Brazil's ever-exuberant Juliana Felisberta Silva, above, and her partner Larissa Franca will lead 90 teams in Poland for next week's Myslowice Open, the fourth women's event on the 2011 FIVB Swatch World Tour calendar
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Myslowice, Poland, May 11, 2011 — Led by defending tour champions Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca of Brazil, a total of 90 women’s teams from 33 countries have officially entered next-week’s US$190,000 Myslowice Open, the first 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour event in Europe and the second of three single-gender women’s events this year. This will be the fourth event for women on the 2011 FIVB Swatch World Tour calendar following stages in Brasilia, Sanya and Shanghai.
The men will be competing next Tuesday through Sunday as well in Europe at the men’s double-elimination $190,000 Prague Open in the Czech Republic.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2011, the international beach volleyball circuit returns for the fourth consecutive season to Myslowice and the eighth straight year in Poland. The Myslowice Open, to be played at the Summer Sports Resort in the southwestern Polish community, will be the second time and first since 2008 that a women’s FIVB Swatch World Tour event will be held here. It will also be the seventh time in the last six years that the women will be playing in Poland. The second FIVB Swatch World Tour event in Poland for the fourth consecutive year will be the $600,000 Mazuri Orlen Grand Slam to be held from July 25 to 31 in Stare Jablonki. The Stare Jablonki event is the fifth of six double-gender Grand Slam events on the 2011 FIVB Swatch World Tour schedule.
The 33 countries with teams officially entered in the Myslowice women’s event are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Mauritius, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States and Venezuela.
The top women’s team heading into Europe is Brazil’s reigning FIVB Swatch World Tour champions Juliana and Larissa, who are the all-time FIVB career gold medal winners for women with 38. They enter this year’s Myslowice Open leading the 2011 FIVB Swatch World tour after winning the first two events in Brasilia and Sanya and finishing fifth last week in Shanghai.
In 2010, starting with their title in Brasília, Brazil, Juliana/Larissa combined to win seven gold medals after winning the season title in 2009 with an FIVB-record eight gold medals. Juliana/Larissa have won the FIVB Swatch World Tour season crown five out of the last six years. They also won the gold medal in the last Grand Slam events in Stare Jablonki and the 2007 tour stop in Warsaw to give them three gold medals. They did not play in Myslowice in 2008 as Juliana was recovering from knee surgery.
“We have enjoyed playing in Poland over the years and after our play in Shanghai last week, Larissa and I are looking forward to starting our European schedule off with a top finish,” commented Juliana. “We are disappointed with how we played in Shanghai and I know we will be more focused on every point this week in Myslowice.”
Also returning to Myslowice are three of the final four teams from 2010 including gold medal winners Carolina and Maria Clara Salgado of Brazil, silver medalists Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler of Germany and the fourth place team of Sona Novakova/Tereza Tobiasova of the Czech Republic.
Besides Juliana/Larissa, this year’s Myslowice Open field also includes the other medal-winning teams from the last two tournaments in Stare Jablonki. While Juliana/Larissa won the gold medal both years, also playing in Myslowice this year will be China’s Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, silver medalists in 2010, Australia’s Louise Bawden/Becchara Palmer, silver medalists in 2009 and Brazil’s double bronze-medal winners Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes.
Two of the other top challengers in Myslowice next week will be the top four teams from last week’s event in Shanghai. Sanne Keizer/Marleen Van Iersel came from behind to earn their first FIVB gold medal by defeating defending FIVB World Champions Jennifer Kessy/April Ross of the United States in three sets (15-21, 26-24 and 15-13) in 62 minutes along with bronze medalists Doris and Stefanie Schwaiger of Austria who beat USA’s Lauren Fendrick/Brooke Hanson.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh of the United States has entered In Myslowice with Brittany Hochevar. After not playing together since winning the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Walsh started the season with her Olympic gold medal teammate Misty May-Treanor, earning a silver medal in Brazil and getting a fourth in Sanya after May-Treanor injured her knee in their semifinal match. Walsh, who sat out last week, and May-Treanor, who reportedly suffered a minor MCL sprain, are expected to resume playing together again at the Beijing Grand Slam from June 6 to 11, the first Grand Slam event of the year.
The 2011 calendar features 15 women's and 14 men's events within all five FIVB confederations plus one special 24-team single-gender women’s test event held August 9 to 14 at London’s Horse Guards Parade, the venue for beach volleyball at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The 2011 FIVB Swatch World Tour is offering $7.64-million in prize money. Twelve of the tournaments are combined men's and women's events, including the World Championships in Rome from June 13 to 16 and all six Grand Slam stops.
The gold medal team in the Myslowice will split $30,000, the silver $21,000 and the bronze $15,000. Here are the official entries as of May 11:
2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour -
Women’s Myslowice Open Entries (as of 11/05/11)
Women’s Main Draw Entries, Country
Barbara Hansel/Sara Montagnolli, Austria
Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger, Austria
Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, Brazil
Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes, Brazil
Carolina Salgado/Maria Clara Salgado, Brazil
Heather Bansley/Elizabeth Maloney, Canada
Marie-Andree Lessard/Annie Martin, Canada
Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, China
Kristyna Kolocova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic
Andrezza "Rtvelo" Martins/Cristine "Saka" Santanna, Georgia
Sara Goller/Laura Ludwig, Germany
Jana Kohler/Julia Sude, Germany
Vassiliki Arvaniti/Maria Tsiartsiani, Greece
Greta Cicolari/Marta Menegatti, Italy
Bibiana Candelas/Mayra Garcia, Mexico
Sanne Keizer/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands
Renata Bekier/Daria Paszek, Poland
Karolina Sowala/Katarzyna Urban, Poland
Martyna Wardak/Joanna Wiatr, Poland
Liliana Fernandez/Elsa Baquerizo, Spain
Simone Kuhn/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland
Angie Akers/Nicole Branagh, United States
Lauren Fendrick/Brooke Hanson, United States
Jennifer Kessy/April Ross, United States
Women’s Qualification Tournament Entries, Country
Louise Bawden/Becchara Palmer, Australia
Tamsin Hinchley (Barnett)/Alice Rohkamper, Australia
Elisabeth Klopf/Valerie Teufl, Austria
Eva-Maria Pichler/Cornelia Rimser, Austria
Katrien Gielen/Liesbeth Mouha, Belgium
Priscilla Lese Lima/Renata Ribeiro, Brazil
Liliane Maestrini/Angela Vieira, Brazil
Evelina Tcholakova/Maria Todorova, Bulgaria
Jamie Lynn Broder/Ashley Voth, Canada
Kacie MacTavish/Julie Rodrigue, Canada
Ying Huang/Yuan Yue, China
Yuanyuan Ma/Fan Wang, China
Martina Bonnerova/Barbora Hermannova, Czech Republic
Romana Elblova/Stepanka Stastna, Czech Republic
Lenka Hajeckova/Hana Klapalova, Czech Republic
Sona Novakova/Tereza Tobiasova, Czech Republic
Karolina Rehackova/Michaela Vorlova, Czech Republic
Natalja Bratuhhina/Polina Bratuhhina, Estonia
Emilia Nystrom/Erika Nystrom, Finland
Melody Benhamou/Deborah Giaoui, France
Geeske Banck/Anja Gunther, Germany
Rieke Brink-Abeler/Angelina Grun, Germany
Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, Germany
Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler, Germany
Stefanie Huttermann/Anni Schumacher, Germany
Lucy Boulton/Denise Johns, Great Britain
Zara Dampney/Shauna Mullin, Great Britain
Joanna Papgeorgiou/Christina Roubanis, Greece
Elisa Celia/Valeria Rosso, Italy
Chiara Ferretti/Laura Giombini, Italy
Daniela Gioria/Giulia Momoli, Italy
Laura Menon/Anna Scardigno, Italy
Junko Komada/Keiko Urata, Japan
Ayumi Kusano/Mutsami Ozaki, Japan
Sayaka Mizoe/Shinako Tanaka, Japan
Samalikova Bakhtygul/Marina Pilipenko, Kazakhstan
Tatyana Mashkova/Irina Tsimbalova, Kazakhstan
Inese Jursone/Inguna Minusa, Latvia
Elodie LI Yuko Lo/Natacha Rigerobert, Mauritius
Marielle Kloek/Merel Mooren, Netherlands
Madelein Meppelink/Marloes Wesselink, Netherlands
Jolien Sinnema/Margo Wiltens, Netherlands
Roos Van der Hoeven/Jantine Van der Vlist, Netherlands
Ragnhild Aas/Janne Kongshavn, Norway
Rita Eritsland/Cindy Treland, Norway
Kathrine Maaseide/Ingrid Torlen, Norway
Karolina Baran/Katarzyna Kociolek, Poland
Monika Brzostek/Kinga Kolosinska, Poland
Aneta Gancarczyk/Sylwia Pilarek, Poland
Martyna Kozinska/Agata Oleksy, Poland
Dariam Acevedo/Yarleen Santiago, Puerto Rico
Ekaterina Khomyakova/Evgenia Ukolova, Russia
Elizaveta Ryabova/Anastasia Vasina, Russia
Ekaterina Syrtseva/Anna Vozakova, Russia
Natalia Dubovcova/Dominika Nestarcova, Slovak Republic
Lucia Michalovicova/Zuzana Sajmovicova, Slovak Republic
Erika Fabjan/Simona Fabjan, Slovenia
Martina Jakob/Andreja Vodeb, Slovenia
Nadia Campisi/Cristina Hopf, Spain
Berta Antequera/Ester Ribera, Spain
Tora Hansson/Camilla Nilsson, Sweden
Rivia Oliveira/Nora Tawhid, Sweden
Svitlana Baburina/Viktoriia Smetaniuk, Ukraine
Inna Makhno/Iryna Makhno, Ukraine
Brittany Hochevar/Kerri Walsh, United States
Orquidea Vera/Ahizar Zuniaga, Venezuela
Women’s FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour
All-Time “Open” Final 4s – Myslowice, Poland
Including Open, Grand Slam, Olympics stops through 2010
Poland - Myslowice (9/2-7/08), $175,000 No. 182
1. Carolina Salgado/Maria Clara Salgado, BRAZIL, $28,000
2. Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler, GERMANY, $19,500
3. Nila Hakedal/Ingrid Torlen, NORWAY, $14,000
4. Sona Novakova/Tereza Tobiasova, CZECH REPUBLIC, $10,500
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