Lausanne, Switzerland, November 18, 2019 - The 2019 portion of the 2019-2020 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour campaign ended on Sunday in Mexico highlighted by the return to health of Australian Mariafe Artacho and a record for 43-year-old American Jake Gibb.
In Chetumal on Sunday afternoon, Artacho teamed with Taliqua Clancy at the second annual event on the Yucatan Peninsula to win their sixth FIVB women's title before Gibb became the oldest player to win a World Tour gold medal by topping the men's podium with Taylor Crabb.
After winning the bronze medal on July 6 at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Hamburg, Germany, Artacho missed three months of competition due to a knee injury before returning last month to place fourth with Clancy at a World Tour event in China.
Mexico - Chetumal, November 13-17, $150,000, FIVB women's event No. 425
1. Mariafe Artacho/Taliqua Clancy, Australia, $20,000
2. Fan Wang/Xinyi Xia, China, $16,000
3. Sanne Keizer/Madelein Meppelink, Netherlands, $10,000
4. Talita Antunes/Taiana Lima, Brazil, $8,000
Gold - Artacho/Clancy def. Wang/Xia, 2-1 (15-21, 21-14, 15-12) (50 minutes)
Bronze - Keizer/Meppelink won by forfeit over Talita/Taiana
The Chetumal women's podium with Chinese, Australian and Dutch pairs
At the age of 43 years, nine months and 11 days, Gibb surpassed Americans John Hyden (41 years, 8 months, 15 days) and Kerri Walsh Jennings (40, 9, 11) as the oldest player to top an FIVB World Tour for men or women.
It was Gibb's seventh FIVB title, first gold medal with Crabb and second crown in Mexico as he and Sean Rosenthal defeated legendary Brazilians Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos for the top spot on the 2006 Acapulco podium. Crabb also captured his first World tour gold medal.
Mexico - Chetumal, November 13-17, $150,000, FIVB men's event No. 463
1. Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb, United States, $20,000
2. Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen, Netherlands, $16,000
3. Tri Bourne/Trevor Crabb, United States, $10,000
4. Alexander Walkenhorst/Sven Winter, Germany, $8,000
Gold - Taylor Crabb/Gibb def. Brouwer/Meeuwsen, 2-1 (21-16, 16-21, 15-12) (48)
Bronze - Bourne/Trevor Crabb def. Walkenhorst/Winter, 2-0 (21-16, 21-12) (35)
The men's Chetumal medal winners from the Netherlands and the United States
The final week of play on the 2019 international calendar for the FIVB started with a men's-only event in Qatar where Poland's Jedrzej Brozyniak/Piotr Janiak on Friday became the 31st pair to capture a World Tour after qualifying for the Aspire Beach Volleyball Cup main draw in Doha.
Qatar - Doha, November 12-15, $5,000, FIVB men's event No. 462
1. Jedrzej Brozyniak/Piotr Janiak, Poland, $1,000
2. Petr Bakhnar/Yury Bogatov, Russia, $700
3. David Ahman/Jonatan Hellvig, Sweden, $500
4. Nouh Al-Jalbubi/Mazin Alhashmi, Oman, $400
Gold - Brozyniak/Janiak def. Bakhnar/Bogatov, 2-1 (18-21, 21-15, 15-12) (44 minutes)
Bronze - Ahman/Hellvig def. Al-Jalbub/Alhashmi, 2-1 (22-24, 21-12, 18-16) (48)
Russian, Polish and Swedish podium placers in Qatar
The 2020 portion of the 2019-2020 FIVB World Tour season resumes in January with events in Iran (January 3-7 in Qeshm) and the Cook Islands (January 14-17).