Lausanne, Switzerland, February 8, 2011 – International beach volleyball returns to Beijing, China for the first time since the 2008 Olympic Games from June 6-11 as the city hosts the first FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour Grand Slam of the year.
China is a regular stop for the World Tour, with Beijing the third of four venues staging events in the country in 2011. This will be the first time in three years that the sport has returned to Chaoyang Park. The 2010 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour champions, Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser of USA, were victorious at the men's Olympic tournament last time around, seeing off a stiff challenge from Brazil's Mario Araujo and Fabio Luiz in an exciting final. Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos took the bronze.
The women capped off a brilliant tournament for the United States as Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh clinched the women's gold, beating home duo Tian Jia and Jie Wang in the final, as another China pair, Chen Xue and Xu Zhang, picked up bronze. Since the 2008 Olympics, a total of five women's and four men's events have taken place in China.
The 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour has a total of 14 men's and 16 women's events across 13 countries. A definite highlight of the calendar will be the eighth edition of the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Championships from June 14-26 in Rome.
This 23rd edition of the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour also heralds the start of the World Tour Olympic qualifying process for 16 vacancies per gender, which runs from January 1 this year until June 17 next year. There will be six Grand Slams for the third year in a row offering 600,000 US dollars in prize money – in Norway, Switzerland, Russia, Poland, Austria as well as the new Grand Slam in Beijing, China. Quebec in Canada will also feature on the calendar for the first time with a double gender Open event.
The 1million US dollar FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Championships includes a number of firsts for the biennial tournament – including being played in a capital city and featuring night matches – with the historic Parco del Foro Italico in Rome providing the venue. Meanwhile, the Chinese capital Beijing is back on the Tour calendar for the first time since the 2008 Olympic Games with a new Grand Slam event scheduled for June 6-12. Quebec will follow Montreal and Toronto as Canadian cities to host the World Tour, becoming the first since Montreal in 2007 when it stages a double-gender Open from July 18-24.
The 2011 schedule – which also includes an Olympic Games test event for women from August 9-14, replicating the Olympic formula, at London's Horse Guards Parade – will feature a total of 10 Opens of which six are double gender.
|
Women |
|
Dates |
Country |
Event |
Prize
Money |
Bonus
Pool |
|
April 18-23 |
Brasilia, Brazil |
Open |
$110’000 |
$80’000 |
|
April 26- May 1 |
Sanya, China |
Open |
$110’000 |
$80’000 |
|
May 3-8 |
Shanghai, China |
Open |
$110’000 |
$80’000 |
|
May 17 –22 |
Myslowice, Poland |
Open |
$110’000 |
$80’000 |
|
June 6-11 |
Beijing, China |
Grand Slam |
$160’000 |
$140’000 |
|
June 14 – 26 |
Preliminary phase: 2 cities,
Italy Final phase: Rome, Italy |
World Championships |
$250’000 |
$250’000 |
|
June 27- July 2 |
Stavanger, Norway |
Grand Slam |
$160’000 |
$140’000 |
|
July 4-9 |
Gstaad, Switzerland |
Grand Slam |
$160’000 |
$140’000 |
|
July 11-16 |
Moscow, Russia |
Grand Slam |
$160’000 |
$140’000 |
|
July 18-24 (TBD) |
Québec, Canada |
Open |
$110’000 |
$80’000 |
|
July 25-30 |
Stare Jablonki, Poland |
Grand Slam |
$160’000 |
$140’000 |
|
August 1-6 |
Klagenfurt, Austria |
Grand Slam |
$160’000 |
$140’000 |
|
** August 8-13 |
Kristiansand, Norway |
Open |
$110’000 |
$80’000 |
|
August 15-20 |
Aland, Finland/Sweden |
Open |
$110’000 |
$80’000 |
|
*** August 23-28 |
The Hague, Netherlands |
Open |
$110’000 |
$80’000 |
|
November 1-6 |
Phuket, Thailand |
Open |
$110’000 |
$80’000 |
|
|
$ 2’200’000 |
$ 1’810’000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Men |
|
Dates |
Country |
Event |
Prize
Money |
Bonus
Pool |
|
April 19-24 |
Brasilia, Brazil |
Open |
$110’000 |
$80’000 |
|
May 2-7 |
Shanghai, China |
Open |
$110’000 |
$80’000 |
|
May 17 –22 |
Prague, Czech Republic |
Open |
$110’000 |
$80’000 |
|
June 7-12 |
Beijing, China |
Grand Slam |
$160’000 |
$140’000 |
|
June 14 – July 26 |
Preliminary phase: 2 cities,
Italy Final phase: Rome, Italy |
World Championships |
$250’000 |
$250’000 |
|
June 28- July 3 |
Stavanger, Norway |
Grand Slam |
$160’000 |
$140’000 |
|
July 5-10 |
Gstaad, Switzerland |
Grand Slam |
$160’000 |
$140’000 |
|
July 12-17 |
Moscow, Russia |
Grand Slam |
$160’000 |
$140’000 |
|
July 18-24 (TBD) |
Québec, Canada |
Open |
$110’000 |
$80’000 |
|
July 26-31 |
Stare Jablonki, Poland |
Grand Slam |
$160’000 |
$140’000 |
|
August 2-7 |
Klagenfurt, Austria |
Grand Slam |
$160’000 |
$140’000 |
|
**August 9-14 |
Kristiansand, Norway |
Open |
$110’000 |
$80’000 |
|
August 16-21 |
Aland, Finland/ Sweden |
Open |
$110’000 |
$80’000 |
|
*** August 23-28 |
The Hague, Netherlands |
Open |
$110’000 |
$80’000 |
|
|
|
|
$ 1’980’000 |
$ 1’650’000 |
16 Women’s events / 14 Men’s events including six Grand Slams & one World Championships
Total Prize Money: USD 4’180’000 Total Bonus Pool: USD 3’460’000
Legend
** To be confirmed
*** Competition starts the same day for men and women
