Apeldoorn, Netherlands, June 28, 2015 – Turning up the heat a notch for the second round of pool play in Apeldoorn Saturday, another seed-breakthrough and more close calls highlighted the second day of action in the internationally-televised $1,000,000 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships the Netherlands 2015.
Featuring the world’s best players, this global biannual tournament is being anchored in The Hague, with pool play and three elimination rounds also being played in Amsterdam, Apeldoorn and Rotterdam.
A total of 48 women’s and 48 men’s teams have been split into 12 four-team pools for three rounds of pool play with plenty of promising matchups in 144 group matches among 12, four-team pools with three pools per gender in each city.
APELDOORN POOL POWER
Two of three men’s pools and one of the three women’s pools playing in Apeldoorn have played two of their three rounds after Sunday’s action, yielding two teams in each gender who are undefeated at 2-0.
In the only women’s pools out of three in Apeldoorn that has now played twice, with 2-0 records each in the same pool with a Monday showdown to decide the winner are Brazil’s third-seeded Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas and USA’s 19th-seeded Emily Day/Jennifer Kessy.
For the men, leading two of the three Apeldoorn pools at 2-0 are Brazil’s third-seeded Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt and Latvia’s sixth-seeded Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Martins Plavins and the third pool will play its second matches on Monday.
Winner of the last FIVB World Tour event in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA, Brazil’s Bednarczuk/Seixas won their second round robin match early Sunday night in two sets over Mexico’s 30th-seeded Bibiana Candelas/Claudia Rios in straight sets, 21-12, 21-12 in just 27 minutes.
After their second pool play match win, Brazil’s Seixas said, “We're very happy, I think we had a lot of attitude, put a lot of pressure on them. We're happy that we did a great job on the court and that we played a little bit better than yesterday. We have never played them before, so we know that we had to be very focused. We were kind of surprised because we didn't not a lot about them.”
“My parents are here, they came from Brazil, they have been to Amsterdam, but they have never been here in Apeldoorn so they're very happy to be here. They have never been to a big tournament on the FIVB World Tour so they are cheering for us here. They are also going to the Grand Slam in Gstaad (Switzerland) after the FIVB World Championships to support us there.”
APELDOORN UPSET…NOT
After two men’s upsets during Saturday’s opening day, the higher-seeded team won all eight matches at the Apeldoorn Market Square stadium on Sunday. There were two very close calls, however.
APELDOORN CLOSE CALL
Earning the Apeldoorn close call of the day Sunday was Slovak Republic’s 14th-seeded Natalia Dubovcova/Dominika Nestarcova duo that was a spike away from losing to Poland’s surprisingly gritty 35th-seeded Karolina Baran/Jaboda Gruszczynska. After winning the first set comfortably, Slovak Republic’s Dubovcova/Nestarcova lost the second set in overtime and then went point-for-point to capture the deciding tiebreaker match in overtime.
Both playing their first match of the tournament, Slovak Republic’s FIVB World Tour veterans Dubovcova/Nestarcova overcame Poland’s youthful Baran/Gruszczynska, both just 20 years old, winning the match by scores of 21-14, 20-22 and 19-17 in 52 minutes.
Playing with a different teammate, Baran won the gold medal in the 2011 FIVB U19 World Championships in Umag, Croatia and the silver medal in the 2012 FIVB U19 World Championships in Larnaka, Cyprus.
APELDOORN CLOSE CALL2
Earning the second Apeldoorn close call of the day Sunday was Chile’s 19th-seeded cousins Esteban Grimalt/Marco Grimalt who came close to their second defeat in as many days in the second pool play match against Russia’s 43rd-seeded Yaroslav Koshkarev/Dimitri Barsouk.
Both teams lost their first match on Saturday so lines were clearly drawn in the sand from the start as the Grimalts won the first set in overtime, Russia’s Koshkarev/Barsouk came back and one the second and then Chile’s Grimalts prevailed in the third set as both teams will now have a day of rest before playing their final pool play matches on Tuesday.
In the scorebook, Chile’s E. Grimalt/M. Grimalt held off the charge of Russia’s Koshkarev/Barsouk in three sets, 24-22, 19-21 and 15-11 in 50 minutes.
APELDOORN REUNION
Together again for the first time since the 2008, Latvia’s two-time Olympians Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Martins Plavins have reunited for a week because Samoilovs regular partner Janis Smedins withdrew with a knee injury just before the start of the FIVB World Championships have started pool play with a 2-0 record.
Saturday, Latvia’s sixth-seeded Samoilovs/Plavins found some more of their old skills as a team, holding off the second straight upset bid by Netherlands’ 30th-seeded Michael van Dorsten/Steven van de Velde, 21-17, 23-21 in 37 minutes.
As a team, Samoilovs/J. Smedins have won both the 2013 and 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour point championships and are planning on competing the balance of the 2015 FIVB World Tour as a team as long as J. Smedins is ready to play after suffering a knee injury earlier this year that had not recovered in time to participate in the Netherlands.
FORMAT
With a total of 96 tandems (48 in each gender), two-person teams will be competing for part of a $1 million purse as the Netherlands hosts an FIVB international event for the sixth consecutive year. Anchored in The Hague round-robin Pool Play will be played in The Hague, Amsterdam, Apeldoorn and Rotterdam along with the first three rounds of elimination play for the 32 teams remaining per gender following three rounds of pool play. There are three pools (12 teams) from each gender in each city for the three rounds of pool play. For the 32 teams that advance to the single-elimination rounds, a Drawing of Lots will be held Tuesday in The Hague to determine the bracket draw and the venue for each team. The winner’s of each pool will remain in the cities where they have been playing through the quarterfinals.
The quarterfinal winners in each gender will move to The Hague after Friday’s matches. The women’s semifinals and medal matches will be held on July 4and the men’s semifinals and medal matches will be played on July 5.
PURSE
The gold medal winning teams in each gender will earn $70,000 while the silver medalists will take home $52,000 with the bronze medalists netting $40,000 with $30,000 going to the fourth place finishers.
VENUE
All matches in Apeldoorn will be played on Market Square. A purpose-built stadium with a capacity of 2,000 seats has been erected on the atmospheric square in the city centre. Market Square is overlooked by the modern town hall and is surrounded by shops, bars and restaurants.
For more information, schedules and results, visit http://netherlands2015.fivb.org/
2015 FIVB BEACH VOLLEYBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Hague, Amsterdam, Apeldoorn, Rotterdam – Netherlands
WOMEN’S RESULTS – Sunday, June 28
Market Square Stadium – Apeldoorn, Netherlands
APELDOORN (seed, players, country, score, time)
POOL F in Apeldoorn
(6) Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas, Brazil def. (30) Bibiana Candelas/Claudia Rios, Mexico, 21-12, 21-12 (27 minutes)
(19) Emily Day/Jennifer Kessy, United States def. (43) Lianma Flores/Leila Martinez, Cuba, 21-13, 21-13 (31)
POOL K in Apeldoorn
(14) Natalia Dubovcova/Dominika Nestarcova, Slovak Republic def. (35) Karolina Baran/Jagoda Gruszczynska, Poland, 21-14, 20-22 and 19-17 (52)
(11) Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst, Germany def. (38) Natalia Alfaro/Karen Charles, Costa Rica, 21-9, 21-12 (27)
2015 FIVB BEACH VOLLEYBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Hague, Amsterdam, Apeldoorn, Rotterdam – Netherlands
MEN’S RESULTS – Sunday, June 28
Market Square Stadium – Apeldoorn, Netherlands
APELDOORN (seed, players, country, score, time)
POOL C in Apeldoorn
(22) Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst, Austria def. (46) Joshua Court/Damien Schumann, Australia, 21-13, 21-12 (32)
(3) Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil def. (27) Jefferson Santos Pereira/Cherif Younousse, Qatar, 23-25, 21-14 and 15-11 (54)
POOL F in Apeldoorn
(6) Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Martins Plavins, Latvia def. (30) Michael van Dorsten/Steven van de Velde, Netherlands, 21-17, 23-21 (37)
(19) Esteban Grimalt/Marco Grimalt, Chile def. (43) Yaroslav Koshkarev/Dimitri Barsouk, Russia, 24-22, 19-21 and 15-11 (50)
2015 FIVB BEACH VOLLEYBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Hague, Amsterdam, Apeldoorn, Rotterdam – Netherlands
WOMEN’S DAILY SCHEDULE – Monday, June 29
Market Square Stadium – Apeldoorn, Netherlands
APELDOORN (Time, seed, players, country)
POOL C in Apeldoorn
7 p.m. (3) Kerri Walsh Jennings/April Ross, United States vs. (27) Mariafe Artacho/Nicole Laird, Australia
8 p.m. (22) Heather Bansley/Sarah Pavan, Canada vs. (46) Rimke Braakman/Jolien Sinnema, Netherlands
POOL F in Apeldoorn
1 p.m. – (30) Bibiana Candelas/Claudia Rios, Mexico vs. (43) Lianma Flores/Leila Martinez, Cuba
9 p.m. – (6) Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas, Brazil vs. (19) Emily Day/Jennifer Kessy, United States
POOL K in Apeldoorn
10 a.m. – (11) Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst, Germany vs. (35) Karolina Baran/Jagoda Gruszczynska, Poland
11 a.m. – (14) Natalia Dubovcova/Dominika Nestarcova, Slovak Republic vs. (38) Natalia Alfaro/Karen Charles, Costa Rica
2015 FIVB BEACH VOLLEYBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Hague, Amsterdam, Apeldoorn, Rotterdam – Netherlands
MEN’S DAILY SCHEDULE – Monday, June 29
Market Square Stadium – Apeldoorn, Netherlands
APELDOORN (Time, seed, players, country)
POOL C in Apeldoorn
12 p.m. (27) Jefferson Santos Pereira/Cherif Younousse, Qatar vs. (46) Joshua Court/Damien Schumann, Australia
6 p.m. (3) Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil vs. (22) Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst, Austria
POOL K in Apeldoorn
2 p.m. (14) Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson, United States vs. (38) Pablo Bianchi/Julian Azaad, Argentina
3 p.m. (11) Alvaro Filho/Vitor Felipe, Brazil vs (35) Francisco Marco/Christian Garcia, Spain