After hosting double gender events the past two seasons on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour, the Chinese resort city of Sanya will host the next-to-last women’s stop on the international Beach Volleyball calendar October 26-31. Following the US$190,000 event at the training site for the Chinese national Beach Volleyball team, the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour for women conclude their competition calendar the next week on Karon Beach at the Thailand resort city of Phuket November 2-7. Renowned for its tropical climate, Sanya is the second Chinese site on the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour as Shanghai will be hosting an international event for a seventh-straight season May 3-9 in the Jinshan District where both men and women will be competing. The 2009 Sanya women’s event was highlighted by the first-ever gold medal finish by a women’s team from Switzerland on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour as Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkehr upset 2009 world champions Jen Kessy and April Ross of the United States 17-21, 22-20 and 15-13 in the 60-minute finale. Kessy and Ross won the inaugural Sanya event in 2008 by defeating a team from China in the finals. The Swiss pair had to win three elimination matches to reach the semi-finals where Kuhn and Zumkehr defeated Italy’s Greta Cicolari and Marta Menegatti 21-18, 16-21 and 20-18 in 60 minutes to the gold medal match. Cicolari and Menegatti were the first Italian women’s team to compete in a SWATCH FIVB World Tour “final four” since 2001.  Kessy and Ross captured the inaugural Sanya women's crown in 2008 by defeating 16-year old Ying Huang and Chinese Olympic bronze medal winner Xi Zhang in the gold medal match.  Pictured to the left below are 2009 Sanya gold medal winners Simone Kuhn (left) and Nadine Zumkehr of Switzerland.