Lausanne, Switzerland, June 3, 2019 - With the countdown to the 2019 FIVB World Championships entering its final 25 days, the international beach volleyball circuit continues play this week with events in Austria and China.
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Prior to the start of play in Nanjing on Thursday and Baden on Friday with qualifying rounds, the drawing of lots for the 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Germany will be held Tuesday in Hamburg to determine the pool assignments for the 48 men's and 48 women's teams for the June 28 through July 7 event.
The FIVB also confirms a change in dates for the event in Salalah, Oman. Previously scheduled to take place from August 21-24, the men's only 1-star World Tour tournament will now be played from August 24-27.
2018-2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar - Click here to download
The $25,000 Silk Road Nanjing Open marks the second-straight week of women's only play in China where pool play will be held Friday followed by the elimination rounds on Saturday and the medal matches on Sunday where the winning team will share the $4,000 first-place prize.
The second annual Silk Road Nanjing Open will crown a new champion as 2018 winners Josemari Alves/Liliane Maestrini of Brazil are not in the 2019 field. The Brazilians defeated Fan Wang/Xinyi Xia of China 2-1 (21-18, 21-23, 15-11) in the 56-minute 2018 finale.
Josemari Alves (left) and Liliane Maestrini of Brazil celebrated twice in China in 2018 with back-to-back gold medals in Nantong and Nanjing
Located 260 km from last week's women's-only FIVB World Tour stop in Nantong, Nanjing will be staging its fifth FIVB Beach Volleyball event highlighted by the 2014 Youth Olympic Games, and two junior worlds championships in 2017 (under-21) and 2019 (under-19).
The Silk road Nanjing Open is the seventh FIVB World Tour event in China this season. Zhongwei, Qinzhou and Yangzhou hosted international tournaments last September and October with Xiamen, Jinjiang and Nantong being played in April, May and June.
The €15,000 Baden Open presented by Sports.land.NÖ will cover a four day period for men and three days women with pool play and opening elimination matches on Saturday. The medal matches will be Sunday for women and Monday for men as the €1,500 first-place prizes await the winning pairs.
The second annual Baden Open will feature Austria's elite players led by two-time Olympic pair Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst. The silver medal winners at the 2017 FIVB World Championships in Vienna, Doppler and Horst won the inaugural Baden Open by defeating compatriots Julian Horl/Tobias Winter 2-1 (18-21, 21-16, 15-13) in the 50-minute finale.
2018 Baden celebration for Alexander Horst (left) and Clemens Doppler of Austria
On the women's side in Baden, Austrians Lena Plesiutschnig and Katharina Schutzenhofer will be looking to better their silver medal finish at the 2018 events. In last year's Baden finale, Teresa Mersmann and Cinja Tillmann of Germany defeated Plesiutschnig and Schutzenhofer 2-0 (21-17, 21-16) in 33 minutes.
In action last week, the 2018-2019 FIVB World Tour played its 25th men’s and 24th and 25th women’s events with the double-gender Ostrava Open in the Czech Republic and the women’s-only Nantong Open in China.
The first World Tour gold medal won last week was by Jingzhe Wang/Shuhui Wen of China, who captured their second FIVB title together by defeating Carolina Horta/Angela Lavelle of Brazil 2-1 (21-9, 18-21, and 15-12) in 48 minutes.
China - Nantong, May 30-June 2, $25,000, FIVB women's event No. 400
1. Jingzhe Wang/Shuhui Wen, China, $4,000
2. Carolina Horta/Angela Lavalle, Brazil, $3,000
3. Ksenia Dabizha/Daria Rudykh, Russia, $2,000
4. Aleksandra Gromadowska/Jagoda Gruszczynska, Poland, $1,400
Gold - Wang/Wen def. Horta/Angela, 2-1 (21-9, 18-21, 15-12) (48)
Bronze - Dabizha/Rudykh def. Gromadowska/Gruszczynska, 2-0 (21-13, 21-16) (33)
The Nantong podium with Brazilians, Chinese and Russians
Hours later in Ostrava on Sunday, Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda 'Duda' Lisboa captured their fourth FIVB World Tour gold medal together by defeating Rebecca Cavalcanti/Ana Patricia Silva 2-0 (21-19 and 21-17) in the 35-minute all-Brazilian finale.
Czech Republic - Ostrava, May 29-June 2, $150,000, FIVB men's event No. 399
1. Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda 'Duda' Lisboa, Brazil, $20,000
2. Rebecca Cavalcanti/Ana Patricia Silva, Brazil, $16,000
3. Sanne Keizer/Madelein Meppelink, Netherlands, $10,000
4. Brooke Sweat/Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States, $8,000
Gold - Agatha/Duda def. Rebecca/Ana Patricia, 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) (35)
Bronze - Keizer/Meppelink def. Sweat/Walsh Jennings, 2-0 (25-23, 21-17) (40)
The Ostrava men's and women's podium placers from Brazil, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Norway and Poland
For the men, Norway’s Anders Mol/Christian Sorum captured their third straight gold medal and seventh overall by defeating Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner of the Czech Republic 2-1 (17-21, 21-15, and 15-10) in the 48-minute Ostrava finale.
Czech Republic - Ostrava, May 29-June 2, $150,000, FIVB men's event No. 434
1. Anders Mol/Christian Sorum, Norway, $20,000
2. Ondrej Perusic/David Schweiner, Czech Republic, $16,000
3. Michal Bryl/Grzegorz Fijalek, Poland, $10,000
4. Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Oleg Stoyanovskiy, Russia, $8,000
Gold - Mol/Sorum def. Perusic/Schweiner, 2-1 (17-21, 21-15, 15-10) (48 minutes)
Bronze - Bryl/Fijalek def. Krasilnikov/Stoyanovskiy, 2-1 (10-21, 21-19, 15-7) (45)
Following this week’s action, the FIVB World Tour remains in Europe with double gender events in Poland (Warsaw) and Greece (Ios).