FIVB Men's Beach - 12-15 February 1998

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Open, 12-15 February 1998

ZE MARCO/RICARDO ARE THE CHAMPIONS IN RIO DE JANEIRO

With his new partner, Ricardo, Ze Marco today (Sun. 15) beat Emanuel, his former partner now playing with Loiola, to win the second FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament of the year. Three Brazilian teams took Gold, Silver and Bronze in the competition here at Copacabana Beach.

Ze Marco/Ricardo defeated Emanuel/Loiola by 8/12, 12/9, 12/10 to win the title of the tournament. Last year playing with Emanuel, Ze Marco also defeated Loiola, and his partner Anjinho in the final on Copacabana Beach. In the first match of the day, Franco/Roberto Lopes, also from Brazil, beat Kvalheim/Maaseide, from Norway, by 15/13, and took the bronze medal.

After two days of rain and cloudy weather, the sun came back to Rio and a crowd of 7,000 people came to the arena in Copacabana to watch the final match between the two Brazilian teams.

In the first set the two teams started well, with Ze Marco/Ricardo taking an early lead of 5/2, but good spikes from Loiola made the difference. Loiola/Emanuel tied the set at 7/7 and then took the lead to win the first set by 12/9, in 40 minutes. In the second set Ze Marco/Ricardo played with greater concentration. "I was really very nervous and in the first set I made a lot of mistakes", said Ricardo, 23 years old and playing for the first time in a final of an FIVB World Circuit event. Emanuel/Loiola led the score in the beginning by 5/1, but Ze Marco/Ricardo tied at 5/5, 6/6 and 9/9. From this moment, the good blocks of Ricardo were decisive to his team to win the set by 12/9, in 37 minutes. In the tie-break third set, again the concentration of Ze Marco/Ricardo paid off. The set was 6/6 when they took the lead, then 8/6 and 9/7, until the victory by 12/10 in 11 minutes with Loiola making a service error.

"I give them my congratulations, they played very well", said Loiola, the "king of the beach" in the American sands, who has never won in Rio. "This is not the only leg of the World Tour and we are not in shape. There will be other tournaments", said the Brazilian player, who has lived in the United States since 1993. His partner, Emanuel, is also moving to California this week, where he is going to live; as will Franco and Roberto Lopes, the team placed third in Rio. Franco/Lopes and Ze Marco/Ricardo played well, having to originally qualify through the qualifying tournament in Copacabana. Ze Marco was very happy after receiving the gold medal, the prize money of US$ 32,000 and 340 points in the World ranking. "I knew the match was going to be very difficult", said Ze Marco.

Teams from 16 countries took part in the tournament in Rio: Argentina, Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and United States.

The third tournament of the FIVB World Tour is scheduled in Toronto, Canada from June 17 to 21. The first event was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, last month, and the winners were the brothers Laciga, from Switzerland.

The End

Press center telephone numbers: 5521-295-2334/295-5200

Beach Press Release, 13th February 1998

TEAMS FROM BRAZIL AND NORWAY ARE THE SEMIFINALISTS IN RIO

After 18 matches played today (Friday, 13^th) on the sands of Copacabana in the second tournament of the year of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, the semifinalists have been decided. The four teams that will fight tomorrow (Saturday) for a place in the final, on Sunday, are Zé Marco/Ricardo, Emanuel/Loiola, Franco/Roberto Lopes, three teams from Brazil, and Kvalheim/Maaseide, from Norway.

The first team to reach the semifinals was Zé Marco/Ricardo, who beat two Brazilian teams: Garrido/Paulo Emilio, 15/11, and Lopes/Franco, 15/9. Zé Marco, who won the World Tour playing with Emanuel in the last two seasons, showed he is still in good shape with his new partner, Ricardo. They had to play the qualifying tournament and have won all their matches.

"I came here with a goal: I wanted to get to the semifinals, but now I want first place", said Zé Marco, who won in Rio last year with his former partner, Emanuel, who is now playing with Loiola.

To get a place in the semifinals, Emanuel/Loiola defeated Laciga/Laciga, from Switzerland, 15/10, and Kvalheim/Maaseide, from Norway, 15/11.

To get a place in the semifinals, Kvalheim/Maaseide beat Duda/Fred 15/7, lost to Emanuel/Loiola 15/11 and then defeated Garrido/Paulo Emilio 15/12. Tomorrow they fight for a place in the final against Zé Marco/Emanuel, in a match they consider very tough. "It’s always difficult to play in Brazil against the Brazilians", said Maaseide.

In the other semi final, Emanuel/Loiola will face Franco/Lopes, the fourth semi finalist team. Franco/Lopes defeated Steffes/Boulliane 15/2, lost to Zé Marco/Ricardo 15/9, and beat Duda/Fred 15/7. Franco/Lopes also came from the qualifying tournament.

There will be no American teams in the finals of this tournament. From 1987 to 1993, the United States had complete supremacy in Rio, but now, it’s another story. "In fact, beach volleyball has had a great development across the whole world", said Kent Steffes, the Atlanta 1996 Olympic champion, eliminated with his partner Boulliane today when defeated by Guilherme/Pará, from Brazil 15/9.

All the matches on this second day of the Brazilian leg of the FIVB World Tour were played at a very high technical level. The match between Garrido/Paulo Emilio and Zé Marco/Ricardo lasted 76 minutes. The shortest match was 42 minutes between Franco/Roberto Lopes and Smith/Boulianne.

The Brazilian indoor Olympic champions Tande and Giovane played a great match against the Laciga brothers, but lost 16/14 after 62 minutes. Although playing on the beach for only six months, they showed that in a short time they can rise to the top of the rankings.

This year, the first leg of the FIVB beach Volleyball World Tour was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, from 14 to 18 January and the winners were the brothers Laciga.

In Rio, 32 teams from 16 countries took part in the main draw of the competition: Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Norway, Austria, Australia, Spain, United States, Italy, Germany, Puerto Rico and Russia. The tournament has prize money of US$ 170,000 and the team placed first receives US$ 32,000 plus 340 points in the World Ranking.

Beach Press Release, 12th February 1998

FIVB BEACH VOLLEYBALL WORLD TOUR –1998 – BRAZIL MEN’S OPEN

Teams from 16 countries today (Thursday, 12^th) started the second tournament of the year of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, on the sands of Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro. The 32 teams qualified to the main draw played 40 matches, despite the rain that fell all day. The rain reduced the temperature in Rio, where the heat, until yesterday (Wednesday) was very high.
The rain today was good for players from colder countries that suffer more with the heat. The brothers Laciga, from Switzerland, for instance, champions of the first tournament of the FIVB World Tour this year, in Mar del Plata, Argentina, last month, had good results today. They thought they would have problems with Rio’s summer, but they won their two matches. In the first, they defeated Oetke/Krank, from Germany, by 15/9, and, in the second one, they beat Prosser/Zahner, from Australia, by the same score. Steffes/Boulliane, from the US, also had good performances today. They beat two American teams: Smith/Luyties, by 15/10, and Ceman/Ian Clark, by 15/11. Kvalheim/Maaseide, from Norway, is another team that won its two matches, defeating Kjemperud/Hoidalen, also from Norway, 15/8, and Maia/Brenha, from Portugal, 15/7.
Today was not a good day for one Canadian team. Child/Heese, winners of the bronze medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, were eliminated after two defeats. They lost to Emanuel/Loiola, from Brazil, 15/10, and 15/5 to Smith/Luyties. Their victory over Leineman/Holden, also from Canada, by 15/6 in their first match, was not enough to qualify them to the second day.

In general, it was an excellent day for Brazilian Beach Volleyball, as all the seven teams that represent the country qualified to the second day of the main draw: Emanuel/Loiola, Guilherme/Pará, Tande/Giovane, Duda/Fred, Zé Marco/Ricardo, Franco/Lopes, Garrido/Paulo Emílio. One of the favourite teams, Emanuel/Loiola, played good volleyball on the wet sands of Copacabana. They defeated Leitner/Stamm, from Austria, by 15/11, and Child/Heese, by 15/10.

The tournament tomorrow (Friday) starts at 9 AM and there will be 18 matches.

The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour in Rio has a prize money of US$ 170,000 and gives 340 points in the World ranking to the team placed first. Teams from Brazil, United States, Switzerland, Norway, Argentina, Canada, Puerto Rico, Germany, Italy, Australia, Austria, Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, France and Russia are taking part in the competition.

Beach Press Release, 11th February 1998

Brazil aims for supremacy on local sands of Copacabana

Three Brazilian teams, one Spanish, one Italian, two German and one team from Puerto Rico will join the other 24 teams in the FIVB World Tour main draw tournament, 12-15 February, fighting for the US$170.000 prize pool and 340 world ranking points for a first place finish.

The teams classified are: Zé Marco/Ricardo, Franco/Roberto Lopes and Duda/Fred, from Brazil; Grigolo/Sanguanini, from Italy; Velasco/De Jesus, from Puerto Rico; Dieckmann/Dieckmann, and Oetke/Krank, from Germany and Fonoimoana/Blanton, from USA. Brazil has seven teams in the main draw tournament. The other four teams include Guilherme/Para, Emanuel/Loiola, Tande/Giovane and Paulo Emílio/Garrido.

Tomorrow, 40 matches will be played, and the Brazilian teams aim to maintain the supremacy that started in 1994, when Franco/Roberto Lopes put an end to the American’s dominence defeating Williams/Briceño. USA teams won in Rio from 1987 to 1992.

Last year, the winners of the FIVB World Tour Brazil Open were Ze Marco/Emanuel, who defeated Anjinho/Loiola. Ze Marco and Emanuel are two times champions of the World Circuit – in 1996 and 1997. This year, they are not playing together. Nevertheless, Emanuel, now playing with Loiola, still has a team with great possibilities to win. Last month, in Mar del Plata, Argentina; Emanuel and Loiola played together for the first time in the first leg of the FIVB Beach Volleyball Tour and finished in third place. Yet, they have to consider the good shape of Guilherme and Para, who are now ranked number one team in the world and also want to win in Rio for the first time. Last year, Guilherme and Para won gold in the FIVB 1998 World Championships, in Los Angeles, USA.

Other favourites for the title include Steffes, Gold Medallist from the Atlanta Olympic Games, teaming up with Boulliane, from USA; Martinez/Conde, from Argentina and Kvalheim/Maaseide, from Norway. The brothers Laciga, from Switzerland, who won at the recent Argentinian FIVB World Tour in Mar Del Plata, will try to do the same in Rio. Martin Laciga said: "they stayed two weeks in Mar del Plata before the tournament, just to practice. They admitted it will be very difficult to win in Rio because of the heat, but promised to do their best".

Beach Press Release, 10th February 1998

FIVB BEACH VOLLEYBALL WORLD TOUR – BRAZIL MEN’S OPEN

The strong heat of Rio De Janeiro’s summer made it impossible for the teams to play at noon. So, today, for the first time in the World Circuit, the competition had an interruption from 12h30 to 14h30, to allow the players to avoid the hottest time of the day.

At least oneBrazilian team wanted to play at that time. Moreira and Murilo said for them the heat was a good partner: "We are used to the heat and so it would better to continue playing, but we know it is not good for the health, and I think in Rio we could even play at night", declared Moreira.

This Brazilian team showed they are really not afraid of the heat, they beat Serramalera and Menegozzo, from Argentina by 15/4 and Duda/Fred, from Brazil, by 15/12, getting closer to the main draw.

There are teams from 17 countries playing the Brazil Men’s Open: Brazil, USA, Switzerland, Argentina, Norway, Italy, Canada, Germany, France, Portugal, Austria, Australia, Russia, Puerto Rico, Japan, Czech Republic and Spain.

The tournament in Rio is the second of the year and has a prize money of US$170,000. The city has hosted the competition since 1987 and the American team Smith/Stoklos hold the record of victories in Rio, with five titles (1987,89,90,91,92).

The first leg of this year’s FIVB World Tour took place last month in Mar del Plata, Argentina, and the winners were the brothers Laciga and Laciga from Switzerland.

The tournament in Rio is being observed by Jackie Murdoch and John Quinlan, members of the Sydney Olympic Games Organizing Committee. They intend to use the arena in Rio as a model for the 2000 Olympic Games.

The Beach Volleyball Competition in Sydney will have 48 teams – men and women – fighting for the medals, at Bondi Beach. The Australians have already been to the FIVB World Championships in Los Angeles, last year, to look at the organization of such a tournament. Beach Volleyball became an Olympic sport in Atlanta 1996.

Final Ranking

Rk. Players Country Points Prize (US$) Bonus (US$) 1 Zé Marco-Ricardo BRA 340 20,000.00 12,000.00 2 Emanuel-Loiola BRA 306 13,000.00 10,000.00 3 Roberto Lopes-Franco BRA 272 8,000.00 7,000.00 4 Kvalheim-Maaseide NOR 238 6,000.00 6,000.00 5 Duda-Fred BRA 204 4,500.00 4,500.00 Garrido-Paulo Emilio BRA 204 4,500.00 4,500.00 7 Guilherme-Parà BRA 170 3,000.00 3,000.00 P.Laciga-M.Laciga SUI 170 3,000.00 3,000.00 9 Prosser-Zahner AUS 136 2,500.00 2,000.00 Tande-Giovane BRA 136 2,500.00 2,000.00 Lione-Ghiurghi ITA 136 2,500.00 2,000.00 Steffes-Boulianne USA 136 2,500.00 2,000.00 13 Leinemann-Holden CAN 102 2,000.00 1,200.00 Bosma-Diez ESP 102 2,000.00 1,200.00 Blanton-Fonoimoana USA 102 2,000.00 1,200.00 Sinjin Smith-Luyties USA 102 2,000.00 1,200.00 17 Martinez-Conde ARG 68 1,500.00 500.00 Salema-Baracetti ARG 68 1,500.00 500.00 Child-Heese CAN 68 1,500.00 500.00 Palinek-Kubala CZE 68 1,500.00 500.00 Dieckmann Ch.-Dieckmann M. GER 68 1,500.00 500.00 Maia-Brenha POR 68 1,500.00 500.00 Ceman-Ian Clark USA 68 1,500.00 500.00 Henkel-Metzger USA 68 1,500.00 500.00 25 Leitner-Stamm AUT 34 1,000.00 400.00 Guissart-Deulofeu FRA 34 1,000.00 400.00 Jodard-Penigaud FRA 34 1,000.00 400.00 Oetke-Krank GER 34 1,000.00 400.00 Grigolo-Sanguanini ITA 34 1,000.00 400.00 Kjemperud-Hoidalen NOR 34 1,000.00 400.00 Velasco-De Jesus PUR 34 1,000.00 400.00 Karasev-Kiselev RUS 34 1,000.00 400.00

Main Draw  Results

Qualification Tournament (10-11 February)

Ranking

Rk. Players Country Points Prize (US$) Bonus (US$) Q Duda-Fred BRA       Roberto Lopes-Franco BRA       Zé Marco-Ricardo BRA       Dieckmann Ch.-Dieckmann M. GER       Oetke-Krank GER       Grigolo-Sanguanini ITA       Velasco-De Jesus PUR       Blanton-Fonoimoana USA       33 Guerra Alemão-Benjamin BRA 28     Lula-Adriano BRA 28     Marcio Araujo-Reis Castro BRA 28     Moreira-Murilo BRA 28     37 Serramalera-Menegozzo ARG 20     Ten-Carrasco ESP 20     Raffaelli-Pimponi ITA 20     Nogughi-Morikawa JPN 20     41 Perez-Guemberena ARG 14     Anfillof-Schacht AUS 14     Nowotny-Potyka AUT 14     T.Schroffenegger-P.Schroffenegger AUT 14     Olejnik-Dunn CAN 14     Canet-Hamel FRA 14     T.Yamamoto-Osaki JPN 14     Kolesnik-Kostioukov RUS 14     49 Cadieux-Holmes CAN 6     Caso-Viberti ITA 6

Qualifications Results

The Participating Teams

Main Draw ( 12-15 February)

Plus eight teams qualifying through the QT
Notes: - points are as per standings in the World Ranking on entry date - exact seed of each team will be communicated on 11 February (Technical Meeting)

Qualification Tournament ( 10-11 February)

Notes:
- points are as per standings in the World Ranking on entry date
- exact seed of each team will be communicated on 11 February (Technical Meeting)