Sanya Hosts 2009's Final Double Gender SWATCH FIVB World Tour Event

For the second-straight season, Sanya will host a season finale, but the 2009 event will be the last double gender event on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar while the 2008 tournament was the last international Beach Volleyball tournament of the season.  Teams from Brazil and the United States captured the inaugural Sanya titles.  After winning nine tournaments the past two seasons with Pedro Salgado, Harley Marques won the Sanya men's title with Benjamin Insfran as the pair won the All-Brazilian finale over Pedro Cunha and Roberto Pitta.  Americans Jen Boss and April Ross won the Sanya women's crown by defeating 16-year old Ying Huang and Chinese Olympic bronze medal winner Xi Zhang in the gold medal match.  Sanya is the southernmost city in Hainan province with a population over 500,000. Revered for its tropical climate, Sanya has become a get away from Hong Kong and a relaxing place for extending a holiday with a long trip back home. The first international Resort hotel was opened and managed by Swiss hotelier N.C.Solari in 1999, in the beautiful location of Yalong Bay. Nowadays, several international hotel chains have established in what is becoming a world-known destination, especially since the famous beauty pageant Miss World took place there. It all started with another resort this time in Sanya Bay, the Palm Beach Resort & Spa who welcomed the first Miss China beauty pageant in modern times. The relation created, brought the organizer Miss Julia Morley to decide for Sanya to welcome the international pageant the following year. Sanya will be the first city to receive the Olympic torch in the 2008 Olympics held in Beijing. The city has hosted the Miss World contest in 2003, 2004 2005 and 2007, the Mister World 2007 contest and the World's Strongest Man contest in 2006.

PAST CHINESE MEN’S PODIUM PLACEMENTS

Medals - Brazil 13, Germany 2, Switzerland 2, Argentina 1, China 1, Spain 1, USA 1