Brazil's Marcio Araujo celebrates on the Shanghai center court Sunday after he and teammate Pedro Salgado won the bronze medal to put them in the point lead on the 2012 FIVB SWATCH World Tour heading to Beijing this week.

Lausanne, Switzerland, May 6, 2012—The first of eight grand slams and the second of nine double-gender events of the 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour was held this past week with US $600,000 Shanghai Grand Slam presented by Jinshan Xinchen in China.  On the women’s side, Chen Xue and Xi Zhang of China won their second 2012 SWATCH World Tour gold together and their 11th all-time by defeating Brazilians Maria Antonelli and Talita Antunes in a rematch of their season opening gold medal win in Brasília.  For the men Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers also claimed their second gold medal of 2012 together and 23rd overall by defeating fellow Americans Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal for the gold medal.  This week both genders are together again in Beijing for the third double-gender and second grand slam of 2012.

2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour Highlights
The 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour calendar is highlighted by an FIVB-record eight Grand Slam events along with the 2012 London Olympics as the international Beach Volleyball schedule starts in April and concludes in October. 2012 marks the 25th anniversary of the first FIVB Beach Volleyball event held February 17-22 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  The gold medal was won by USA’s Sinjin Smith/Randy Stoklos. The men’s world tour began in 1989, the women’s in 1992. Smith/Stoklos were the champions of the inaugural season in 1989-90.
• In 2012, international beach volleyball events will visit 18 sites in 15 countries over a seventh-month period.
• With the 2012 world tour calendar featuring 13 women’s and 13 men’s events within the African, Asian, European and South American confederations, the FIVB SWATCH World Tour will offer US$6.32 million in prize money.
• Nine of the tournaments will be combined men’s and women’s events, including all eight Grand Slam stops.
• Women’s-only stops will be in China (Sanya), Finland (Aland) and Thailand (Bang Saen).
• Men’s only stops will be in Poland (Myslowice), Czech Republic (Prague) and Morocco (Agadir).
• The new Grand Slam event this year will be in China (Shanghai).
• The $4.8 million FIVB SWATCH World Tour Grand Slam series will also return to 2011 venues in China (Beijing), Russia (Moscow), Italy (Rome), Switzerland (Gstaad), Austria (Klagenfurt) and Poland (Stare Jablonki). The tour will also return for the first time since 2008 to Germany (Berlin).
• Klagenfurt and Gstaad have each staged 10 or more FIVB-sanctioned Beach Volleyball events.  Both sites have hosted the FIVB SWATCH World Championships with Klagenfurt in 2001 and Gstaad in 2007.
• The opening event on the 2012 FIVB SWATCH World Tour calendar was a double gender event in Brasília April 15-22 as the Brazilian capital celebrated its 52nd anniversary on the seventh day of competition.  During the April 21 Brasília celebration, crowds of more than 1-million attended various holiday activities around the SWATCH event. 
• The iconic Horse Guards Parade in central London will be the site of the London 2012 Olympic Games which will run from July 28 through August 9. A special Olympic test event for 24 women’s teams was held on the site last August with Brazil’s Liliane Maestrini/Angela Vieira defeating USA’s Jennifer Kessy/April Ross in the gold medal match.
• A total of 16 teams from each gender out of the 24 teams participating in the 2012 London Olympics, will qualifying through qualification rankings from the FIVB SWATCH World Tour. For the latest rankings, for men’s visit… http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2012/OlympicRanking_M.asp and for women’s visit http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2012/OlympicRanking_W.asp
• China will again stage three and Poland will once again present two FIVB SWATCH World Tour stops in 2012.
• The men’s international schedule will conclude in early October in Morocco (Agadir) while the women’s competition will end in late October in Thailand (Bang Saen).
• The international beach volleyball calendar will also feature world championships for players under the age of 21 and under the age of 19.  Larnaca, Cyprus will host the 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH Youth World Championships July 11-14 for players under the age of 19. For the second consecutive year, Canada will host in Halifax, Nova Scotia Aug. 29-Sept. 2 the 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH Junior World Championships for players under the age of 21. This will be the first time for Cyprus to host one of these age group FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Championships. The U-19 world championships in 2011 were held in Umag, Croatia before Canada hosted the U-21s in Halifax.
• IMG Sports Media will continue to have the exclusive distribution media rights for the 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour. For the third straight year, the tour will exclusively use the Mikasa VLS 300 ball. It was introduced in 2009 in October and November at events in Sanya and Phuket.
2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour Men’s Leaders (through May 6)
Men (Team Rank, points)
1, Marcio Araujo/Pedro Salgado, Brazil, 1,420
2, Pedro Cunha/Ricardo Santos, Brazil, 1,400
2, Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers, United States, 1,400
4, Adrian Gavira Collado/Pablo Herrera, Spain, 1,380
5, Matt Fuerbringer/Nick Lucena, United States, 1,320
5, Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal, United States, 1,320
7, Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy, 860
8, Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego, Brazil, 780
9, Emiel Boersma/Daan Spijkers, Netherlands, 720
10, Jonathan Erdmann/Kay Matysik, Germany, 680
11, Penggen Wu/Linyin Xu, China, 620
12, Benjamin Insfran/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, 560
12, Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Ruslans Sorokins, Latvia, 560
14, Sebastian Dollinger/Stefan Windscheif, Germany, 530
15, Reinder Nummerdor/Richard Schuil, Netherlands, 520
16, Andy Ces/Kevin Ces, France, 444
17, Sebastian Chevallier/Sascha Heyer, Switzerland, 440
18, Jason Lochhead/Kirk Pitman, New Zealand, 400
19, Evandro Goncalves/Harley Marques, Brazil, 390
20, David Klemperer/Eric Koreng, Germany, 380
21, Jian Li/Shun Zhou, China, 368
22, Vitor Felipe/Moises Santos, Brazil, 360
23, Alexandr Dyachenko/Alexey Sidorenko, Kazakhstan, 340
23, Martins Plavins/Janis Smedins, Latvia, 340
23, Tarjei Skarlund/Martin Spinnangr, Norway, 340

NOTE - The 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour champions will be determined by calculating the points for a team’s best 9 men’s and women’s finishes based on 75 percent of the 13 men’s and women’s events (Open, World Championship and Grand Slam events only) staged during season and rounded down.

Men (Team Rank, events, titles, US earnings)
1, Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers, United States, 2, 2, $73,500
2, Pedro Cunha/Ricardo Santos, Brazil, 3, 1, $53,000
3, Marcio Araujo/Pedro Salgado, Brazil, 3, 0, $50,000
4, Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal, United States, 3, 0, $44,600
5, Matt Fuerbringer/Nick Lucena, United States, 3, 0, $41,800
6, Adrian Gavira Collado/Pablo Herrera, Spain, 3, 0, $39,400
7, Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy, 3, 0, $22,000
8, Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego, Brazil, 2, 0, $20,800
9, Emiel Boersma/Daan Spijkers, Netherlands, 3, 0, $18,800
10, Benjamin Insfran/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, 2, 0, $18,400
11, Jonathan Erdmann/Kay Matysik, Germany, 2, 0, $17,100
12, Penggen Wu/Linyin Xu, China, 3, 0, $16,000
13, Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Ruslans Sorokins, Latvia, 3, 0, $15,500
14, Reinder Nummerdor/Richard Schuil, Netherlands, 2, 0, $14,200
15, Sebastian Dollinger/Stefan Windscheif, Germany, 3, 0, $12,250
16, Sebastian Chevallier/Sascha Heyer, Switzerland, 2, 0, $10,800
17, Andy Ces/Kevin Ces, France, 3, 0, $10,250
18, David Klemperer/Eric Koreng, Germany, 2, 0, $10,000
19, Vitor Felipe/Moises Santos, Brazil, 2, 0, $9,600
20, Alexandr Dyachenko/Alexey Sidorenko, Kazakhstan, 2, 0, $9,350
20, Martins Plavins/Janis Smedins, Latvia, 2, 0, $9,350
22, Tarjei Skarlund/Martin Spinnangr, Norway, 2, 0, $9,350
23, Evandro Goncalves/Harley Marques, Brazil, 3, 0, $9,100
23, Renato "Geor" Gomes/Jorge "Gia" Terceiro, Georgia, 3, 0, $9,100

2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour Women’s Leaders (through May 6)
Women (Team Rank, points)
1, Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, China, 1,880
2, Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes, Brazil, 1,860
3, Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, Brazil, 1,600
4, Sanne Keizer/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands, 860
5, Kristyna Kolocova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic, 840
6, Simone Kuhn/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland, 800
7, Louise Bawden/Becchara Palmer, Australia, 760
8, Heather Bansley/Elizabeth Maloney, Canada, 740
9, Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger, Austria, 720
9, Jennifer Kessy/April Ross, United States, 720
11, Sara Goller/Laura Ludwig, Germany, 680
11, Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh, United States, 680
13, Greta Cicolari/Marta Menegatti, Italy, 640
14, Vassiliki Arvaniti/Maria Tsiartsiani, Greece, 620
15, Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez Steiner, Spain, 600
16, Madelein Meppelink/Sophie van Gestel, Netherlands, 580
17, Barbara Hansel/Sara Montagnolli, Austria, 560
17, Katrien Gielen/Liesbeth Mouha, Belgium, 560
17, Vivian Cunha/Taiana Lima, Brazil, 560
20, Natalie Cook/Tamsin Hinchley, Australia, 500
21, Daniela Gioria/Giulia Momoli, Italy, 460
22, Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler, Germany, 440
23, Liliane Maestrini/Angela Vieira, Brazil, 420
24, Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, Germany, 400

NOTE - The 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour champions will be determined by calculating the points for a team’s best 9 men’s and women’s finishes based on 75 percent of the 13 men’s and women’s events (Open, World Championship and Grand Slam events only) staged during season and rounded down.

Women (Team Rank, events, titles, US earnings)
1, Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, China, 3, 2, $88,500
2, Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes, Brazil, 3, 1, $80,500
3, Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, Brazil, 3, 0, $55,200
4, Sanne Keizer/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands, 2, 0, $26,000
5, Kristyna Kolocova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic, 2, 0, $22,300
6, Louise Bawden/Becchara Palmer, Australia, 3, 0, $20,200
7, Greta Cicolari/Marta Menegatti, Italy, 2, 0, $20,100
8, Simone Kuhn/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland, 3, 0, $20,000
9, Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger, Austria, 2, 0, $19,200
9, Jennifer Kessy/April Ross, United States, 2, 0, $19,200
11, Heather Bansley/Elizabeth Maloney, Canada, 3, 0, $18,400
12, Sara Goller/Laura Ludwig, Germany, 2, 0, $17,100
12, Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh, United States, 2, 0, $17,100
14, Barbara Hansel/Sara Montagnolli, Austria, 3, 0, $16,700
15, Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez Steiner, Spain, 2, 0, $16,000
16, Madelein Meppelink/Sophie van Gestel, Netherlands, 3, 0, $15,500
17, Katrien Gielen/Liesbeth Mouha, Belgium, 3, 0, $15,350
18, Vassiliki Arvaniti/Maria Tsiartsiani, Greece, 3, 0, $15,050
19, Vivian Cunha/Taiana Lima, Brazil, 2, 0, $14,000
20, Daniela Gioria/Giulia Momoli, Italy, 3, 0, $13,100
21, Natalie Cook/Tamsin Hinchley, Australia, 3, 0, $12,800
22, Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler, Germany, 2, 0, $10,800
23, Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, Germany, 3, 0, $10,700
24, Ekaterina Khomyakova/Evgenia Ukolova, Russia, 3, 0, $10,550

2012 Men FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour Schedule/Results (as of May 6, 2012)
Dates Site Open/GS/OG Gold Medal Team or Purse
April 17-22  Brasília, Brazil  Open  Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers, United States
April 24-29 Myslowice, Poland Open  Pedro Cunha/Ricardo Santos, Brazil
May 1-6 Shanghai, China Grand Slam Dalhausser/Rogers, United States
May 8-13 Beijing, China Grand Slam $300,000
May 22-27 Prague, Czech Republic Open  $190,000
June 7-12 Moscow, Russia Grand Slam $300,000
June 13-17 Rome, Italy Grand Slam $300,000
July 3-8 Gstaad, Switzerland Grand Slam $300,000
July 10-14 Berlin, Germany Grand Slam $300,000
July 17-22 Klagenfurt, Austria Grand Slam $300,000
July 28-Aug 9 London, Great Britain Olympic Games  
August 14-19 Stare Jablonki, Poland Grand Slam $300,000
October 2-7 Agadir, Morocco Open $190,000

2012 FIVB SWATCH World Tour – Men’s Final Four results

Brazil – Brasília, April 17-22, $US$190,000
1. Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers, United States, $30,000
2. Matt Fuerbringer/Nick Lucena, United States, $21,000
3. Pedro Cunha/Ricardo Santos, Brazil, $15,000
4. Adrian Gavira Collado/Pablo Herrera, Spain, $11,200
Gold – Dalhausser/Rogers def. Fuerbringer/Lucena, 21-17, 21-18 (44 minutes)
Bronze – Cunha/Ricardo def. Gavira Collado/Herrera, 21-18, 21-14 (39)
MOP – Rogers
SWATCH Serve – Evandro Goncalves, Brazil 95.3

Poland – Myslowice, April 24-29, $US$190,000
1. Cunha/Ricardo, Brazil, $30,000
2. Marcio Araujo/Pedro Salgado, Brazil, $21,000
3. Gavira Collado/Herrera, Spain, $15,000
4. Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy $11,200
Gold – Cunha/Ricardo def. Araujo/Salgado, 21-8, 19-21, 15-13 (53)
Bronze – Gavira Collado/Herrera def. Lupo/Nicolai, 21-16, 21-11 (34)
MOP – Ricardo
SWATCH Serve – Eric Koreng, Germany 101.2

China – Shanghai, May 1-6, $US$300,000
1.Dalhausser/Rogers, United States, $43,500
2.Jake Gibb/Sean Rosethal, United States, $30,000
3.Marcio/Salgado, Brazil, $23,000
4.Benjamin Insfran/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, $18,400
Gold – Dalhausser/Rogers def. Gibb/Rosenthal 21-19, 22-24, 15-11 (67)
Bronze –  Marcio/Salgado def. Benjamin/Bruno 16-21, 21-15, 15-13 (57)
MOP – Benjamin
SWATCH Serve – Dalhausser, 89.1 km/h
 

China – Shanghai, April 30-May 5, $US$300,000
1. Xue/Zhang, China, $43,500
2. Maria/Talita, Brazil, $30,000
3. Juliana/Larissa, Brazil, $23,000
4. Sanne Keizer/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands, $18,400
Gold – Xue/Zhang def. Maria/Talita, 21-17, 21-18 (42)
Bronze Juliana/Larissa def. Keizer/Van Iersel, 29-27, 21-13 (44)
MOP – Zhang
SWATCH Serve – Yuan Ye, China, 81.0 km/h

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