All three USA men’s teams were knocked out in elimination play Saturday in the FIVB Porec five-star beach-volleyball tournament in Croatia.
But it was a big day for Canadians Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes, who won the women’s gold.
The men’s semifinals on Sunday show Pedro Solberg and Gustavo Carvalhaes of Brazil facing Oleg Stoyanvskiy and Artem Arzutkin of Russia and Italians Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo playing Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt of Brazil. Cerutti and Schmidt beat Nicolai and Lupo in the Rio Olympics gold-medal match last summer.
Also Saturday, the FIVB announced the pools for the World Championships that start July 29 in Vienna.
It was a tough day for the American men as both Theo Brunner and Casey Patterson and Taylor Crabb and Jake Gibb finished fifth, while Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena finished ninth.
Brunner and Patterson defeated Lombardo Ontiveros and Juan Virgen of Mexico 20-22, 21-15, 15-12 in the round of 16, but were eliminated by Cerutti and Schmidt 21-12, 21-19.
Taylor Crabb and Gibb advanced past Canada’s Sam Pedlow and Sam Schachter 12-13, 21-18, but lost to Nicolai and Lupo 21-17, 17-21, 15-11.
Dalhausser and Lucena were beaten by Pedro Solberg and Gustavo Carvalhaes of Brazil 21-11, 21-17 in the round of 16.
Stoyanovskiy and Yarzutkin’s best finishes this year were in the Moscow and Kish three-star events, where they finished third. Solberg and Carvalhaes’ best finish this year was in the Dela Beach three-star, finishing fifth. The two teams have never met.
Nicolai and Lupo have three medals on the world tour this year with silver in Xiamen and bronze in Dela Beach and Rio. Cerutti and Schmidt’s 2017 finishes include gold in Rio along with fifths in Moscow and Fort Lauderdale.
The two teams played previously in pool E with Lupo and Nicolai coming out on top 21-14, 21-18.
Pavan and Humana-Paredes brought home the gold after dropping an overtime set one to the Czech Republic’s Barbora Hermannova and Marketa Slukova 32-34, 21-12, 15-6. What’s more, the win came on the annual holiday Canada Day in a year when Canada is celebrating its 150th anniversary of becoming a country.
They’ve done it! Congratulations @SarahPavan and @melissa_hp10! They’ve won #PorecMajor gold 🥇🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/S6xmuBnjyv
— Swatch Major Series (@SwatchMajors) July 1, 2017
The victory punctuates the Canadians’ fourth medal–round appearance in five tournaments, while the Czech pair adds Porec silver to their Rio bronze.
2017 FIVB Beach World championship pools announced
In less than four weeks the most anticipated event of the FIVB beach calendar, the $1M world championships in Vienna, Austria begins.
The format of the 11th world championship begins with 12 pools of four teams per gender. Top seeds in the pools are determined by rankings as of June 23, except that the host country is automatically top seed in pool L.
The top 23 teams are automatically granted berths in the world championships, while the remainder qualify through the continental qualifiers plus three wild cards per gender.
On the men’s side, the USA and Brazil lead the competition in numbers of teams with four each, as the USA sends Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, Theo Brunner and Casey Patterson, Taylor Crabb and Jake Gibb, and Ryan Doherty and John Hyden. Brazil will be represented by Saymon Barbosa and Alvaro Filho, Evandro Goncalves and Andre Loyola, and Gustavo Carvalhaes and Pedro Solberg.
On the women’s side, Brazil and Germany lead with five teams: Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes, Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda Lisboa, Barbara Seixas and Fernanda Alves, Elize Maia and Taiana Lima, and Maria Antonelli and Carolina Solberg Salgado (wild card).
Germany will be represented by Victoria Bieneck and Isabel Schneider, Chantal Laboreur and Julia Sude, Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst, Karla Borger and Margareta Kozuch, and Nadja Glenzke and Julia Grossner.
The USA women have qualified four teams: Kerri Walsh-Jennings and Nicole Branagh, Summer Ross and Brooke Sweat, Sara Hughes and Kelly Claes, and April Ross and Lauren Fendrick.
The top two pairs in each pool are guaranteed spots in the 32-team elimination playoffs. The top four third-place teams (based on match, set, and point ratios) will also receive playoff berths. The eight third place teams ranked fifth through 12th will play “lucky loser” matches with the winners advancing to elimination play.
Men’s
Pool A:
No. 1 Alvaro Filho/Saymon Barbosa/ Brazil
No. 24 Sergio Gonzalez/ Nivaldo Diaz, Cuba
No. 25 Thomas Kunert/Christoph Dressler, Austria
No. 48 Daneil Williams/Marlon Philip, Trinidad and Tobago
Pool B
No. 2 Janis Smedins/Aleksandrs Samoilovs, Latvia
No. 23 Jefferson Santos Pereira/Cherif Younousse, Qatar
No. 26 Markus Böckermann/Lars Flüggen, Germany
No. 47 Carlos Charly Rangel/Johonatan Golindano, Venezuela
Pool C
No. 3 Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, USA
No. 22 Ryan Doherty/John Hyden, USA
No. 27 Mariusz Prudel/Kacper Kujawiak, Poland
No. 46, Andy Alexis Leonardo Blanco/Luis Garcia, Guatemala
Pool D
No. 4 Evandro Goncalves/Andre Loyola, Brazil
No. 21 Juan Virgen/Lombardo Ontiveros, Mexico
No. 28 Daniel Quesada/Karell Pina Ventoza, Cuba
No. 45 Christiaan Varenhorst/Maarten Van Garderen, Netherlands
Pool E
No. 5 Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil
No. 20 Marco and Esteban Grimalt, Chile
No. 29 Martins Plavins/Haralds Regza, Latvia
No. 44 Andevino Nguvo/Tovela, Mozambique
Pool F
No. 6 Viacheslav Krasilnikov/NikitaLiamin, Russia
No. 19 Dries Koekelkoren/Tom van Walle, Belgium
No. 30 Edgars Tocs/Rihards Finsters, Latvia
No. 43 Mohammed Abicha/Zouheir Elgraoui, Morocco
Pool G
No. 7 Bartosz Losiak/Piotr Kantor, Poland
No. 18 Jake Gibb/Taylor Crabb, USA
No. 31 Capogrosso/Azaad, Argentina
No. 42 Goyo/Roger Daniel Battilana Villamayor, Paraguay
Pool H
No. 8 Pedro Solberg/Gustavo Carvalhaes, Brazil
No. 17 Theo Brunner/Casey Patterson, USA
No. 32 Robin Seidl/Tobias Winter, Austria
No. 41 Jamaine Naidoo/Leo Williams, South Africa
Pool I
No. 9 Pablo Herrera/Adrian Gavira, Spain
No. 16 Sam Pedlow/Sam Schachter, Canada
No. 33 Ade Candra Rachmawan/Mohammad Ashfiya , Indonesia
No. 40 To be determined in trial, Austria
Pool J
No. 10 Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen, Netherlands
No. 15 Grzegorz Fijalek/Michal Bryl, Poland
No. 34 Alex Ranghieri/Adrian Carambula, Italy
No. 39 Mauricio Vieyto/Renzo Cairus, Uruguay
Pool K
No. 11 Paolo Nicolai/Daniele Lupo, Italy
No. 14 Oleg Stoyanovskiy/Artem Yarzutkin, Russia
No. 35 Christopher McHugh/Damien Schumann, Australia
No. 38 Patrick Lombi/Abubakarr Kamara, Sierra Leone
Pool L
No. 12 Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst, Austria
No. 13 Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk, Canada
No. 36 Rahman Raoufi /Bahman Salemiinjehboroun, Iran
No. 37 Ryan Vandenburg/Aaron Nusbaum, Canada
Women’s Pools
Pool A
No. 1 Larissa Franca/Talita Antunes, Brazil
No. 24 Victoria Bieneck/Isabel Schneider, Germany
No. 25 Kerri Walsh Jennings/Nicole Branagh, USA
No. 48 Teresa Strauss/Katharina Holzer, Austria
Pool B
No. 2 Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude, Germany
No. 23 Elsa Baquerizo/Angela Lobato, Spain
No. 26 Lidiannis Echeverria Benitez/Leila Martinez, Cuba
No. 47 Andrea/Gorda, Columbia
Pool C
No. 3 Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda Lisboa, Brazil
No. 22 Madelein Meppelink/Sophie van Gestel, Netherlands
No. 27 Julie Gordon/Camille Saxton, Canada
No. 46 Gaudencia Makokha/Naomie Too, KEN
Pool D
No. 4 Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst, Germany
No. 21 Karla Borger/Margareta Kozuch, Germany
No. 28 Nadja Glenzke/Julia Großner, Germany
No. 45 Mahassine Siad/Imane Zeroual, Morocco
Pool E
No. 5 Summer Ross/Brooke Sweat, USA
No. 20 Valentyna Davidova/Ievgeniia Shchypkova, Ukraine
No. 29 Tatyana Mashkova/Bakhtygul Samalikova, Kazakhstan
No. 44 Cornelia Rimser/Lena Plesiutschnig, Austria
Pool F
No. 6 Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic
No.19 Riikka Lehtonen/Taru Lahti, Finland
No. 30 Gabriela Filippo/Erika Bobadilla, Paraguay
No. 43 Natalia Alfaro/Karen Charles, Costa Rica
Pool G
No. 7 Sarah Pavan/Melissa Humana-Paredes, Canada
No. 18 Yuan Yue/Fan Wang, China
No. 31 Marta Menegatti/Rebecca Perry, Italy
No. 42 Manon Nummerdor-Flier/Marleen van Iersel, Netherlands
Pool H
No. 8 Barbara Seixas/Fernanda Alves, Brazil
No. 17 Joana Heidrich/Anouk Vergé-Dépré, Switzerland
No. 32 Elize Maia/Taiana Lima, Brazil
No. 41 Liocadia Manhica/Vanessa Muianga, Mozambique
Pool I
No. 9 Maria Antonelli/Carolina Salgado, Brazil
No. 16 Sara Hughes/Kelly Claes, USA
No. 33 Taylor Pischke/Jamie Broder, Canada
No. 40 Charlotte Nzayisenga/Denyse Mutatsimpundu, Rwanda
Pool J
No. 10 Nina Betschart/Tanja Hüberli, Switzerland
No. 15 Brandie Wilkerson/Heather Bansley, Canada
No. 34 Virginia Zonta/Ana Gallay, Argentina
No. 39 Gabi Brito/Norisbeth Agudo, Venzuela
Pool K
No. 11 Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy, Australia
No. 14 April Ross/Lauren Fendrick, USA
No. 35 Nicole Laird/Jessyka Ngauamo, Australia
No. 38 Chen Xue/Xinxin Wang, China
Pool L
No. 12 Stefanie Schwaiger/Katharina Schützenhöfer, Austria
No. 13 Kristyna Kolocova/Michala Kvapilova, Czech Republic
No. 36 Ekaterina Birlova/Nadezda Makroguzova, Russia
No. 37 Varapatsom Radarong/Tanarattha Udomchavee, Thailand
