FIVB World Tour 2016

  • We don't care, let's go and take the only opportunity there will ever be :D Jokes aside, I don't see how funding a beach volleyball tournament will make them super unhappy. After all, the money needed to organize such an event is not that tremendous and surely not higher than any other sports discipline. Germans are a pragmatic people and I totally understand their vote, not only now in Hamburg but also in Bayern when they said no to an eventual Winter Olympics in the region.

    Sooo, Yavor, the Hamburg tournament has been "upgraded" to a major series tournament. Guess that means some more promotional activity around the tournament.


    But whatever, if you (or anyone else) is planning to come over here for the tournament, just let me me know. I would truly enjoy a "real life meeting" :drink:

  • Sooo, Yavor, the Hamburg tournament has been "upgraded" to a major series tournament. Guess that means some more promotional activity around the tournament.


    But whatever, if you (or anyone else) is planning to come over here for the tournament, just let me me know. I would truly enjoy a "real life meeting" :drink:

    Mhm, I read about that today. An upgrade sound waaay better than a downgrade (to non-exisiting at all) ;) Of course, I will let you know in case I can make it then. What I am worried about is the reduced number of Grand Slams this year. There are now only four altogether - Rio, Moscow, Olsztyn, and Long Beach. This is probably the least we have had since the first days of the World Tour. But we also have Major Series now, World Tour Finals, and even Olympics in 2016, so I can't complain.

  • Xiamen Open, China


    12 - 17 April


    Semifinals:


    Herrera-Gavira (ESP) - Semenov-Krasilnikov (RUS) 2-1 (19-21, 21-16, 15-10)
    Hyden-Bourne (USA) - Virgen-Ontiveros (MEX) 2-1 (21-18, 17-21, 15-12)


    Bronze medal match:


    Semenov-Krasilnikov (RUS) - Virgen-Ontiveros (MEX) 0-2 (15-21, 22-24)


    Final:


    Herrera-Gavira (ESP) - Hyden-Bourne (USA) 2-1 (14-21, 21-19, 15-12)

  • Fuzhou Open, China


    19 - 24 April


    Semifinals:


    Nicolai-Lupo (ITA) - Herrera-Gavira (ESP) 2-1 (17-21, 21-14, 15-13)
    Samoilovs-Smedins (LAT) - Lucena-Dalhausser (USA) 0-2 (19-21, 13-21)


    Bronze medal match:


    Herrera-Gavira (ESP) - Samoilovs-Smedins (LAT) 2-1 (17-21, 21-19, 15-12)


    Final:


    Nicolai-Lupo (ITA) - Lucena-Dalhausser (USA) 0-2 (18-21, 15-21)

  • Fortaleza Open, Brazil


    26 April - 1 May


    Semifinals:


    Erdmann-Matysik (GER) - Grimalt-Grimalt (CHI) 2-1 (21-12, 17-21, 15-8 )
    Oscar-Andre (BRA) - Virgen-Ontiveros (MEX) 2-0 (21-19, 21-11)


    Bronze medal match:


    Grimalt-Grimalt (CHI) - Virgen-Ontiveros (MEX) 0-2 (21-23, 17-21)


    Final:


    Oscar-Andre (BRA) won on forfeit due to Kay Matysik's (understandable and reasonable) refusal to finish the match as a result of overheating.

  • Sochi Open, Russia


    3 - 8 May


    Semifinals:


    Semenov-Krasilnikov (RUS) - Ranghieri-Carambula (ITA) 2-0 (21-19, 21-17)
    Nicolai-Lupo (ITA) - Hyden-Bourne (USA) 2-0 (21-17, 21-13)


    Bronze medal match:


    Ranghieri-Carambula (ITA) - Hyden-Bourne (USA) 1-2 (19-21, 21-19, 9-15)


    Final:


    Semenov-Krasilnikov (RUS) - Nicolai-Lupo (ITA) 0-2 (15-21, 18-21)

  • It's never an ordinary game when Nummerdor-Varenhorst meet Alison-Bruno. And it's even spectacular when they meet in a final, just like at last year's WCH. Great drama in Moscow, the Grand Slam final went in favour of the Dutchmen after Alison failed to convert 3 match balls at 14-11 in tie-break. 2-1 and a title for the Netherlands. If you like beach volleyball, watch the replay of that final in YouTube. The quality was nearly as good as the WCH final in the Hague.

  • Such a poor ending for Alison and Bruno. ;( They had such a big advantage in the tie-break. Dutchmen were terrible in the second set (especially Nummerdor), but woke up right when it mattered.

  • Such a poor ending for Alison and Bruno. ;( They had such a big advantage in the tie-break. Dutchmen were terrible in the second set (especially Nummerdor), but woke up right when it mattered.


    Wow, "Mammuth" was choking big time :white:
    Always enjoy watching Reinder. He is such a technically gifted player. Great to watch :teach:


    Next stop hamburg, can't wait :super:

  • Inspected the venue during the weekend. Center court looks spectacular, although it might be a bit oversized for midweek matches:


    https://www.facebook.com/Alexa…225601393/?type=3&theater


    A lot of teams were already in Hamburg during the last week and you could see them practicing on various beach courts all over the city. Hope the weather can keep the current level :obey:

  • Thats a pity, Yavor.......


    Will head to the courts in about an hour. Will miss the german thriller between Böckermann/Flüggen and Erdmann/Matysik (12 CET) for the olympic ticket. The winner is almost certain in rio. Of course i will root for my fellow hamburg guys lars and Markus :super: Mexican guys Virgin/Ontiveros still have a slim chance as well. They just advanced to second round


    So far i love athmosphere at the tournament, especially on the side courts. Its so great watching these guys from close and having chats with the likes of Dalhauser and Ricardo about the ongoing matches :drink: Will write more later.....


    live streams: https://de.swatchmajorseries.com/en/562

  • So the final will be Brouwer/Meeuwsen vs. Dalhauser/Lucena (17 CET)


    I could not watch the semis and it seems there wasn't much of a thrill in both matches. I suppose, like evry other team in this tournamnet, the US boys were heavily targeting poor Alison. I watched Bruno/Alison 3 times in this tournamnet and Bruno barely had to play a side out. They somehow survived eventhough Alison did not look in top shape at all.


    Yesterdays match between the dutch and herrera/gavira was an entertaining exibition of power volleyball. Not too many rallies but really impressive services, power spikes and blocks :thumbup:


    From a german/hamburg perspective, the olympic qualification of Böckermann/Flüggen was the clear highlight. If you know how hard they worked, how much they wanted it and what difficulties they had to face, you can only feel happy for them. Making the last step in front of your home crowd must feel amazing.
    Erdmann/Matysik lost the last olympic spot in the last moment to the Mexicans Virgen/Ontrerios. There were bad rumours about the mexicans first round match against Guto/Saymon who obviously didn't look very interested in winning. That being said, the mexicans clearly deserve the olympic spot. They are an entertaining team and surely worked same as hard as erdmann7matysik. The germans, over the last two years, just had too many injury problems.


    Still have to mention, even tough it is offtopic here, the wonderful performance by Ludwig/Walkenhorst. what a great tournament they had. Especially Kira Walkenhorst looked so good, i almost couldn't believe my eyes. What an improvement 8o :thumbup:


    Now im off to the "Rothenbaum. lets see what the guys still can deliver. Weather is awful :thumbdown:


  • Based on their performance in the last two seasons, Böckermann-Flüggen have justifiably earned their right to represent Germany in Rio. The only thing I fear is Lars Flüggen's fragility at the moment. It wasn't a single, isolated case when the Germans had to forfeit a game during the Tour due to his health problems. I hope he is fit and will use the remaining time (almost two months) before the Games to fully recover now that there is no qualifying pressure anymore.

  • Based on their performance in the last two seasons, Böckermann-Flüggen have justifiably earned their right to represent Germany in Rio. The only thing I fear is Lars Flüggen's fragility at the moment. It wasn't a single, isolated case when the Germans had to forfeit a game during the Tour due to his health problems. I hope he is fit and will use the remaining time (almost two months) before the Games to fully recover now that there is no qualifying pressure anymore.

    Of course they did but to be honest, in the end it was "a race of snails" between them and Erdmann/Matysik.


    You are right about Flüggen's fragility, he just came back from a knee surgery. But in fact, 3rd round forfeiture in Hamburg was due to knee problems of Markus Böckermann. He picked this up in Moscow GS already but they kept silent about this. Overall, during last two years they played tournaments which they probably shouldn't have. But the urgency to make points for rio qualification was just too big, as the race was so tight.

  • Still, the World Tour final in Toronto needs to be played, but for german male beach volleyballers, the season ended yesterday with the German Championships. New german champions are Böckermann/Flüggen who won 2:1 over Erdmann/Kaczmarek.


    Sadly the level of men's tournament couldn't hold up with the general tournament conditions. Weather, media attention and crowd has been as good as probably never before....


    Overall, german men's Beachvolleyball was a real mess this season, of course with the exception of Markus and Lars. Broken partnerships and injuries led to a massive partner swinging. There will surely be a lot of new pairings next season and, as you can hear, the structures will be completely renovated. At this moment it is hard to make a guess what the new teams will look like but a lot of things need to be changed for sure.


    EDIT and OT:
    Ludwig/Walkenhorst won the title on the woman's side with 2:0 (22:20, 23:21) over Laboureur/Sude. Holtwick/Semmler and Britta Büthe declared their retirement.

  • Such a typical ending of the season! Alison-Bruno win it, Pedro-Evandro, the slow starters they are, again did the impossible to squeeze through the bracket and reach the medal games. Almost identical to what they could have done in Rio, they got knocked out in the Round of 16 back then, however. Schalk-Saxton and Hyden-Bourne made the surprises this time, the Americans beat the Canadians in the battle for bronze in the end.

  • Unless they decide to change the calendar once more and cancel the eventual last stop of the season, there is one more event. So the World Tour isn't over officially. The Puerto Vallarta event is an Open and will take place long after the regular season ends unofficially, so you can be pretty sure that only (slightly) less known North American pairs and perhaps some European teams with free time will travel to Mexico at the beginning of their break to take part in the closing tournament. And it won't affect the world rankings much, so it is reasonable, of course, to question its existence.


    As for the Tour leaders, Samoilovs-Smedins, along with Lucena-Dalhausser, took part in most competitions and gathered enough points to be ahead now. Something that Lucena-Dalhausser would've deserved as well, to be honest, even if they missed some events. The Latvians weren't always consistent this year, disappointing at the most important event (OG), but I guess they took advantage of the fact that, similar to 2014, not everyone took the 2016 Tour very seriously. Sure, winning some gold medals along the way helps. And we can't say there was a team that dominated the 2016 World Tour. Alison-Bruno, the newly crowned Olympic champions, only entered 7 out of the 21 events (OK, I am counting the ones at the end of 2015 but they are part of the ranking system). But they had their focus elsewhere and, fortunately for them, won the Games at the expense of the World Tour. However, the ranking is not final yet, the one on the FIVB page is not up-to-date. Alison-Bruno won the Finals which will be included soon. And I am not quite sure the Olympics were counted (if they are supposed to be counted) in addition, so I would wait for the final confirmation before announcing the 2016 Tour winner.

  • I'm not sure, but I don't think the Olympics give points to the Wold Tour. And the Ranking is update as 9\12\2016 anyways.


    Plus I don't think the Toronto Finals gave away points, it was only money. On the Fivb website for each tournament it shows the final standings with money and points earned, for Toronto it shows only money and no points earned.