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Athens
2006
Women's Open
01.06.2006 -
04.06.2006
PRESENTATION
Presentation
EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2006/PR_WRHO2006.asp
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The SWATCH-FIVB World Tour returns
to Athens
 ATHENS 2006
– After the success of the 2004 Olympics and the development of
Beach Volleyball in Greece, the women's SWATCH-FIVB World Tour
returns to Athens for the second-straight year. The 2006 stop
will mark the fourth international Beach Volleyball competition at
the Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre in the warm and sandy
environment of South Attica, at the Faliro Coastal Zone. Home of
the golden age of Greece when Pericles had the Parthenon (the most
eminent monument of the ancient Greek architecture) built, Athens is
built around the Acropolis and the pinnacled crag of Mount
Lycabettus. Athens, a city of more than four million inhabitants,
is packed with lively taverns and bustling shops. Dominating the
Athenian landscape, the Acropolis is unsurpassed in its beauty,
architectural splendor and historic importance. And the success of
the 2004 Summer Games also marked another historical achievement for
the birthplace of the Olympics.
 FALIRO COASTAL
ZONE
- Prior to the 2004 Games, Athens staged a test event at the
Faliro Coastal Zone where Riccardo Fenili and Fabio Galli of
Italy defeated two-time Olympians Vegard Hoidalen and Jorre
Kjemperud of Norway in the finals. Following the Athens Olympic
Games, the first SWATCH stop was held in 2005 with the Brazilian
teams of Emanuel Rego/Ricardo Santos and Renata Ribeiro/Talita
Antunes capturing the men's and women's titles, respectively.
The 2005 title was Emanuel and Ricardo's second
gold medal in Athens after winning the 2004 Olympic title by
defeating Javier Bosma and Pablo Herrera of Spain. Shelda Bede
and Adriana Behar of Brazil have earned podium placements in both
Athens women's events after losing the 2004 Olympic gold medal match
in 2004 to Americans Misty May-Treanor and claiming the 2005 bronze
medal by defeating Vassiliki Arvaniti and Vasso Karadassiou
of Greece. Karadassiou was named the SWATCH most outstanding
player for the 2005 women's event.
 GREEK WOMEN -
The last two
seasons of international Beach Volleyball competition have been
“special” for the women from Greece, and the 2006 SWATCH-FIVB World
Tour could produce more success for the teams from the southern
European nation. A season after hosting Athens 2004 Olympic
Games, the sport’s most prestigious sporting event, two teams from
Greece produced the country’s most successful results on the 2005
SWATCH-FIVB World Tour to pace the European effort on the
international circuit. Vassiliki Arvaniti (pictured
left receiving the Mikasa) and Vasso Karadassiou
became the continent’s top-ranked women’s Beach Volleyball tandem in
leading Greece to a gold medal, four podiums and five “final four”
finishes on the 2005 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour. In addition, the pair
captured the 54-country Confédération
Européenne De Volleyball (CEV) continental
championship to clinch the 2005 point’s title. While
Karadassiou was named the top women’s player for the 2005 season
by the CEV, Arvaniti became the youngest woman (20 years,
three months, 15 days) to win a SWATCH event. She and Vasso
Karadassiou upset top-ranked Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa
Franca of Brazil in the finals of the Norway Grand Slam event last
July in Stavanger. Arvaniti and Karadassiou, who won two of
four CEV events in 2005, finished as the No. 5-ranked team on the
SWATCH-FIVB World Tour while fellow Greeks Tthalia Koutroumanidou
and Maria Tsistsiani were ninth on the point’s list. Arvaniti and
Karadassiou combined for $166,500 in earnings while Koutroumanidou
and Tsistsiani split $113,950 with two podium placements. |
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PAST GREEK WOMEN’S PODIUM PLACEMENTS
Total Medals - USA 7,
Brazil 6, Australia
1, Greece 1
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Site |
Year |
Gold Medal |
Silver Medal |
Bronze Medal |
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Rhodes |
2002 |
Holly McPeak/Elaine
Youngs, USA |
Natalie
Cook/Kerri Pottharst, AUS |
Vasso Karadassiou/Efi
Sfyri, GRE |
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Rhodes |
2003 |
Ana Paula
Connelly/Sandra Pires, BRA |
Shelda/Adriana,
BRA |
Misty May-Treanor/Kerri
Walsh, USA |
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Rhodes |
2004 |
May-Treanor/Walsh,
USA |
McPeak/Youngs,
USA |
Shelda/Adriana,
BRA |
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Athens |
2005 |
Renata Ribeiro/Talita
Antunes, BRA |
Juliana
Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca,
BRA |
Shelda/Adriana,
BRA |
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Athens 2004 Olympic Games |
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Athens |
2004 |
May-Treanor/Walsh,
USA |
Shelda/Adriana,
BRA |
McPeak/Youngs,
USA |
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Totals |
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USA 4 Golds, BRA
1 |
Brazil 3 Silvers,
Australia 1, USA 1 |
Brazil 2 Bronzes,
USA 2, Greece 1 |
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2005 Athens Podium (left to
right) - Vasso, Larissa, Juliana,
Renata, Talita, Shelda and Adriana |
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Teams