Warsaw, Poland, November 1, 2018 - For the second-straight season, Warsaw will be hosting a double-gender event on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour as the Polish capital will be staging the final international event prior to the 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Germany.
With the women playing an FIVB World Tour event in the capital city for the fourth time and the men making their second appearance, the Warsaw Open is set for June 12-16. The 2019 FIVB World Championships in Hamburg will begin June 28 and the finals set for July 6 and 7.
Women's teams from Brazil, Canada and China have topped the previous three Warsaw podiums while Polish Olympians Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak captured the inaugural men's finale in 2018 by defeating Vitor Felipe and Evandro Goncalves of Brazil 2-1 (27-29, 21-13, 15-12) in the 55-minute gold medal match.
Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson of Canada netted the 2018 Warsaw women's gold medal by defeating Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude of Germany 2-0 (21-17, 21-17) in the 37-minute title match.
Brazilian and Chinese women dominated the first two Warsaw events in 2006 and 2007 by claiming all six podium spots with each country capturing a gold, silver and bronze medals.
Jia Tian and Jie Wang of China captured the inaugural Warsaw event in 2006 by defeating compatriots Chen Xue/Xi Zhang in the finals with Leila Barros/Ana Paula Henkel of Brazil placing third.
In 2007, Juliana Felisberta/Larissa Franca defeated Shelda Bede/Adriana Behar in the all-Brazilian gold medal match in Warsaw with Xue/Zhang netting the third spot on the podium.