Korea, Poland host SWATCH FIVB World Tour stops

The final open events before a string of five major tournaments on the 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Tour awaits the planet’s top players as Korea and Poland host international Beach Volleyball events this week for women and men, respectively.

While the women will be competing for the second-straight week in Asia after an event in Japan where Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca won a three-set finale in Osaka over a Brazilian rival, the men's SWATCH FIVB World Tour took a weekend off following a stop in Italy where Germans Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann won another three-set gold medal match over a team from Brazil.

Seoul hosts the women's SWATCH FIVB World Tour for the third-straight season. A new champion will be crowned this year as the previous two gold medal teams have disbanded for the 2009 season. The men will be playing for the first time in Myslowice, Poland, where the FIVB staged junior and youth world championships in 2006 and 2007, respectively.

Both events will follow the same format beginning Wednesday with Qualification Tournaments to determine the final eight berths for the 32-team double-elimination Main Draws, where the winning teams will share the $30,000 first-place prizes for Sunday’s finales. The money rounds start Thursday with the semifinals Saturday.

Following the two events, the international tour takes a break for more than three weeks before resuming play for the 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Championships in Stavanger, Norway beginning on June 25. The finals are July 4 for women and July 5 for men. Following the world championships, SWATCH FIVB World Tour Grand Slam stops will be held the next four weeks in Switzerland, Russia, France and Austria.

The defending champions for the US$190,000 Seoul Open are Chen Xue and Xi Zhang of China, the bronze medal winners from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The two players are competing with new partners this season in preparation for the Chinese National Games in September. Xue's 2009 partner is Ying Zhang, while Xi Zhang is now playing with 16-year old Ying Huang.

Juliana and Larissa, who placed third and fourth in the first two Seoul Opens, have won two of their 23 SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medals this year by capturing the 2009 international opener in Brasília, where the Brazilians defeated Americans Jen Kessy and April Ross in the finale.

With Juliana missing the next stop in China due to back problems, Talita Antunes and Maria Antonelli defeated host-country favorites Jie Wang and Man Zuo for the Shanghai gold medal. Returning for Osaka, Juliana and Larissa captured their second-straight title in Japan's "Second City" by defeating Talita and Antonelli in the finals.

The US$190,000 Myslowice Open is the first of two men's events in Poland this season. The European country has hosted SWATCH FIVB World Tour stops since 2004 in Stare Jablonki, where the Hotel Anders site will again stage a double-gender event August 4-9.

Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos, the 2003 SWATCH FIVB World champions and Athens 2004 Olympic gold medal winners, headline the inaugural Myslowice Open field as Brazilians have claimed podium placements each time in Stare Jablonki with four gold medals and a third-place finish.

The gold medal by Brink and Reckermann in Rome marked the third different men's winner this season. Emanuel and Ricardo won the season opener in Brasília by defeating compatriots Alison Cerutti and Harley Marques in the finals. Alison and Harley won the next event in Shanghai by downing Brazilian rivals Pedro Cunha and Pedro Salgado in the China gold medal match. The Pedros also placed second in Rome with Alison and Harley third after defeating Emanuel and Ricardo for the bronze medal.