PRESENTATION
Prague Returns to FIVB Beach Volleyball
Swatch World Tour for second year |
The
FIVB
Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour returns to Prague from May 17-22
as the Czech Republic capital prepares to host its third "open" international
beach volleyball event after successful tournaments in 2008 and
2010. Similar to previous years it will again be a single-gender
event for the men with last year's American champions Todd Rogers
and Phil Dalhausser sure to aim for back-to-back wins. The pair beat
Brazilians Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego in the final as they clinched a second
U.S. medal in the Czech Republic. World champions Julius Brink and
Jonas Reckermann of Germany joined the two tandems on the podium
after seeing off China's Wu and Xu, Brink equalling his best finish
at the event following a silver-place finish in 2009 with then
partner Christoph Dieckmann. Prior to the 2008 event, the Czech Republic had staged FIVB Challenger events
in Karlovy Vary (1997) and Brno (2006 and 2007). The Czech Republic’s
Michal Biza and Martin Lebl won the 2007 Challenger by defeating Canadians Jessi
Lelliott and Martin Reader in the finale. Brazilians Rodrigo Monteiro and
Hevaldo Moreira won the 2006 Brno stop by defeating Simon Dahl and Stefan
Gunnarsson of Sweden for the gold medal. Future Olympians competed for the 1997
Karlovy Vary title as Swiss brothers Laciga (Martin and Paul) defeated
Vegard Hoidalen and Jorre Kjemperud of Norway in the finals. With a
population of over 1.2
million, Prague is situated on the River Vltava in central Bohemia and is
the political, cultural, and economic center of the Czech state for over 1,100
years. Prague is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in
Europe and is among the most visited cities on the continent. Since 1992, the
historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage
Sites. Nicknames for Prague have included "the mother of cities", "city of a
hundred spires" and "the golden city". Prague opera, theatre, sightseeing,
restaurants & nightlife make this the most exciting city in Central Europe. Pictured
below to the left is American gold medal winner Phil Dalhausser
spraying the bubbly at the 2010 Prague Open . |
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PAST CZECH REPUBLIC MEN’S PODIUM PLACEMENTS
Total Medals - Brazil 2, Germany 2, United States 2 |
Site |
Year |
Gold Medal |
Silver Medal |
Bronze Medal |
Prague |
2008 |
Gibb/Rosenthal,
USA |
Brink/Dieckmann,
GER |
Emanuel/Ricardo, BRA |
Prague |
2010 |
Dalhausser/Rogers,
USA |
Alison/Emanuel, BRA |
Brink/Reckermann, GER |
|