Rome Hosts SWATCH FIVB World Tour Grand Slam Event

After staging a “successful” single gender event in 2009, the Italian Volleyball Federation will increase its involvement on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour by hosting a men’s and women’s Grand Slam event May 17-23 in Rome as a prelude to the 2011 SWATCH FIVB World Championships. The Italian capital hosted its first-ever SWATCH FIVB World Tour event in 2009 when Germany’s Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann won men’s titles on the Parco del Foro Italico center court. It was Brink and Reckermann’s first of four SWATCH gold medals in 2009 as the German pair captured the 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Championships in Norway followed by Grand Slam title in Switzerland and Russia. All four gold medal wins were over Brazilian tandems as Brink and Reckermann finished the 2009 FIVB Beach Volleyball season as the top team on the SWATCH tour after edging Alison Cerutti and Harley Marques of Brazil for the point’s championship. Alison and Harley placed third in the inaugural Rome event after dropping a three-set semi-final to compatriots Pedro Cunha and Pedro Cunha. The Rome Grand Slam will feature US$600,000 in prize money and will be the first of six “major” events on the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar. The women’s event in Rome will be the first in Italy since 2006 when Modena hosted the season-opening event in May 2006 where Brazilians Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa França upset American Olympic and world champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh in the finale.  Rome is Italy's largest and most populous city with over 2.7-million residents. Located in the central-western portion of the Italian peninsula on the Tiber river, Rome's history as a city spans over two and a half thousand years, as one of the founding cities of Western Civilization. Even outside of the history of the Roman Empire, Rome has a significant place in the story of Christianity up to the present day as the home of the Roman Catholic Church. As one of the few major European cities that escaped World War II relatively unscathed, central Rome remains essentially Renaissance and Baroque in character. Rome is the third-most-visited tourist destination in the European Union.  Pictured to the left are 2009 Rome gold medal winners Jonas Reckermann (left) and Julius Brink of Germany.

Site

Year

Gold Medal

Silver Medal

Bronze Medal

Jesi

1989

Sinjin Smith/Randy Stoklos, USA

Giovanni Errichiello/Dio Lequaglie, ITA

Karch Kiraly/Steve Timmons, USA

Lignano

1990

Tim Hovland/Kent Steffes, USA

Eddo/Sean Fallowfield, USA

Eduardo Garrido/Roberto Moreira, BRA

Cattolica

1991

Smith/Stoklos, USA

John Eddo/Leif Hanson, USA

Guilherme Marques/Andre Lima, BRA

Lignano

1992

Paulao Moreira/Paulo Emilio Silva, BRA

Eduardo/Roberto, BRA

Scott Friederichsen/Tim Walmer, USA

Lignano

1995

Paulao/Paulo Emilio, BRA

Martin Conde/Eduardo Martinez, ARG

Franco Neto/Roberto Lopes, BRA

Lignano

1996

Emanuel Rego/Ze Marco de Melo, BRA

Carl Henkel/Smith, USA

Jan Kvalheim/Bjorn Maaseide, NOR

Lignano

1997

Conde/Martinez, ARG

Emanuel/Ze Marco, BRA

Kvalheim/Maaseide, NOR

Lignano

1998

Guilherme/Para Ferreira, BRA

Martin Laciga/Paul Laciga, SUI

Jose Loiola/Emanuel, BRA

Lignano

1999

Emanuel/Loiola, BRA

Guilherme/Para, BRA

Conde/Martinez, ARG

Lignano

2000

Ze Marco/Ricardo, BRA

M. Laciga/P. Laciga, SUI

John Child/Mark Heese, CAN

Lignano

2001

Mariano Baracetti/Conde, ARG

Loiola/Ricardo, BRA

Emanuel/Tande Ramos, BRA

Roseto

2006

Patrick Heuscher/Stefan Kobel, SUI

Emanuel/Ricardo, BRA

Benjamin Insfran/Harley Marques, BRA

Roseto

2007

Marcio Araujo/Fabio Magalhaes, BRA

Emanuel/Ricardo, BRA

Dmitri Barsouk/Igor Kolodinsky, RUS

Roseto

2008

Harley Marques/Pedro Salgado, BRA

Julius Brink/Christoph Dieckmann, GER

Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers, USA