With consistent finishes and three gold medals, China's Xi Zhang, left, and Chen Xue have risen to the top of the season point standings and money leaders on the 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour heading to Gstaad, Switzerland.

Lausanne, Switzerland, June 18, 2012— The fourth of eight Grand Slams and the fifth of nine double-gender events on the 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour were held this past week with US $600,000 smart Grand Slam Rome in Italy.  On the women’s side, Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkehr of Switzerland won their first event of the 2012 season and second together overall defeating Germans Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig, 21-12 and 21-18.  For the men, Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal of the United States also claimed their first gold of 2012 and their third overall together by defeating Brazilians Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego of Brazil, 21-13 and 21-12.  The Grand Slam in Rome was the final event in the 2012 Olympic qualifying period, but the tour will continue with both genders together for the fifth Grand Slam of 2012 in Gstaad from July 2-8 after taking off two weeks.

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 open 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 June 17)
Men (Team Rank, points)
1, Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego, Brazil, 3,480
2, Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal, United States, 3,400
3, Pedro Cunha/Ricardo Santos, Brazil, 3,280
4, Marcio Araujo/Pedro Salgado, Brazil, 2,800
5, Matt Fuerbringer/Nick Lucena, United States, 2,740
6, Reinder Nummerdor/Richard Schuil, Netherlands, 2,560
7, Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Ruslans Sorokins, Latvia, 2,360
8, Jonathan Erdmann/Kay Matysik, Germany, 2,240
9, Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers, United States, 2,040
10, Adrian Gavira Collado/Pablo Herrera, Spain, 1,980
11, Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy, 1,820
12, Emiel Boersma/Daan Spijkers, Netherlands, 1,760
13, Sebastian Dollinger/Stefan Windscheif, Germany, 1,670
14, Martins Plavins/Janis Smedins, Latvia, 1,540
15, Sebastian Chevallier/Sascha Heyer, Switzerland, 1,380
16, Benjamin Insfran/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, 1,360
17, Petr Benes/Premysl Kubala, Czech Republic, 1,340
18, Penggen Wu/Linyin Xu, China, 1,180
18, Tarjei Skarlund/Martin Spinnangr, Norway, 1,180
20, Jon Stiekema/Christiaan Varenhorst, Netherlands, 960
21, Jefferson Bellaguarda/Patrick Heuscher, Switzerland, 940
22, David Klemperer/Eric Koreng, Germany, 924
23, Jason Lochhead/Kirk Pitman, New Zealand, 800
24, Julius Brink/Jonas Reckermann, Germany, 720
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, Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego, Brazil, 6, 1, $137,800
2, Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal, United States, 7, 1, $125,700
3, Pedro Cunha/Ricardo Santos, Brazil, 7, 2, $122,000
4, Reinder Nummerdor/Richard Schuil, Netherlands, 6, 1, $101,400
5, Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers, United States, 4, 2, $93,600
6, Marcio Araujo/Pedro Salgado, Brazil, 7, 0, $85,200
7, Matt Fuerbringer/Nick Lucena, United States, 7, 0, $83,400
8, Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Ruslans Sorokins, Latvia, 7, 0, $64,200
9, Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy, 6, 0, $60,100
10, Jonathan Erdmann/Kay Matysik, Germany, 6, 0, $59,500
11, Adrian Gavira Collado/Pablo Herrera, Spain, 7, 0, $57,500
12, Emiel Boersma/Daan Spijkers, Netherlands, 7, 0, $48,200
13, Sebastian Chevallier/Sascha Heyer, Switzerland, 6, 0, $44,400
14, Sebastian Dollinger/Stefan Windscheif, Germany, 7, 0, $40,500
15, Benjamin Insfran/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, 5, 0, $39,600
16, Martins Plavins/Janis Smedins, Latvia, 6, 0, $39,350
17, Petr Benes/Premysl Kubala, Czech Republic, 5, 0, $37,400
18, Penggen Wu/Linyin Xu, China, 6, 0, $32,600
19, Tarjei Skarlund/Martin Spinnangr, Norway, 6, 0, $31,650
20, Jefferson Bellaguarda/Patrick Heuscher, Switzerland, 5, 0, $28,900
21, Jon Stiekema/Christiaan Varenhorst, Netherlands, 6, 0, $26,200
22, David Klemperer/Eric Koreng, Germany, 6, 0, $24,300
23, Julius Brink/Jonas Reckermann, Germany, 2, 0, $23,500
24, Jason Lochhead/Kirk Pitman, New Zealand, 5, 0, $20,300

2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour Women’s Leaders (through June 17)
Women (Team Rank, points)
1, Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, China, 3,480
2, Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, Brazil, 3,360
3, Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes, Brazil, 3,060
4, Greta Cicolari/Marta Menegatti, Italy, 2,320
5, Jennifer Kessy/April Ross, United States, 2,240
6, Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh, United States, 2,200
6, Sara Goller/Laura Ludwig, Germany, 2,200
8, Sanne Keizer/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands, 2,140
9, Simone Kuhn/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland, 2,080
10, Kristyna Kolocova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic, 1,960
11, Louise Bawden/Becchara Palmer, Australia, 1,880
12, Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler, Germany, 1,640
13, Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger, Austria, 1,440
13, Katrien Gielen/Liesbeth Mouha, Belgium, 1,440
15, Madelein Meppelink/Sophie van Gestel, Netherlands, 1,380
16, Vassiliki Arvaniti/Maria Tsiartsiani, Greece, 1,260
17, Natalie Cook/Tamsin Hinchley, Australia, 1,220
18, Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez Steiner, Spain, 1,080
19, Vivian Cunha/Taiana Lima, Brazil, 1,040
20, Barbara Hansel/Sara Montagnolli, Austria, 960
20, Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, Germany, 960
20, Anastasia Vasina/Anna Vozakova, Russia, 960
23, Heather Bansley/Elizabeth Maloney, Canada, 924
24, Emilia Nystrom/Erika Nystrom, Finland, 850
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, 6, 3, $153,200
2, Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, Brazil, 6, 1, $129,700
3, Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes, Brazil, 6, 1, $114,900
4, Simone Kuhn/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland, 6, 1, $76,600
5, Greta Cicolari/Marta Menegatti, Italy, 5, 0, $76,000
6, Jennifer Kessy/April Ross, United States, 5, 0, $68,600
7, Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh, United States, 5, 0, $67,800
7, Sara Goller/Laura Ludwig, Germany, 5, 0, $67,800
9, Sanne Keizer/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands, 5, 0, $67,300
10, Kristyna Kolocova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic, 5, 0, $51,500
11, Louise Bawden/Becchara Palmer, Australia, 6, 0, $49,400
12, Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler, Germany, 5, 0, $45,200
13, Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger, Austria, 5, 0, $41,000
14, Katrien Gielen/Liesbeth Mouha, Belgium, 6, 0, $40,050
15, Madelein Meppelink/Sophie van Gestel, Netherlands, 5, 0, $36,700
16, Vassiliki Arvaniti/Maria Tsiartsiani, Greece, 6, 0, $33,250
17, Natalie Cook/Tamsin Hinchley, Australia, 6, 0, $32,300
18, Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez Steiner, Spain, 5, 0, $31,300
19, Barbara Hansel/Sara Montagnolli, Austria, 6, 0, $30,400
20, Vivian Cunha/Taiana Lima, Brazil, 5, 0, $29,300
21, Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, Germany, 6, 0, $27,400
22, Heather Bansley/Elizabeth Maloney, Canada, 6, 0, $25,400
23, Daniela Gioria/Giulia Momoli, Italy, 6, 0, $25,200
24, Emilia Nystrom/Erika Nystrom, Finland, 6, 0, $24,350

2012 Men FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour Schedule/Results (as of June 17, 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 Reinder Nummerdor/Richard Schuil, Netherlands
May 22-27 Prague, Czech Republic Open   Cunha/Ricardo, Brazil
June 7-12 Moscow, Russia  Grand Slam Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego, Brazil
June 13-17 Rome, Italy  Grand Slam Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal, United States
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 Rosenthal, United States, $30,000
3. Marcio/Salgado, Brazil, $23,000
4. Benjamin Insfran/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, $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 – Beijing, May 8-13, $US$300,000
1. Reinder Nummerdor/Richard Schuil, Netherlands, $43,500
2. Lupo/ Nicolai, Italy, $30,000
3. Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego, Brazil, $23,000
4. Gibb/Rosenthal, United States, $18,400
Gold –Nummerdor/Schuil def. Lupo/ Nicolai, 21-11, 21-16 (31)
Bronze –  Alison/Emanuel def. Gibb/Rosenthal, 21-13, 21-16 (32)
MOP – Schuil
SWATCH Serve – Alison, 88.9 km/h
 
Czech Republic – Prague, May 22-27, $US$190,000
1. Cunha/Ricardo, Brazil, $30,000
2. Alison/Emanuel, Brazil, $21,000
3. Dalhausser/Rogers, United States, $15,000
4. Marcio/Salgado, Brazil, $11,200
Gold – Cunha/Ricardo def. Alison/Emanuel 21-15, 19-21, 15-10 (55)
Bronze –  Dalhausser/Rogers def. Marcio/Salgado 21-13, 21-19 (40)
MOP – Cunha
SWATCH Serve – Stefan Windscheif, Germany 98.9 km/h

Russia – Moscow, June 7-12, $US$300,000
1. Alison/Emanuel, Brazil, $43,500
2. Nummerdor/Schuil, Netherlands, $30,000
3. Cunha/Ricardo, Brazil, $23,000
4. Julius Brink/Jonas Reckermann, Germany, $18,400
Gold – Alison/Emanuel def. Nummerdor/Schuil, 21-16, 29-27 (47)
Bronze –  Cunha/Ricardo def. Brink/Reckermann 21-19, 21-14 (41)
MOP – Emanuel
SWATCH Serve – Ruslans Sorokins, Latvia, 96.9 km/h

Italy – Rome, June 13-17, $US$300,000
1. Gibb/Rosenthal, United States, $43,500
2. Alison/Emanuel, Brazil, $30,000
3. Sebastian Chevalier/Sascha Heyer, Switzerland, $23,000
4. Fuerbringer/Lucena, United States, $18,400
Gold – Gibb/Rosenthal def. Alison/Emanuel, 21-13, 21-12 (36)
Bronze – Chevalier/Heyer def. Fuerbringer/Lucena 23-21, 21-13 (41)
MOP – Rosenthal
SWATCH Serve – Kevin Ces, France, 95.0 km/h

2012 Women FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour Schedule/Results (as of June 17, 2012)
Dates  Site   Open/GS/OG Gold Medal Team or Purse
April 15-20  Brasília, Brazil  Open   Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, China
April 24-29 Sanya, China  Open   Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes, Brazil
Apr 30-May 5 Shanghai, China  Grand Slam Xue/Zhang, China
May 7-12 Beijing, China  Grand Slam Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, Brazil
June 6-11 Moscow, Russia  Grand Slam Xue/Zhang, China
June 12-17 Rome, Italy  Grand Slam Simone Kuhn/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland
July 2-7 Gstaad, Switzerland Grand Slam $300,000
July 11-15 Berlin, Germany  Grand Slam $300,000
July 16-21 Klagenfurt, Austria Grand Slam $300,000
July 28-Aug 9 London, Great Britain Olympic Games  
August 13-18 Stare Jablonki, Poland Grand Slam $300,000
Aug 28-Sept 2 Aland, Finland  Open  $190,000
October 23-28 Bang Saen, Thailand Open $190,000

2012 FIVB SWATCH World Tour – Women’s Final Four results
Brazil – Brasília, April 15-20, $US$190,000
1. Chen Xue/Xi Zhang, China, $30,000
2. Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes, Brazil, $21,000
3. Greta Cicolari/Marta Menegatti, Italy, $15,000
4. Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, Brazil, $11,200
Gold – Xue/Zhang def. Maria/Talita, 21-17, 21-15 (38 minutes)
Bronze – Cicolari/Menegatti def. Juliana/Larissa, 21-14, 17-21, 15-13 (52)
MOP - Zhang
SWATCH Serve – Raquel Pellucci, Brazil, 82.2 km/h

China – Sanya, April 24-29, $US$190,000
1. Maria/Talita, Brazil, $30,000
2. Juliana/Larissa, Brazil, $21,000
3. Xue/Zhang, China, $15,000
4. Barbara Hansel/Sara Montagnolli, $11,200
Gold – Maria/Talita def. Juliana/Larissa, 21-17, 17-21, 15-13 (56)
Bronze Xue/Zhang def. Hansel/Montagnolli, 21-16, 21-17 (45)
MOP – Talita
SWATCH Serve – Taliqua Clancy, Australia 78.4 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

China – Beijing, May 7-12, $US$300,000
1. Juliana/Larissa, Brazil, $43,500
2. Cicolari/ Menegatti, Italy, $30,000
3. Keizer/ Van Iersel, Netherlands, $23,000
4. Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler, Germany, $18,400
Gold – Juliana/Larissa def. Cicolari/ Menegatti, 21-13, 21-15 (33)
Bronze Keizer/ Van Iersel def. Holtwick/ Semmler, 21-14, 24-26, 16-14 (55)
MOP – Juliana
SWATCH Serve – Jamie Lynn Broder, Canada, 80.6 km/h

Russia – Beijing, June 7-12, $US$300,000
1. Xue/Zhang, China, $43,500
2. Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh, United States, $30,000
3. Juliana/Larissa, Brazil, $23,000
4. Maria/Talita, Brazil, $18,400
Gold – Xue/Zhang def. May-Treanor/Walsh, 21-14, 21-14 (34)
Bronze Juliana/Larissa def. Maria/Talita, 19-21, 21-18, 15-8 (52)
MOP – Xue
SWATCH Serve – Svetlana Popova, Russia, 80.9 km/h

Italy – Rome, June 12-17, $US$300,000
1. Simone Kuhn/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland, $43,500
2. Sara Goller/Laura Ludwig, Germany, $30,000
3. Jennifer Kessy/April Ross, United States, $23,000
4. Cicolari/Menegatti, Italy, $18,400
Gold – Kuhn/Zumkehr def. Goller/Ludwig, 21-12, 21-18 (41)
Bronze Kessy/Ross def. Cicolari/Menegatti, 21-17, 15-21, 15-13 (59)
MOP – Ludwig
SWATCH Serve – Ross, 80.0 km/h

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