No 121 December 2003 English edition

FÉDÉRATION INTERNATIONALE DE VOLLEYBALL 2003 shrouded in green, yellow and red! With the 2003 season drawing to a close, one has to stand, look back and marvel at a wonderful year of Volleyball and Beach Volleyball and reflect on all the astonishing feats accomplished in both sports. And it is no surprise to see the distinct colours of yellow, green and red quickly flooding the picture in what has been a fantastic year for the Brazilian men’s and Chinese women’s teams.

The recently completed World Cups saw One month later China pulled off the sen- ings ahead of countrymen Benjamin Ins- both teams dominate, charging through sation of the 2003 World Grand Prix finals fran and Marcio Araujo and Paul and their respective tournaments unbeaten in when they deprived title defenders and Martin Laciga from Switzerland. Simi- superb displays of quality Volleyball. The outright favorites Russia the prize with a larly, on the women’s circuit, another two teams, now ranked number one in display of stunning and stylish Volleyball new Brazilian combination featuring the world in the FIVB rankings, dis- that mixed skill and deception with Olympic and two-time world champion played inspirational Volleyball in a cru- strength to give them a well deserved 3-0 Sandra Pires Tavares and Ana Paula Con- cial event offering Olympic qualification. (25-22, 28-26, 25-21) victory in "the nelly collected an amazing four gold and The men’s tournament saw Italy and Ser- decider". four silver medals to finish ahead of last bia and Montenegro join Brazil in quali- year’s ranking winners Misty May and fying for Athens while China will go to While the World Cup and World League Kerri Walsh from USA and compatriots with the Brazilian and the US triumphs added to Brazil’s impressive Adriana Behar and Shelda Bruno Bede. women’s team. trophy collection, it certainly bodes well for their future when their Boy’s U19 and All in all, 2003 has been a fantastic year The inaugural World Cup triumph for Women’s U20 teams both became World for both Volleyball and Beach Volleyball, Brazil and the third for China capped Champions, while their Men’s U21 and this edition of the Xpress takes a look stellar years for them both. Earlier in the claimed the silver medal after being back at the results of some of the compe- year they were equally dominant in their upset in the final by and their titions. Continental Championships and the Girls U18 side collected bronze. China World League and World Grand Prix have been equally impressive in the competitions respectively, where they women’s under age group, remaining only lost two games each all tournament. unbeaten in collecting the U18 title and losing to Brazil in the five-set final of the Brazil brought the carnival to Madrid in Women’s U20 Championship. Spain when they met Serbia and Mon- tenegro to fight for the coveted title of the While China’s control of the women’s World League in July but the result went Beach Volleyball circuit is still developing down to the wire - and the tiebreaker - in through the young pair of Tian Jia and what turned out to be a superb display of Wang Fei, Brazil have been pioneers in the modern game that really finished the sport in both genders. Brazil celebrate their first with two superb winners. Brazil took the World Cup victory title 3-2 (25-16, 21-25, 19-25, 25-23, 31-29) Ricardo Alex Costa Santos and Emanuel in just seven minutes shy of two hours, it Rego had only played two tournaments was, however, a match that will stand together in 2002 (collecting bronze on www.fivb.org/ alone in the history of World League each occasion) before the Brazilian pair finals as a truly great contest between the claimed five gold - including the World For more news and updates visit sport’s poets Brazil and its warriors Ser- Championship - and a bronze in 2003 to our website at: www.fivb.org bia and Montenegro. top the Swatch-FIVB World Tour rank-

Find out more at www.fivb.org VOLLEYBALL VOLLEYBALL INAUGURAL WORLD CUP EXCLUSIVE MATERIALS & EQUIPMENT WIN FOR BRAZIL FOR 2001-2004

World champions Brazil finished an VOLLEYBALLS SHOES AND UNIFORMS excellent 2003 by claiming their first World Cup title in November and fin- MIKASA OLYMPIKUS ished the tournament in grand style MVP200 (color) shoes & uniforms Exclusivity for : recording their 11th successive victory, Exclusive Game Ball for: Instructors, International Referees, beating hosts Japan 25-17, 25-20, 25-16 all FIVB Competitions incl. OG Line Judges & Scorers on the final day in Tokyo’s Yoyogi Sta- 2004-2008 all FIVB Competitions incl. OG 2004 dium. Seminars & Courses MIKASA MVL200 color ADIDAS With the South Americans already con- VL200 (MGV5) (white) shoes & uniforms firmed as gold medalists after closest rivals Italy had lost to Serbia and Mon- TACHIKARA ASICS tenegro earlier in the day, Bernardo SV-5W (white, leather) shoes & uniforms Rezende’s men just had to complete the formalities and did so in great artistic MOLTEN CHAMPION style to silence the 12,000 screaming local IV58L (MTV5) (white) uniforms fans and walk away with the honour of IV58LC (MTV5IT) (color) having won the World League, the South IV5XC (MTV5SLIT) (color, synthetic DACAPO American championship and the World leather) uniforms Cup in the same year. GALA DESCENTE BV 5091L (color) shoes & uniforms “It is my privilege to be the first ever head BV 5091S (color, synthetic leather) coach of Brazil to win this tournament,” FNC KOLON Rezende said. “Our players did an excel- MONDO uniforms lent job and played superbly right Volleyball VBL-5 (white) throughout the tournament, despite the MIKASA long and tough campaign. CAMBUCI uniforms “Penalty” Volley Pro 6.0 (color) MIZUNO “Maybe this title has slightly less value QINGDAO-SYNSHEEN shoes & uniforms than the Olympics but it is still a great “Star” VB 205-34 (color) honour to win the World Cup and com- NIKE, INC. pletes a fantastic year for us.” WILSON shoes & uniforms “Reaction” (white, leather) SPEEDO USAhead coach Doug Beal summed it up Uniforms for International Referees, well after his side lost to the “Boys from INSPECTED BALLS Line Judges, Scorers, Officials & Play- Brazil” in straight sets in the Final Round. ers for BEACH WORLD TOUR and (Formerly Recommended Balls) WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MONDO “Brazil is the best team in the world. Mondo Volley VS-T5 K-Concept Maybe the best thing about Brazil is that Mondo Mini Volley SYNTHETIC FLOORS they play well everyday. That’s the great (FIVB APPROVED) lesson for all the teams; to be the best, you BEACH VOLLEYBALLS have to play at your best all the time.” MONDO MIKASA exclusive for all : FIVB competitions incl. OG 2004 The whole tournament was an amazing VLS 200 (Color) Beach Exclusive Game Ball for all FIVB Mondoflex Blue Laguna H23 + Rose success with the Japanese cities of Tokyo, Flamingo H41 Nagano, Hiroshima, Hamamatsu, Competitions incl. OG 2004-2008 Fukuoka and Okayama all taking turns in TARAFLEX hosting the wonderful spectacle that is MOLTEN VBOS (HSBV5) (color) Beach Taraflex sport M 6431 Teal-6146 Coral the World Cup. And while it was Brazil Taraflex sport 3D (same colors) who enjoyed the event the most, other teams took great heart from their perfor- HOMOLOGATED POSTS, PADS mances including Italy, whose resur- ANTENNAE, NETS, SYNTHETIC FLOORS gence continues. In a repeat of the top REF.CHAIRS three at the 2003 World League, Italy this (Recommended) time finished ahead of Serbia and Mon- SENOH MONDO tenegro to claim the silver medal while Posts, pads, nets with antennae & Mondosport HP-E USAfinished fourth for the fourth time in referees’ chairs exclusive for all : PVC indoor floor their World Cup history ahead of , FIVB competitions, incl. OG 2004 Blue Laguna H23 + Rose Flamingo H41 who finished fifth.

2 FIVB X-Press No 121 December 2003 VOLLEYBALL A LOOK BACK AT THE 2003 WORLD CUPS

2003 MEN’S WORLD CUP FINAL RESULTS (win-loss ratio in parenthesis) Brazilian fans offer their support Position Country 1 BRA (11-0) Men’s World Cup Magnificent Seven

2 ITA (9-2) Best Scorer and MVP: 3 SCG (9-2) Takahiro Yamamoto, Japan 4 USA (8-3) Best Spiker: Giovane, Brazil

5 FRA (7-4) Best Blocker: 6 KOR (5-6) Andrija Geric, Serbia and Montenegro 7 CAN (5-6) Best Server: Andrea Sartoretti, Italy

8 VEN (4-7) Best Setter: 9 JPN (3-8) Nikola Grbic, Serbia and Montenegro 10 CHN (2-9) Best Libero: Sergio, Brazil 11 TUN (2-9) Special award to Japan’s 12 EGY (1-10) Andrija Geric (SCG) spikes against Brazil Daisuke Usami

2003 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

FINAL RESULTS (win-loss ratio in parenthesis) Hamamatsu Arena, Japan Position Country 1 CHN (11-0) Women’s World Cup Magnificent Seven: 2 BRA (10-1) 3 USA (8-3) China celebrate qualifying for the Athens Best Scorer/ MVP: 2004 Olympic Games Malgorzata Glinka, Poland 4 ITA (7-4) Best Spiker: Zhao Ruirui, China 5 JPN (7-4) 6 CUB (6-4) Best Blocker: Valenka Menezes, Brazil 7 TUR (5-6) Best Server: Zoila Barros Fernandez, Cuba 8 POL (5-6) 9 KOR (3-8) Best Setter: Feng Kun, China 10 DOM (3-8) Best Libero: Arlene Xavier, Brazil 11 ARG (1-10) Special award to Japan’s 12 EGY (0-10) Awesome support for Japan Yoshie Takahashi

FIVB X-Press No 121 December 2003 3 VOLLEYBALL FINAL STANDINGS 2003 MEN’S WORLD LEAGUE Position Country 1 BRA In 2003, the $15 Million World League proved to be one of the richest and most significant annual international men’s Volleyball tournaments. With 2 SCG the top 16 teams in the world competing against each other during six 3 ITA gripping weeks of the Intercontinental Rounds, the final tournament took place in the Spanish capital Madrid, and saw Brazil become the 2003 4 CZE World League title holders moving them to the top of the FIVB World Rankings fol- lowing their sensational tiebreaker victory over Serbia and Montenegro. 5 BUL ESP “This was a fantastic match, maybe the best in volleyball history. It is not every day 7 GRE that we see such a match and it was a beau- RUS tiful victory. I think for our sport and for the public, it was fantastic,” Brazil’s cap- 9 POL tain, Nalbert Bitencourt. 10 FRA GER NED 13 CUB Over 10, 000 spectators turned up at the Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid for the 2003 JPN World League finals POR VEN World League Award Winners:

Top scorer: Ivan Miljkovic, Serbia and Montene- gro Brazil celebrated in style after the 2003 World League Finals in Madrid Top spiker: RESULTS FROM THE FINALS Martin Lebl, Czech Republic

Top blocker: Teams Result Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 Andrija Geric, Serbia and Montenegro ITA-CZE 3-1 22-25 25-22 25-22 25-19 Top server: Andrija Geric, Serbia and Montenegro YUG-BRA 2-3 16-25 25-21 25-19 23-25 29-31

VOLLEYBALL FINAL STANDINGS 2003 WOMEN’S WORLD World Grand Prix Award Winners GRAND PRIX Position Country Top Scorer: Ekaterina Gamova, Rus- sia 1 CHN The crowds came out in force to watch this year’s FIVB $1 million World Grand 2 RUS Top Spiker: Elizaveta Tishchenko, Prix, the premier annual women’s event, Russia which took place in Matera, Italy. China 3 USA Top Blocker: Anastasia Belikova, pulled off the sensation of the 2003 World 4 NED Grand Prix title when they deprived title Russia defenders Russia in a 3-0 victory. 5 ITA Top Server: Yang Hao, China 6 KOR 7 GER Special award for Most Popular Player: Paula Cardullo, Italy BRA 9 JPN www.fivb.org/ THA For more information CUB 11 on these tournaments go to World Grand Prix title holders, China CAN www.fivb.org

4 FIVB X-Press No 121 December 2003 VOLLEYBALL Brazil celebrate their fourth 2003 JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS world title with their coaches at the Women’s U20 World Championship in Thailand

International underage group Volley- Men’s U21 World ball is becoming stronger year by year Championship and illustrates the pure values of the sport where the young and fearless can 1. Poland unleash their unbridled talent on the 2. Brazil world stage. 3. Bulgaria 4. South Korea 2003 saw four major junior Volleyball 5. Russia World Championships; the Women’s U20 6. Iran World Championship in Thailand, The 7. Serbia & Monenegro Men’s U21 World Championships in 8. Iran, the Girl’s U19 World Championship in Thailand and the Boy’s U18 World Championship in Poland.

Boy’s U19 World Championship Girls’ U18 World Championship Women’s U20 World Championship

1. Brazil 1. China 1. Brazil 2. India 2. Italy 2. China 3. Iran 3. Brazil 3. Poland 4.Czech Republic 4. USA 4. Netherlands 5. Russia 5. Croatia 5. Germany 6. Thailand 6. Thailand 6. Ukraine 7. Puerto Rico 7. Russia 7. Belarus 8. Australia 8. Poland 8. Russia 9. CHN, EGY, ITA, NED 9. KOR, THA, TUR, VEN 13. VEN, SVK, POL, MAR 10. ALG, CUB, PUR, TAI

BEACH VOLLEYBALL ing a boom,” FIVB Beach Volleyball Coor- A RECORD YEAR FOR BEACH VOLLEYBALL: dinator, Angelo Squeo commented. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, FOUR GRAND SLAMS, “Challenger and Satellite tournaments PRIZE MONEY MIN. $4.9 million are a perfect launch pad for up-and-com- ing players to gain international experi- ence.” over 700 athletes from more than 50 coun- tries battled for World Tour honours and It was another enthralling season but one Olympic qualification points in this pre- now looks forward to 2004, which, with Olympic year. the race to qualify for the Athens Olympics in full swing, is guaranteed to be exciting.

Benjamin-Marcio in full attack at the Men’s Austrian Grand Slam

Beach Volleyball enjoyed a record year in 2003, one year ahead of the Athens Beach Volleyball in the alps at the 2004 Olympics. The season’s highlights Gstaad Open in Switzerland Centre court at the Norway Open with were the World Championships in Rio cruise ship alongside de Janeiro, Brazil, and for the first time the World Tour featured a four-leg The calendar also included a record- Grand Slam. breaking number of other tournaments www.fivb.org/ such as three Challenger and Satellite The 12-stop SWATCH-FIVB World Tour events. “The increased demand for Chal- For more news and updates for women and 11-event tour for men lenger and Satellite events is a sure sign of visit our website at: took in some wonderful stops on a circuit, the growing popularity of our sport and www.fivb.org which visited 14 different countries and indeed in many countries we are enjoy- FIVB X-Press No 121 December 2003 5 BEACH VOLLEYBALL MEN’S SWATCH-FIVB BEACH VOLLEYBALL 2003 WORLD TOUR

Date Country Site Type Prize Winners US$

04 June - 08 June Greece - Hellas Open Rhodes Open 150,000 1) Blanton-Nygaard (USA) 2) Benjamin-Araujio (BRA) 3) Berger-Doppler (AUT)

18 June - 22 June Switzerland - 1to1 Energy Open Gstaad Open 150,000 1) Benjamin-Araujio (BRA) 2) Dieckmann-Reckerman (GER) 3) Kobel-Heuscher (SUI)

25 June - 29 June Germany - Vodafone Grand Slam Berlin Grand 300,000 1) Harley-Franco (BRA) Slam 2) Baracetti-Conde (ARG) 3) Ricardo-Emanuel (BRA)

02 July - 06 July Norway - ConocoPhillips Open Stavanger Open 150,000 1) Ricardo-Emanuel (BRA) 2) Baracetti-Conde (ARG) 3) Prosser-Williams

16 July - 20 July France - World Series 13 Grand Slam Marseille Grand 270,000 1) Ricardo-Emanuel (BRA) Slam 2) M Laciga-P Laciga (SUI) 3) Blanton-Nygaard (USA)

23 July - 27 July Portugal- Portugal Open Espinho Open 150,000 1) Ricardo-Emanuel (BRA) 2) Kjemperud-Hoidalen (NOR) 3) Schact-Stac (AUS)

31 July - 03 Aug. Austria - A1 Grand Slam presented Klagenfurt Grand 260,000 1) Benjamin-Araujio (BRA) by Nokia Slam 2) Metzger-Wong (USA) 3) Kobel-Heuscher (SUI)

3 Sept. - 7 Sept. Spain - World of TUI Open de Mallorca Mallorca Open 150,000 1) Benjamin-Araujio (BRA) 2) Dieckmann-Reckerman (GER) 3) Baracetti-Conde (ARG)

18 Sept. - USA - Nissan Grand Slam Carson (LA) Grand 300,000 1) Ricardo-Emanuel (BRA) 21 Sept. Slam 2) Heyer-Egger (SUI) 3) Whitmarsh-Ceman (USA)

14 Oct. - 19 Oct. Brazil - FIVB World Championship Rio de 400,000 1) Ricardo-Emanuel (BRA) presented by Swatch Janeiro 2) Holdren-Metzger (USA) 3) Benjamin-Araujio (BRA)

Men’s World Tour Rankings

1 Ricardo-Emanuel BRA 2 Benjamin-Marcio Araujo BRA 3 Laciga P.-Laciga M. SUI 4 Heuscher-Kobel SUI 5 Dieckmann M.-Reckermann GER 6 Harley-Franco BRA 7 Berger-Doppler AUT 8 Hoidalen-Kjemperud NOR 9 Baracetti-Conde ARG 10 Heyer-Egger M. SUI

6 FIVB X-Press No 121 December 2003 BEACH VOLLEYBALL WOMEN’S SWATCH-FIVB BEACH VOLLEYBALL 2003 WORLD TOUR

Date Country Site Type Prize Winners US$

11 June - 15 June Greece - Hellas Open Rhodes Open 150,000 1) Ana Paula - Pires (BRA) 2) Behar - Shelda (BRA) 3) Walsh - May (USA)

17 June - 21 June Switzerland - 1to1 Energy Open Gstaad Open 150,000 1) Walsh-May (USA) 2) Ana Paula - Pires (BRA) 3) Behar-Shelda (BRA)

24 June - 28 June Germany - Vodafone Grand Slam Berlin Grand 300,000 1) Ana Paula- Pires (BRA) Slam 2) McPeak-Youngs (USA) 3) Behar-Shelda (BRA)

01 July - 05 July Norway - ConocoPhillips Open Stavanger Open 150,000 1) Ana Paula- Pires (BRA) 2) Walsh-May (USA) 3) Behar-Shelda (BRA)

15 July - 19 July France - World Series 13 Grand Slam Marseille Grand 270,000 1) Walsh-May (USA) Slam 2) Ana Paula- Pires (BRA) 3) Behar-Shelda (BRA)

30 July - 02 Aug Austria - A1 Grand Slam presented Klagenfurt Grand 260,000 1) Walsh-May (USA) by Nokia Slam 2) Ana Paula- Pires (BRA) 3) Behar-Shelda (BRA)

06 Aug.- 10 Aug. Japan - Japan Open Osaka Open 150,000 1) Ana Paula- Pires (BRA) 2) Behar-Shelda (BRA) 3) Cook-Sanderson (AUS)

13 Aug. - 17 Aug China - Lianyungang Open Lianyungang Open 150,000 1) Kadijka-Leenstra (NED) 2) Lahme-Musche (GER) 3) Cook-Sanderson (AUS)

20 Aug. - 24 Aug Indonesia - Bali Open Bali Open 150,000 1) Jia-Fei (CHN) 2) Peraza-Grasset (CUB) 3) Celbova-Novakova (CZE)

3 Sept. - 7 Sept. Italy - Estathe’ Italian Open Milan Open 150,000 1) Jia-Fei (CHN) 2) Behar-Shelda (BRA) 3) Mason-DeNecochea

18 Sept. - USA - Nissan Grand Slam Carson (LA) Grand 300,000 1) Walsh-May (USA) 21 Sept. Slam 2) Ana Paula- Pires (BRA) 3) Cook-Sanderson (AUS)

07 Oct. - 12 Oct. Brazil- FIVB World Championships Rio de 400,000 1) Walsh-May (USA) presented by Swatch Janeiro 2) Behar-Shelda (BRA) 3) Cook-Sanderson (AUS)

Women’s World Tour Rankings

1 Ana Paula-Sandra Pires BRA, 2 Walsh-May USA 3 Adriana Behar-Shelda BRA 4 Cook-Sanderson AUS 5 Tian Jia-Wang Fei CHN 6 McPeak-Youngs USA 7 Jordan-Davis USA 8 Novakova-Celbova CZE 9 Kadijk R.-Leenstra NED 10 Pohl-Rau GER

FIVB X-Press No 121 December 2003 7 VOLLEYBALL Men’s Senior 2003 CONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIPS European Championships

Final Standings: Other Volleyball events in 2003 have NORCECA Men’s 1. ITA included Continental Championships in Continental 2. FRA Norceca, Asia, Africa, Europe and South Championships 3. RUS America, as well as many more..... 4. SCG Final Standings: 5. POL Women’s Senior For more information on other 1. USA 6. NED European events in 2003 visit our website: 2. CAN 7. GER Championships www.fivb.org 3. CUB 8. ESP 4. MEX 9. CZE Final Standings: 5. PUR NORCECA Women’s 9. BUL 1. POL 6. PAN Continental 11. GRE 2. TUR 7. GUA Championships 11. SVK 3. GER 4. NED Final Standings: 5. RUS 1. USA 6. ITA 2. CUB 7. BUL 3. DOM 8. ROM 4. CAN 9. SCG 5. PUR 9. UKR 6. CRC 11. SVK 7. TRI 11. CZE Yoyogi Stadium , Japan

14th African Men’s Nations South American Championship - Men Continental Championship Final Standings: 1. TUN Final Standings: 2. EGY 1. BRA 3. CMR 2. VEN 4. ALG 3. ARG 5. MAR 4. CHI Women’s South Rodrigo Santana, Giba and Brazilian 6. CGO 14th African Nations 5. PAR American coach Bernardo Rezende celebrate the 7. RSA Championship - Continental 2003 World League title and topping the 8. RWA Women Championship FIVB world rankings Final Standings: Final Standings: 1. EGY 1. BRA Asian Men’s 2. KEN 2. ARG Championship 3. CMR 3. PER 4. ALG 4. ALG Final Standings: 5. TUN 5. TUN 1. KOR 6. SEY 6. SEY 2. CHN 7. CGO 7. CGO 3. IRI 8. SEN 8. SEN 4. AUS Asian Women’s 5. IND Championship 6. JPN 7. PAK Final Standings: www.fivb.org/ 8. KAZ 1. CHN 9. TPE 2. JPN 10. THA 3. KOR MERRY CHRISTMAS 11. QAT 4. THA 12. KSA 5. TPE AND A HAPPY NEW 13. BRN 6. VIE 14. NZL 7. KAZ 15. UAE 8. PHI YEAR FROM 9. AUS 10. NZL EVERYONE AT THE FIVB!

FIVB X-Press • Monthly information of the FIVB • Av. de la Gare 12 • CH-1001 Lausanne • Printed in Switzerland • FIVB founded in 1947 • President Dr. Rubén Acosta H. Tel. +41 21 345 35 35 • Fax +41 21 345 35 45 • WebSite: http://www.fivb.org/ • E-mail: [email protected] • Editor: Communication Dpt. • No 121 • December 2003

8 FIVB X-Press No 121 December 2003