FIVB World Tour 2017

  • Alison and Bruno were left out. NOT FAIR.


    Just because Brazil has 2 teams ahead of them, but they are still ranked #7. They are current Olympics Champions and World Tour Finals Champions.


    They should have the TOP 11 teams ( even if there`s more than 2 teams from the same country). plus one team from the host country.

  • As weird as it may seem though, the reigning Olympic champions Alison-Bruno and the World Tour title holders Samoilovs-Smedins are not among the best 8 :| The Latvians are only 12th in the current World ranking, whereas Alison-Bruno are 7th, but they are only the third best Brazilian team this year. Samoilovs-Smedins are clearly struggling in 2017, not having won any medals so far. Alison-Bruno "only" won the Rio Open in May, which is way below their standards. Still, I get the feeling that, for the sake of the competition itself, both teams might receive wild cards. I just don't remember if they can allow three teams from the same country in the Finals. A German team should get at least one invitation, too, I presume, and the fourth berth is wide open. But a Canadian team (Pedlow-Schachter most probably) would deserve to be in Hamburg as well.

    The wild card recipients have been revealed today:


    Markus Böckermann/Lorenz Schümann (GER)
    Armin Dollinger/Jonathan Erdmann (GER)´
    Theodore Brunner/Casey Patterson (USA)
    Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk (CAN)


    For the sake of the competition, i don't think its a good idea that the german federation uses both slots, especially if you consider Lars Flüggen's injury, suffered during WCH. I hate to say it, but i don't think that Lorenz has the level to compete in this kind of competition and additionally, Dollinger/Erdmann have delivered close to nothing so far this season.


    I will miss Allison/Bruno and Samoilov/Smedins for sure, but of course i will go anyway......... 8)

  • For the sake of the competition, i don't think its a good idea that the german federation uses both slots, especially if you consider Lars Flüggen's injury, suffered during WCH. I hate to say it, but i don't think that Lorenz has the level to compete in this kind of competition and additionally, Dollinger/Erdmann have delivered close to nothing so far this season.

    It was reported today that both players will be kicked off from the federations programm and accordingly will lose all the funding. That partly explains their disastrous performance at ECH (0:3 in group plays, losing a set to GBR with only making 7 points).


    In this context their wild card for the WT final looks even more questionable. ?(

  • It was reported today that both players will be kicked off from the federations programm and accordingly will lose all the funding. That partly explains their disastrous performance at ECH (0:3 in group plays, losing a set to GBR with only making 7 points).


    In this context their wild card for the WT final looks even more questionable. ?(

    Is the reason only poor form and results or also disciplinary?

  • Is the reason only poor form and results or also disciplinary?


    I don't know about "disciplinary issues", but already the initial decision to put them together as a team made a lot of people raise their eyebrows. It seems they rushed a bit too fast with the selection of players/team they want to support. Sending them back from Hamburg now, after only a couple of months, doesn't leave the federation and their management in a good light too.

  • Alison and Bruno were left out. NOT FAIR.


    Just because Brazil has 2 teams ahead of them, but they are still ranked #7. They are current Olympics Champions and World Tour Finals Champions.


    I totally agree! How could you not invite the Olympic Champions and – if that isn't enough – the 7th team in the ranking to an elite tournament?? 8| ?(


    I'm also sorry that Samoilov/Smedins won't be there, but I found it more understandable than leaving home the OG golden medallist

  • Serpentine draw for the World Tour Finals in Hamburg, Germany.


    Pool A: Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, United States (No. 1), Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst, Austria (No. 8 ) and Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera, Spain (No. 9)
    Pool B: Evandro Goncalves/Andre Loyola, Brazil (No. 2), Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Nikita Liamin, Russia (No. 7) and Theo Brunner/Casey Patterson, United States (No. 10)
    Pool C: Saymon Barbosa/Alvaro Filho, Brazil (No. 3), Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak, Poland (No. 6) and Armin Dollinger/Jonathan Erdmann, Germany (No. 11)
    Pool D: Markus Bockermann/Lorenz Schumann, Germany (No. 4), Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy (No. 5) and Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk, Canada (No. 12)


    The action is already underway.

  • So we had the first day of action and already some surprising results. Especially the german teams mocked my rather pessimistic outlook. Dollinger/Erdmann are the first to name, with their victory over Alvaro/Saymon. Also you could not exactly expect the win of Böckermann/Schümann over Schacht/Saxton. That being said, we could have, that some teams lack some urgency for the pool play and rather put their hope on the knock out stage.


    I could watch first hand a set of Schacht/Saxton vs. Nicolai/Lupo and the complete match between Doppler/Horst and Herrera/Gavira. The canadians looked pretty bad and error prone while the austrians proved that they have really high beachvolleyball IQ and a great timing for the important points of a match/set. So they managed to overcome the more athletic spaniards, who already finished pool play with a 0:2 record.


    The "night session" was a big success in terms of attendance and the centre court was already packed. That gives hope for a great weekend, always provided, some german teams can go that far.

  • Gold medal: Dalhauser/Lucena
    Silver medal: Andre/Evandro
    Bronce medal: Nicolai/Lupo
    Wooden medal: Kantor/Losiak


    Fantastic last day of a great event. Glad so many people showed up today, even with no german involvement. If anyone is interested i can write more on the last two matches. Missed the semis though :D

  • Hi Tim! I'm glad for you you could be there, it seemed a nice atmosphere on video!
    I would love to have more of your impressions ;) (I watched the bronze medal match, anyway)

  • it seemed a nice atmosphere on video!
    I would love to have more of your impressions ;) (I watched the bronze medal match, anyway)

    It surely was, almost for the whole tourney. The longest "no-rain-streak" this summer (4 days) surely helped. 8) But more tomorrow, i am too exhausted now. :sleeping: