57 Teams Start Italian Open Qualification Tournament; Brazilian Shootout Expected
Lignano Sabbiadoro (July 13, 1999) - Fifty-seven (57) teams from 22 countries begin competing here Wednesday in the $170,000 Italian Open for the final eight spots in the Main Draw of the seventh of 13 men's events on the 1999 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.
With three Brazilian tandems battling for their country's fourth spot in the 32-team Main Draw that starts Friday, the Qualification Tournament starts with two rounds of elimination matches Wednesday to narrow the field to 16 teams for the first-round of double-elimination format of the qualifier.
Giovane Gavio and Tande Ramos of Brazil are the top-seeded team in the Qualification Tournament as the pair seeks to earn a Main Draw berth in fifth FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event of the 1999 season in six tries. Winners of 20 of 24 qualifying matches this season, Giovane and Tande did not gain a Main Draw berth in the Canadian Open after dropping a pair of matches to Brazilian rivals Franco Neto and Roberto Lopes.
Franco and Roberto Lopes, who tied for ninth at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, are seeded 18th in the Italian Open Qualification Tournament and will probably face Brazilian rivals Paulo Emilio Azevedo and Fred Doria in one of Wednesday's final matches. Paulo Emilio and Fred are seeded 34th in the Qualification Tournament.
Three of Giovane and Tande's qualifying losses this season have been to the Franco/Roberto Lopes (twice in Canada) and Paulo Emilio/Fred tandems. Franco and Roberto Lopes are the second-winningest team in FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour history with 13 titles. Paulo Emilio won the 1992 and 1995 Italian Open Gold Medals with Paulao Moreira.
Action continues Thursday to determine the final eight spots in the Main Draw. Twenty-four (24) teams from 13 countries have been placed in the Main Draw. The three-day Main Draw starts with 40 matches Friday. A total of 18 matches will be played Saturday starting when the final four teams will be determined.
The semi-final matches will start Sunday's play followed by the Bronze Medal match where the winning team shares $15,000 for third-place. The Gold Medal match will has the final two teams battling for the $30,000 first-place prize.
Para Ferreira and Guilherme Marques of Brazil are the defending Italian Open champions after defeating Martin and Paul Laciga of Switzerland 12-6 and 12-8 in the 1998 Gold Medal match. Para and Guilherme are the reigning FIVB Beach Volleyball World Champions after winning the title in 1997 in Los Angeles.
Teams from South American have won the last five Lignano titles, including four Gold medals by Brazil and a 1997 win by Martin Conde and Esteban Martinez of Argentina. Tim Hovland and Kent Steffes from the United States won the first Lignano event in 1990. Emanuel Scheffer and Ze'Marco de Melo of Brazil won the 1996 Lignano final.
Ze'Marco and Emanuel are part of the FIVB's top teams this season as both players have won Gold Medals with different partners. Ze'Maro and Ricardo Santos, the top-ranked international team, are the only tandem on the 1999 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour to post "final four" finishes in each event. Ze'Marco and Ricardo have won the Canadian and Russian Opens this season.
Emanuel, who has won the most FIVB Gold Medals (21) in the 12-season history of the tour, has teamed with Jose Loiola to win the 1999 season opener in Argentina and last Sunday's Norwegian Open in Stavanger where the pair rallied to defeat Para and Guilherme 15-13 in the finals. Emanuel and Loiola defeated Martinez and Conde in the Argentina Gold Medal match.
Other 1999 winners in the Italian Open are Bill Boullianne and Ian Clark of the United States and Luis Maia and Joao Brenha of Portugal. Boullianne and Clark defeated Para and Guilherme in April's Mexican Open finale while Maia and Brenha stopped Ze'Marco and Ricardo in the Russian Open Gold Medal match.
With the Mexican Open title by Boullianne and Clark, the United States captured its first FIVB Tour crown in 29 international events. Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh, the Silver medallists from the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, were the last team from the United States to win a FIVB beach event by capturing the Fortaleza, Brazil international stop October 27, 1996. The Boullianne/Clark win also snapped five-straight FIVB men's beach titles for Brazil.
The 1999 Italian Open will be the ninth FIVB men's event to be staged in Italy. Sinjin Smith, the oldest elite beach volleyball player in the world at 42, captured Italian Gold Medals for the United States with Randy Stoklos in 1989 at Jesi and 1991 at Catolica.
The Italian Open will be the 94th men's FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event. A total of 46 men from nine countries have earned gold medals on the beach. Brazil has captured 54 men's event titles. Emanuel has earned 43 FIVB beach medals for Brazil with a record 15 first-place finishes with Ze'Marco. The United States has won 21 Gold Medals with Smith sharing 10 titles with Stoklos.
With two teams playing for the Norwegian Gold, Brazil has now been represented in 22-straight international championship matches. The last time the South Americans did not reach the finals was September 7, 1997 in Tenerife, Canary Islands.
Brazil also has had a team in a FIVB "final four" in each of the last 37 international events since being denied a semi-final berth in the 1996 Portugal event. With Ze'Marco and Ricardo's 15-12 third-place win over the Lacigas in Norway, Brazil has now posted six "one-two-three" medal finish in at a FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event.
Following the Italian Open, the international competition moves to Marseille, France for the $600,000 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships July 19-25. The event will feature both men's and women's competition. The Italian Open is the fifth event in 10-straight weeks of competition for the men. The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour serves as qualification tournaments for the 2000 Sydney Games where a total of 24 teams for both men and women battle for the Olympic Gold.
Here's a list of 25 teams that have earned Main Draw berths via the 1999 Qualification Tournaments (event):
Giovane Gavio-Tande Ramos, Brazil - Four times (Argentina, Mexico, Germany and Norway)
Michal Palinek-Martin Lebl, Czech Republic - Four times(Canada, Russia, Germany and Norway)
Albert Hannemann-Nick. Hannemann, American Samoa - Three times (Argentina, Canada and Norway)
Victor Anfilloff-AndrewSchacht, Australia - Three times (Mexico, Russia and German)
Willie DeJesus-Amaury Velasco, Puerto Rico - Three times (Argentina, Mexico and Canada)
Guilherm Deulofeu-Eric Guissart, France - Three times (Argentina, Russia and Germany)
Markus. Egger-Bernhard Vesti, Switzerland - Three times (Canada, Germany and Norway
Bjorn Berg-Simon Dahl, Sweden - Twice (Mexico and Russian)
Ibosvany Chambers- Lazaro Milian Carvajal, Cuba - Twice (Mexico and Canada)
Dmittri Karassev-Swegey Sayfulin, Russian - Twice (Canada and Germany)
Mikhail Kouchnerev-Serguei Ermichin, Russia - Twice (Germany and Norway)
Oliver Oetke-Andy Scheuerpflug, German - Twice (Argentina and Norway)
Andrea Raffaelli-Maurizio Pimponi, Italy - Twice (Mexico and Norway)
Bartosz Bachorski-Janusz Bulkowski, Poland - Once (Russia)
Dain Blanton-Eric Fonoimoana, United States - Once (Canada)
Franco Neto-Roberto Lopes, Brazil - Once (Canada)
Matthew Grinlaubs-Josh Slack, Australia - Once (Russia)
Karch Kiraly-Adam Johnson, United Sates - Once (Mexico)
Andris Krumins- Janis Grinbergs, Lativa - Once (Germany)
Premysl Kubala-Marek Pakosta, Czech Republic - Once (Russia)
Fabio Perez-Luis Quiroga, Argentina - Once (Argentina)
Andruis Petrenas- Haroldas Cyvas, Lithunia - Once (Germany)
Juan Rosell- Francisco Alvarez, Cuba - Once (Mexico)
Juan Serramalera-Sebastian Menegozzo, Argentina - Once (Argentina)
Sinjin Smith-Rob Heidger, United States - Once (Argentina)
Joel Sotelo-Juan Ibarra, Mexico - Once (Russia)
Martin Tschudi- Sascha Heyer, Switzerland - Once (Norway)
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