Lausanne, Switzerland, September 17, 2018 - The FIVB World Tour takes another week off before resuming action with five-straight weeks of international beach volleyball action starting September 30 with a double-gender event in Qinzhou, China.
Two men's and three women's events have been staged so far on the 2018-2019 FIVB World Tour with the last being this past weekend in China where two host country teams competed for the gold medal won by Jingzhe Wang and Shuhui Wen in a two-set victory over Olympians Fan Wang and Chen Xue.1. Jingzhe Wang/Shuhui Wen, China, $4,000
2. Fan Wang/Chen Xue, China, $3,000
3. Elize Maia/Maria Clara Salgado, Brazil, $2,000
4. Meimei Lin/Lingdi Zhu, China, $1,400
Gold - J. Wang/Wen def. F. Wang/Xue, 2-0 (21-14, 26-24) (39 minutes)
Bronze – Maia/Salgado def. Lin/Zhu, 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) (34)
The 2018 Zhongwei Open Podium with presenters
The FIVB World Tour returns to Qinzhou for the second-straight season after pairs from Australia and Russia won the women's and men's inaugural gold medals, respectively, last October. The $150,000 Qinzhou Open will take place during the Chinese National Day celebrations to commemorate the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
Following the Qinzhou Open, two more FIVB World Tour double-gender events will be played with $300,000 in prize money at each for tournaments in China (Yangzhou, October 10-14) and the United States (Las Vegas, October 17-21). October’s schedule also features single-gender stops in Iran (men) and Mexico (women).
The Iranian events are part of the Caspian Sea Series with the $5,000 tournaments being played in Bandar Torkaman (October 2-5), Babolsar (October 9-12) and Bandar Anzali (October 16-19). October's schedule ends with the $75,000 Chetumal Open from October 24-31 in Mexico.
All seven events are inaugural tournaments and will count towards qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Qualifying for the quadrennial began September 1 in France and concludes June 14, 2020.
The Olympic Rankings will be based on the points earned at the 12 best performances as a team in the 2019 FIVB World Championships in Germany (Hamburg, June 28-July 7), FIVB World Tour events and recognized Continental Tour Finals (in case of multiple participations during the Qualification Period, only the best result will be considered).