, 3,520
19, Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez, Spain, *10, 3,460
20, Katarzyna Kociolek/Kinga Wojtasik, Poland, *11, 3,440
21, Emily Day/Betsi Flint, United States, *10, 3,420
22, Victoria Bieneck/Isabel Schneider, Germany, *13, 3,360
23, Fan Wang/Xinyi Xia, China, *13, 3,280
23, Joy Stubbe/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands, *11, 3,280
25, Tina Graudina/Anastasija Kravcenoka, Latvia, *14, 3,040
25, Natalia Dubovcova/Andrea Strbova, Slovak Republic, *14, 3,040
*Based on the eight (8) best results at all FIVB-recognized events over the last 365 days