2005 Women's U-21

Rio de Janeiro Hosts

2005 SWATCH-FIVB U-21 World Championships

The fifth edition of the FIVB’s World Championships for players under 21 years old will be played outside of Europe for the first-time as the city made famous by its beautiful Beach Volleyball settings hosts the “next generation” of SWATCH-FIVB World Tour players.

With the cooperation of the Brazilian Volleyball Federation, the SWATCH-FIVB U-21 World Championships will be held September 6-11 with 40 of the best junior teams of each gender from all five continents competing for the world title, including 24 tandems in each Main Draw.

The first four SWATCH-FIVB U-21 World Championships were held in France at Le Lavandou (2001) and Saint Quay Portrieux (2003), Catania, Italy (2002) and Porto Santo, Portugal (2004).  Brazil (2001 and 2003) and Spain (2002 and 2004) have each won two gold U-21 gold medals.  Overall, Brazil has four medals with a podium finish in each of the first four events.  Spain has three podium placements followed by two for Germany, and one each for the Czech Republic, Latvia and Russia.

"There is immense interest in the 2005 SWATCH-FIVB U-21 World Championships, because this competition is a sort of universal training ground at the highest level for all the young men and women who bolster the ever-increasing popularity and image of Beach Volleyball.  I wish all of these athletes an unforgettable experience on the sand of Brazil," said Dr Rubén Acosta, the FIVB President.

"By organising this great competition on another continent, specifically in Brazil, a nation where there is a very strong Beach Volleyball tradition, the FIVB programme for young players is taking another step forward this year", stated Angelo Squeo, Beach Volleyball Director at the FIVB's headquarters in Lausanne.

Two past men's SWATCH-FIVB U-21 Champions from Brazil have claimed titles on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour.  Pablo Herrera, the 2003 champion with Raul Mesa, won the 2004 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour event in China with Javier Bosma.  The pair also claimed the silver medal at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.  Pedro Cunha, a three-time U-21 medal winner, captured his first SWATCH-FIVB World Tour event in 2004 with Para Ferreira at the Puerto Rico stop.

Pictured - Pablo Herrera of Spain

PAST U-21 MEN’S “FINAL FOURS”

Portugal, Porto Santo (September 16-19, 2004)

1.       Miguel Angel Amo/Inocencio Lario, Spain

2.       Valters Ramma/Toms Smedins of Latvia

3.       Moisés Santos/Pedro Solberg Salgado, Brazil

4.       Tom Götz/Stefan Uhmann, Germany

Gold Medal - Amo/Lario def. Ramma/Smedins, 21-19 and 21-12 (32 minutes)

Bronze Medal - Santos/Solberg Salgado def. Götz Uhmann, 21-17 and 25-23 (39)

Pictured - Podium Pride (left to right) - Ramma, Smedis, Amo, Lario, Solberg Salgado & Santos

France, Saint Quay Portrieux (August 7-10, 2003)

1.       Pedro Cunha/Pedro Solberg Salgado, Brazil

2.       Daniel Krug/Mischa Urbatzka, Germany

3.       Ravel Rotreki/Pavel Kolar, Czech Republic

4.       Gregoire Capitaine/Damien Quoirin, France

Gold Medal - Cunha/Solberg Salgado def. Krug/Urbatzka , 21-12 and 21-18 (34)

Bronze Medal - Rotreki/Kolar, def. Capitaine/Quoirin, 21-15 and 21-16 (39)

Italy, Catania (July 10-14, 2002)

1.       Pablo Herrera/Raul Mesa, Spain

2.       Pedro Cunha/Adriano Fonseca, Brazil

3.       Matthias Karger/Maarten Lammens, Germany

4.       Andreas Gortsianouk/Georgios Knapek, Greece

Gold Medal - Herrera/Mesa def. Cunha/Fonseca, 21-21-11 and 21-19 (29)

Bronze Medal - Karger/Lammens def. Gortsianouk/Knapek, 17-21, 21-19 and 15-11 (53)

France, Le Lavandou (August 24-26, 2001)

1.       Pedro Cunha/Anselmo Sigoli, Brazil

2.       Pablo Herrera/Raul Mesa, Spain

3.       Anton Koulinovski/Alexei Verbov, Russia

4.       Alfredo Tabarini/Francesco Tabarini, San Marino

Gold Medal – Cunha/Sigoli def. Herrera/Mesa, 17-21, 21-17 and 15-13 (55)

Bronze Medal – Koulinovski/Verbov def. Tabarini/Tabarini, 22-20 and 21-17 (37)