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).