2019-08-15 19:56:00 CEST
The week in the sands of the world
Oleg Stoyanovskiy is looking for a home title in the four-star tournament in Moscow (Photocredit: FIVB)
Another week is in the books and the end of the 2018-2019 World Tour season approaches with the Finals set to take place in Rome at the start of September. Until there, though, the beach volleyball elite will keep its chase for the elusive Olympic ranking points and this week is a big part of it.
The main focus points to Moscow, as the Russian capital hosts some of the best players in the planet for the second-straight week after the European Championships, but there will also be tournaments in Belgium, the United States and Germany.
Check them out:
Elite returns for another week in Moscow
Moscow staged the European Championships last week and the Russian capital remains at the center of the volleyball world this week as it hosts a four-star World Tour event. After competing for several straight weeks, some teams decided to skip the event, but there’s still significant talent involved, including reigning world champions Oleg Stoyanovskiy and Viacheslav Krasilnikov of Russia and Vienna Major medalists Carol Salgado/Maria Antonelli and Agatha Bednarczuk/Duda Lisboa of Brazil. A double-gender one-star event is also taking place in Knokke-Heist, Belgium.
National Tours in the USA and Germany
All of the American teams which decided to not play in Moscow, including Gstaad Major winners April Ross and Alix Klineman and Vienna Major semifinalists Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, can be found this week in Manhattan Beach, the stage of the most prestigious stop of the American AVP Tour. Some German teams decided to compete at home this week as well, including Kim Behrens/Cinja Tillmann and Jonathan Erdmann/Sven Winter, as the National Tour heads to Kühlungs-Born.
Vienna Major semifinalists Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena will play in Manhattan Beach
Walsh Jennings part ways with longtime coach
One of the longest and winningest beach volleyball partnerships of the last decade is over as American star Kerri Walsh Jennings, who just turned 41 (Happy Birthday!) and head coach Marcio Sicoli have parted ways. Together, the American legend and the Brazilian won the gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics and a bronze in Rio four years later.
Walsh Jennings and Sicoli during the London 2012 Olympics (Photocredit: FIVB)
Social Media: Like father, like son
Alexander Brouwer’s son Boas is just nine months old but it seems he’s already picked up a thing or two from his dad, right?
In case you missed it
Latvians crowned Queens of Europe
Lauren Fendrick set for beach volleyball return
See you next week!