Lausanne, Switzerland, May 17, 2020 - Gold medal performances by Brazilian pairs highlighted this week’s action (May 17-23) in FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour history as the active duo of Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda 'Duda' Lisboa posted a pair of podium-topping performances on home sound in their South American country.
With four Olympians from Argentina (Jose Salema), Australia (Andrew Schacht), Germany (Sara Goller Niedrig) and Russia (Evgeniya Ukolova) celebrating birthdays during the May 17-23 period, Brazilian teams won eight of the 24 gold medals this week with American pairs topping five podiums.
Agatha and Duda captured their first two of five World Tour gold medals this week with a 2017 victory in Rio de Janeiro and a 2018 win in Itapema. In Rio, the Brazilians defeated Canadians Melissa Humana-Paredes/Sarah Pavan 2-1 (21-14, 13-21, 15-13) in 50 minutes on May 21. At the inaugural Itapema event, Agatha and Duda posted a 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) gold medal win on May 20 over Joana Heidrich/Anouk Verge-Depre of Switzerland in 36 minutes.
Other active pairs winning gold medals during the May 17-23 timeframe were Norwegians Anders Mol/Christian Sorum and Americans Alix Klineman/April Ross as the two teams finished first at a Brazilian event on May 19, 2019 in Itapema.
The 2019 Itapema podium with teams from Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the United States.
Mol and Sorum’s gold was their fifth of 10 FIVB titles together as the Norwegians defeated Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek/Michal Bryl 2-0 (21-19, 28-26) in 46 minutes. Klineman and Ross’ victory was their third of four World Tour gold medals as the Americans defeated Humana-Paredes and Pavan 2-1 (25-23, 18-21, 15-10) in 56 minutes.
Ross also won two other events during the May 17-23 period with Jen Kessy and Kerri Walsh Jennings. A 2009 world champion with Kessy, the pair won the Rome Grand Slam in 2010 on May 22. A 2016 Olympic bronze medal winner with Walsh Jennings, the American duo captured the 2016 Cincinnati Open on May 21.
Joining Agatha, Kessy, Ross and Walsh Jennings as other Olympic medal winners posting gold medal finishes during the May 17-23 timeframe were Brazilians Juliana Felisberta/Larissa Franca and Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego, Germans Julius Brink/Jonas Reckermann and Spaniards Javier Bosma/Pablo Herrera.
As for the birthdays, Ukolova celebrates No. 31 on May 17, Salema revels No. 50 on May 19, Goller Niedrig turns 36 on May 21 and Schacht becomes 46 on May 22. All are two-time Olympians, except for Salema, who placed 19th at the Sydney 2000 Summer Games with Mariano Baracetti despite playing with a recuperating right shoulder dislocation.
Ukolova and Ekaterina Birlova placed ninth and fifth at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games, respectively. Goller Niedrig was Laura Ludwig’s first Olympic partner as the pair finished ninth at Beijing 2008 and fifth at London 2012.
Schacht, who missed qualifying for the Sydney 2000 Summer Games with Victor Anfilloff, placed ninth at both the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with Joshua Slack. Schacht and Slack placed third together at the 2007 Gstaad World Championships in Switzerland after defeating Emanuel and Ricardo Santos of Brazil in the bronze medal match.
Andrew Schacht (left) and Joshua Slack with their 2007 World Championship bronze medals
Here is a recap of the May 17-23 gold medal FIVB World Tour teams.
May 17
• In 2009, Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann of Germany won the Rome Open. It was the first of five FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2015, Marco Caminati and Alex Ranghieri of Italy won the Lucerne Open. It was the only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
• In 2015, Karla Borger and Britta Buthe of Germany won the Lucerne Open. It was the only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
May 18
• In 2008, Chen Xue and Xi Zhang of China won the Seoul Open. It was the third of 15 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2008, Harley Marques and Pedro Solberg of Brazil won the Rome Open. It was the sixth of 10 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
May 19
• In 2019, Mol and Sorum won the Itapema Open. It was the fifth of 10 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2019, Klineman and Ross won the Itapema Open. It was the third of four FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2019, Maciej Rudol and Jakub Szalankiewicz of Poland won the Aydin Open. It was the only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
• In 2019, Mariia Bocharova and Maria Voronina of Russia won the Aydin Open. It was the only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
The 2019 Turkish podium in Aydin
May 20
• In 2018, Evandro Goncalves and Andre Loyola of Brazil won the Itapema Open. It was the second of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2018, Agatha and Duda won the Itapema Open. It was the second of five FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2018, Mailen Deliz and Leila Martinez of Cuba won the Aydin Open. It was the only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
May 21
• In 2005, Juliana Felisberta and Larissa Franca of Brazil won the Shanghai Open. It was the second of 45 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2016, Saymon Barbosa and Gustavo "Guto" Carvalhaes of Brazil won the Cincinnati Open. It was the only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
• In 2016, Ross and Walsh Jennings won the Cincinnati Open. It was the ninth of 11 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2017, Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt of Brazil won the Rio de Janeiro Open. It was the last of 12 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2017, Agatha and Duda won the Rio de Janeiro Open. It was the first of five FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
May 22
• In 2005, Christoph Dieckmann and Andreas Scheuerpflug of Germany won the Shanghai Open. It was the first of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2010, Kessy and Ross won the Rome Grand Slam. It was the eighth of 10 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2011, Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego of Brazil won the Prague Open. It was the first of seven FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2011, Sanne Keizer and Marleen Van Iersel of the Netherlands won the Myslowice Open. It was the second of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
May 23
• In 2004, Javier Bosma and Pablo Herrera of Spain won the Lianyungang Open. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
• In 2004, Misty May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings of the United States won the Rhodes Open. It was the 13th of 44 FIVB World Tour wins win for the team.
• In 2010, Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers of the United States won the Rome Grand Slam. It was the 10th of 23 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
Emanuel (pictured above to the left) and Javier Bosma (right) met in the 2004 Lianyungang final in China with the Spaniard teaming with Herrera to defeat the Brazilian and his partner Ricardo in the finale. Three months later, the two teams would meet for the Athens 2004 Olympic gold medal with the Brazilians winning.