Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999 14:13:00 EDT Subject: FIVB Women's Beach Worlds - Final July 24 release Behar & Bede FIVB Beach Volleyball World Champions; Tie Record For Most FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Gold Medals Marseille, France (July 24, 1999) - Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede rebounded from a "streak-ending" finish in Canada last month to capture the "crown jewel" here Saturday (July 24) by capturing the Gold Medal at the $600,000 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships before a jammed-pack Plage du Prado Centre Court of 5,000 fans. With a 15-11 win in 30 minutes over eighth-seeded Annett Bucker Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan of the United States, Behar and Bede shared the $60,000 first-place prize for their biggest check in their careers. The Saturday's Gold Medal performance was also the Brazilians' 12th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour title to tie the mark for most career team wins. Sandra Pires and Jackie Silva of Brazil established the mark when they won the1997 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Los Angeles. Behar and Bede shared the Bronze Medal at the Southern California event after dropping the semi-final to Pires and Silva. "This was a very satisfying win, especially after losing in Canada last month (to Holly McPeak and Nancy Reno) and dropping a second-round match (to 16th-seeded Ulrike Schmidt and Gudula Staub of Germany) Wednesday," said Behar after the match. "The American team is playing extremely well and we had a good run in the middle of the match to get the win. Records are nice, but being a part of a World Championship team is better." The Silver Medal was Buckner Davis and Johnson Jordan best international finish and earned them their best paycheck of $39,000. The young Americans have athletic fathers as Buckner Davis' father (Cleveland) played for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association. He scored 33 points for the Knicks in the game where Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors (March 2, 1962). Johnson Jordan's father (Rafer) won decathlon medals at both the 1956 Melbourne (Silver) and 1960 Rome (Gold) Olympic Games. Buckner Davis and Johnson Jordan had to play their way into the women's Gold Medal match by defeating USA rivals Liz Masakayan and Elaine Youngs 15-11 in a 50-minute semi-final Saturday noon. Behar and Bede walked their way to the title match as the third-seeded Pires and Adriana Samuel could not play due to Samuel's illness. With the second-place finish, Buckner Davis and Johnson Jordan became the top-ranked team from the United States on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. The youthful Americans entered the tournament as the 10th-ranked team internationally, but are now third (1,070 points) behind Behar/Bede (1,662) and Pires/Samuel (1,236). With Samuel's sidelined, Brazilians' No. 2 team were denied the opportunity to defend their FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event title that they won in Marseille by defeating Behar and Bede in the finals. Pires and Silva, who placed 17th in this year's World Championships with Ana Paula Connolly, bested Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak of United States for the 1997 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship Gold Medal. Masakayan and Youngs claimed Saturday's Bronze Medal as Samuel was still unable to play. The forfeit win gave the Americans the $24,000 third-place purse. Despite not playing Saturday, Pires and Samuel shared $18,000 for their third-straight fourth-place finish this season as Saturday's competition was played with near-perfect weather (28ºC). The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships were the first of four-straight events for the women as Portugal hosts the world's best volleyball players in Espinho next week (July 28-August 1) followed by stops in Oska, Japan (August 4-8) and Dalian, China (August 11-15). Behar and Bede will miss the Portugal event due to their participation for Brazil in the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada starting Thursday (July 29) and concluding August 4. Twelve (12) teams will be competing for the women's Gold Medal in Winnipeg. FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships Women's Main Draw Results Marseille, France (July 24, 1999) - Here are the Main Draw results from the fourth of four days of the 1999 women's FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships here Saturday (July 23). The $600,000 (US FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships, the third of six women's events on the 1999 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, concluded Saturday. Saturday's Semi-Finals · Annett Buckner Davis/Jenny Johnson Jordan, United States (8) def. Liz Masakayan/Elaine Youngs, United States (13), 15-11 (50); · Adriana Behar/Shelda Bede, Brazil (1) won by forfeit over Sandra Pires/Adriana Samuel, Brazil (3). Saturday's Bronze Medal Match (winners place third, split $24,000; loser's place fourth, split $18,000) · Liz Masakayan/Elaine Youngs, United States (13) won by forfeit over Sandra Pires/Adriana Samuel), Brazil (3). Saturday's Gold Medal Match (winners place first, split $60,000; loser's place fourth, split $39,000) · Adriana Behar/Shelda Bede, Brazil (1) def. Annett Buckner Davis/Jenny Johnson Jordan, United States (8), 15-11 (30). Women's FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships Marseille, France, July 19-24, 1999 Main Draw Rankings Match Mark Team Team Earnings Rank Players, Country (Main Draw Seed; Qualifying Seed) W-L* Points Prize (US$) 1st Bede-Behar, BRA (1) 8-1 600 $60,000 2nd Buckner Davis-Johnson Jordan (8) 6-2 540 39,000 3rd Masakayan/Youngs, USA (13) 5-1 480 24,000 4th Pires/Samuel, BRA (3) 4-2 420 18,000 5th Schmidt-Staub, GER (16) 3-2 360 13,500 Takahashi/Teru Saiki, JPN (15) 3-2 360 13,500 7th Manser-Pottharst, AUS (2) 4-2 300 9,000 Friedrichsen-Musch, GER (10) 3-2 300 9,000 9th Cook-Clarke, AUS (11) 3-2 240 7,500 Adriana Bento-Monica Paludo, BRA (21, 2) 4-2 240 7,500 Glover-Cooper, ENG (29, 15) 5-3 240 7,500 D. Schoon Kadijk-R. Kadijk, NED (6) 2-2 240 7,500 13th Straton-Huygens Tholen, AUS (19) 2-2 180 6,000 Karadassiou-Sfyri, GRE (26, 1) 2-2 180 6,000 Perrotta-Gattelli, ITA (22) 2-2 180 6,000 Hanley-Reno, USA (7) 2-2 180 6,000 17th Jackie Silva-Ana Paula, BRA (14) 1-2 120 4,500 Xiong-Chi, CHN (25, 8) 4-3 120 4,500 Celbova-Dosoudilova, CZE (18) 1-2 120 4,500 Prawerman-Rigaux, FRA (9) 1-2 120 4,500 Solazzi-Bruschini, ITA (5) 1-2 120 4,500 Mayra-Laura A., MEX (28) 1-2 120 4,500 Arce-Fontana, USA (4) 1-2 120 4,500 McPeak-Reece, USA (17) 1-2 120 4,500 25th Gooley-Sanderson, AUS (20) 0-2 60 3,000 L. Yachulova-P. Yachulova, BUL (32, 28) 3-2 60 3,000 Hudcova-Tobiasova, CZE (23) 0-2 60 3,000 Tari-Salinas, FRA (12) 0-2 60 3,000 Byberg-Larsen, NOR (30, 13) 2-2 60 3,000 Maria Jose-Cristina Pereira, POR (27) 0-2 60 3,000 Pangka-Arlaisuk, THA (31, 22) 3-2 60 3,000 Dodd-Kirby, USA (24, 14) 4-2 60 3,000 *includes qualifying record Non-Main Draw Rankings - FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships Qualification Tournament Marseille, France, July 19-20, 1999 Rank Players, Country (qualifying seed) W-L Points 33rd Russo-Drakich, CAN (6) 2-2 42 Nascimento-De Marinis, ITA (3) 1-2 42 Ishizaka-Rii Seike, JPN (4) 1-2 42 Tokuno-Kusuhara, JPN (16) 1-2 42 Gaxiola-Galindo, MEX (21) 3-2 42 Mason-Blomquist, USA (9) 2-1 42 O'Hara-Schritter, USA (23) 3-1 42 Schuster-Wood, USA (7) 1-1 42 41st Basagic-Montagnolli, AUT (33) 1-1 18 Broen Ouellette-Lussier, CAN (11) 0-1 18 Gougeon-Parsons, CAN (29) 1-1 18 Tough-Solecki, CAN (10) 0-1 18 Han-Tian Jia, CHN (24) 1-1 18 Liu Chun Ying-Zhang Jingkun, CHN (12) 0-1 18 Oliver-Austin, ENG (18) 1-1 18 Pianka-Pohl, GER (5) 0-1 18 Marini-Folco, ITA (30) 1-1 18 Nakano-Tsuchiya, JPN (19) 1-1 18 Laura Miranda-Valencia, MEX (25) 1-1 18 Maaseide-Glesnes, NOR (34) 1-1 18 Sol-Ana Duarte, POR (26) 1-1 18 Benoît-Hartmann, SUI (27) 1-1 18 Chiaradia-Fontana, SUI (20) 1-1 18 Enberg-Tvede, SWE (17) 0-1 18 Rank Players, Country (qualifying seed) W-L Points 57th Inward-Melnick, CAN (31) 0-1 6 C. Cordinnier-Chervet, FRA (37) 0-1 6 Ch. Cordinnier-Lacherie, FRA (38) 0-1 6 Filisetti-Perettoni, FRA (41) 0-1 6 Jaboulin-Molina, FRA (45) 0-1 6 Monteanu-Indrémilla, FRA (47) 0-1 6 Picard-Rossignol, FRA (36) 0-1 6 Reb-Castelli, FRA (40) 0-1 6 Riera-Arjona, FRA (39) 0-1 6 Grimaldi-Minunni, ITA (32) 0-1 6 Karaleviciene-Baksyte, LTU (42) 0-1 6 Susinskyte-Vaitulioniene, LTU (46) 0-1 6 Tarnauskaite-Tarnauskaite, LTU (44) 0-1 6 Koelliker-Scheuerpflug-Aeby, SUI (35) 0-1 6 Skrivan-Gintzburger, SUI (43) 0-1 6