Click here for Espinho 2007 Women's Open page
Renowned for its vast,
sun-kissed beaches and wonderful selection of seafood restaurants, Espinho is a
popular holiday town in Aveiro province that has developed a reputation as an
"excellent" venue for the SWATCH-FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour for the past 12
seasons. The 2007
Praia da Baia stop
will again feature a double gender event as the women return to Espinho
after staging their 2006 Portuguese stop in the Madeira Islands at Porto Santo. Situated on Portugal's northwestern coast known as the
Costa Verde, Espinho is located 11 miles (18km) south of Porto. In addition to
the long stretch of golden sandy beach, Espinho has a a casino, bullfight ring,
a range of shops, restaurants, hotels and campsites. The town also boasts one
of the oldest golf courses in the world, dating from 1890.
Men
- Espinho currently ranks behind Rio de Janeiro (14) and tied with Marseille
(12) in hosting men’s SWATCH-FIVB World Tour events. The 2005 finale featured
the first-ever All-German SWATCH gold medal match as Julius Brink and Kjell
Schneider won their first international Beach Volleyball title by defeating
Markus Dieckmann and Jonas Reckermann in the finale. Brink repeated his 2005
Praia da Baia success by teaming with Christoph Dieckmann to upset reigning
Olympic champions Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos of Brazil for the 2006 title.
Christoph and Markus Dieckmann are twins. Portuguese Olympians Joao Brenha and
Luis Maia has posted their country’s top finish in Espinho with a fifth in 1998
as the pair has competed in 11 of the events together. Maia is joined by
Emanuel, Martin Conde of Argentina and Javier Bosma of Spain as the only players
to compete in all 12 Espinho men's events. Emanuel has won four gold medals in
Espinho with seven finals, eight Praia da Baia podiums and $102,650 in winnings.
Ricardo has also won four Espinho titles, including one each with Ze Marco de
Melo (2001) and Jose Loiola (2001), and two with Emanuel (2003 and 2004).
2006 Espinho podium (left to right)
Emanuel, Ricardo, Brink,
Christoph Dieckmann, Pedro and Franco |
Year – Espinho Gold Medal
/ Espinho Silver Medal / Espinho Bronze Medal
1995
-
Franco Neto/Roberto
Lopes, Brazil /
Emanuel Rego/Ze
Marco de Melo, Brazil /Javier
Bosma/Sixto
Jimenez, Spain
1996
-
Mike Dodd/Mike
Whitmarsh, USA /John
Child/Mark
Heese, Canada /
Eduardo Martinez/Martin
Conde, Argentina
1997
-
Jan Kvalheim/Bjorn
Maaseide, Norway /
Franco/Roberto
Lopes, Brazil /
Child/Heese,
Canada
1998
-
Jose Loiola/Emanuel,
Brazil /
Kent Steffes/Whitmarsh,
USA /
Guilherme Marques/Para
Ferreira, Brazil
1999
-
Loiola/Emanuel,
Brazil /
Guilherme/Para,
Brazil /
Ze Marco/Ricardo,
Brazil
2000
-
Ze Marco /Ricardo,
Brazil /
Loiola/Emanuel,
Brazil /
Martin Laciga/Paul
Laciga, Switzerland
2001
-
Loiola/Ricardo,
Brazil /
M. Laciga/P.
Laciga, Switzerland /
Emanuel/Tande
Ramos, Brazil
2002
-
Stein Metzger/Kevin
Wong, USA /
Marcio Araujo/Benjamin
Insfran, Brazil /
Loiola/Ricardo,
Brazil
2003
-
Emanuel/Ricardo,
Brazil /
Vegard Hoidalen/Jorre
Kjemperud, Norway /
Andrew Schacht/Josh
Slack, Canada
2004
-
Emanuel/Ricardo,
Brazil /
Hoidalen/Kjemperud,
Norway /
Marcio Araujo/Benjamin, Brazil
2005 - Julius Brink/Kjell Schneider, Germany / Markus Dieckmann/Jonas
Reckermann, Germany / Marcio Araujo/Fabio Magelhaes, Brazil
2006 - Brink/Christoph
Dieckmann, Germany /
Emanuel/Ricardo,
Brazil / Pedro Cunha/Franco, Brazil
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