2008 Championship Notes Fédération Internationale de Volleyball [email protected] Telephone +41-21 345 35 35 Updated on September 5, 2008, this fact sheet provides information on the 2008 SWATCH-FIVB Junior World Championships for players under the age of 21. The eighth annual event started Wednesday (September 3) and concludes Sunday (September 7) at the Nivea Sun Nellowave facility in Brighton, England. SWATCH-FIVB JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - With the London 2012 Olympic Games in the future, Great Britain will host its first-ever international Beach Volleyball event. The gold medal teams at the 2008 SWATCH-FIVB Junior World Championships for players under the age of 21.will be rewarded a “wild card” by the FIVB for a future SWATCH FIVB World Tour event during the final two months of the 2008 season or during the 2009 campaign. BRIGHTON - Brighton will be the sixth European site to host the SWATCH-FIVB Junior World Championships. With a population of more than 250,000, Brighton is located 45 minutes from London on the south coast of England and is one of the most famous cities by the sea in the United Kingdom with over eight million tourists each year. With its hotels, restaurants, shops and entertainment facilities, Brighton additionally serves a substantial business conference industry. The City of Brighton and Hove is also an educational centre with two universities and many English language schools. For comprehensive listings of places to eat, drink, sleep and enjoy, go to www.visitbrighton.com. NIVEA SUN YELLOWAVE - The first permanent beach sports venue in the United Kingdom, the Nivea Sun Yellowave offers beach sports activities to all ages and to all abilities, from beginners through to pros. Sports offered include Beach Volleyball, Beach Soccer, Footvolley, Beach Rugby, Ultimate Frisbee and Bouldering. Nivea Sun Yellowave also has a fantastic south-westerly facing decked area with the Barefoot Bar/cafe, where the beach backdrop makes this the perfect place to hang out. For more information on the Yellowave Beach Sports Centre, please visit www.yellowave.co.uk. ENTRIES - A total of 38 men’s and 33 women’s teams from 26 countries have competed in the SWATCH-FIVB Junior World Championships presented by Nivea Sun (as of September 4, 2008), including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, San Marino, Slovak Republic, Spain, Switzerland, the Ukraine and the United States. IN THE 2008 FIELD - Francesco Giontella and Paolo Nicolai of Italy are back to defend their SWATCH-FIVB Junior World Championship after winning the title last year in Modena, Italy. At the 2006 U19 in Bermuda, Giontella and Paolo Nicolai lost the gold medal match to Germany’s Jonathan Erdmann and Marvin Klass while compatriots Matteo and Paolo Ingrosso were third. Australia’s Becchara Palmer and Alice Rohkamper also return after claiming a women’s silver in Modena. Palmer and Rohkamper also won the 2006 U19 title in Bermuda where they defeated Marleen Van Iersel and Daniëlle Remmers of the Netherlands in the finals Other Modena podium placers in the 2008 junior worlds are Erdmann (men’s bronze) and Van Iersel of the Netherlands (women’s bronze). Poland’s Michal Kadziola and Jakub Szalankiewicz won the 2007 SWATCH-FIVB Youth World Championships for players under the age of 19. Kadziola and Szalankiewicz also won the 2008 European U20 gold medal early in August at San Salvo, Italy. Other 2008 European U20 podium placers in the Brighton field are the Dutchmen Christiaan Varenhorst/Alexander Brouwer (silver) and Russians Sergey Kostyukhin/Alexey Pastukhov (bronze). Château Les Tourelles, Edouard-Sandoz 2-4, 1006 Lausanne, Switzerland Page 1 of 5 FIVB Communication FAX Telephone: +41 21 345 35.45 For more Beach Volleyball news visit www.fivb.org 2008 Championship Notes Fédération Internationale de Volleyball [email protected] Telephone +41-21 345 35 35 THE MATURING OF MARLEEN - Twenty-year old Marleen Van Iersel of the Netherlands will be competing in her ninth junior/youth world championship event with her first event being in 2003 at Pattaya, Thailand. Van Iersel has earned bronze medals at the past two worlds for players under the age of 21 with Marloes Wesselink in Italy and Poland. Van Iersel and current partner Daniëlle Remmers were second at the 2006 U19s in Bermuda. Van Iersel and Wesselink, who won a 2007 FIVB Satellite stop in San Sebastiàn, Spain, are currently the 37th-ranked team on the 2008 SWATCH FIVB World Tour. Van Iersel won the European U20 gold medals in 2005 and 2007 with Remmers and Wesselink, respectively. OLYMPIC TRAINING GROUND - Three teams and four players competing at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games had posted “final four’ finishes the past seven years at the SWATCH-FIVB Junior World Championships. The men’s teams of Pablo Herrera/Raul Mesa of Spain (2001 silver and 2002 gold) and Martins Plavins/Aleksandrs Samoilovs of Latvia (2005 gold) won junior world titles while the Austrian Schwaiger sisters (Doris and Stephanie) claimed a 2005 bronze medal. Alexandra Shiryaeva of Russia (2003 gold) and Talita Antunes of Brazil (2002 bronze) also won medals while Vassiliki Arvaniti and Efthalia Koutroumanidou placed fourth in 2002 for Greece. 2008 SWATCH-FIVB YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - The Netherlands staged the seventh edition of the SWATCH-FIVB Youth World Championships for players under the age of 19 in The Hague July 30-August 3. Germany's Chantal Laboureur and Levke Springer defeated Rimke Braakman and Sophie van Gestel of the Netherlands 10-21 and 21-16 and 15-11 to win the women's gold medal. Estonians Kristo Kollo and Oliver Venno defeated Americans Jeff Carslon and Tony Ciarelli 21-17 and 21-16 to earn the men's gold medal. SWATCH-FIVB Junior World Championships Schedule · Wednesday, September 3....................................................................Men’s & Women’s Qualification Tournaments · Thursday-Saturday, September 4-6............................................................................Men’s & Women’s Main Draws · Sunday, September 7 .................................................................. Men’s & Women’s semi-finals and Medal matches FIVB Officials Sara Seravalli, Italy.......................Technical Supervisory Tim Simmons, United States...................Press Delegate Stefano Cesare, Italy............................ Referee Delegate Referees Djamel Bergheul, Algeria Maria Michelle Ferreira, Portugal Pietro Sacco, Italy Vassilis Vassiliadis, Greece Julian Bruxelles, France Drago Peslac, Croatia Leif Sonnesen, Denmark Nikoleta Chirpilidou, Greece Rene Petton, Germany Greg Thompson, Great Britain Christian Didembourg, Belgium Andries Pienair, Great Britain Bert Van Der Heul, Netherlands Promoter - Urban Event Management Tim Cantle-Jones ........................... Tournament Director Telephone.....................................0044 (0) 191 222 0440 Mark Kontopoulos.......................... Competition Director Mobile ...............................................0044 (0) 771118385 Mel Berry................................................... Press Director Fax .................................................0044 (0) 1922 211128 Gemma Nunnerley ......................Administrative Director E-mail...........................................info@urbanevent.co.uk Ian Taylor ............................................. Financial Director Website.........................................www.urbanevent.co.uk WGT Sport (Alistair Howard) ............................................... Accomodation & Transport The event website is www.brightonbeachvolleyball.com. The 2008 SWATCH-FIVB Junior World Championships presented by Nivea Sun is supported by UK Sport, who is responsible for managing and distributing public investment and is a statutory distributor of funds raised by the National Lottery. Other event partners are South East England Development agency, Volleyball England, and the Brighton and Hove City Councils. Nivea Sun is the presenting sponsor. Château Les Tourelles, Edouard-Sandoz 2-4, 1006 Lausanne, Switzerland Page 2 of 5 FIVB Communication FAX Telephone: +41 21 345 35.45 For more Beach Volleyball news visit www.fivb.org 2008 Championship Notes Fédération Internationale de Volleyball [email protected] Telephone +41-21 345 35 35 2008 SWATCH-FIVB Junior World Championships Of the seven previous SWATCH-FIVB Junior World Championships for players under 21 years old, Brazilians have captured three men’s and six women’s titles. Modena hosted the 2007 event where the teams of Francesco Giontella/Paolo Nicolai of Italy and Lili Maestrini/Barbara Seixas of Brazil captured the men’s and women’s titles, respectively. With Giontella being named the top men’s player in Modena, the U-21 title was the first-ever youth Beach Volleyball gold medal for Italy. At the 2006 U-19 in Berumda, Giontella and Nicolai claimed the silver medal with compatriots Matteo and Paolo Ingrosso placing third for Italy. Seixas successfully defended her U-21 crown after winning the 2006 gold medal in Poland with Carolina Aragao at Myslowice. The young Brazilians also won the 2005 U-19 title at Saint Quay Portrieux, France. Men’s U-21 Final 4s Gold Silver Bronze Medals 4ths........... Final 4s Brazil 3 1 1 5 1 .........................6 Spain 2 2 0 4 0 .........................4 Germany 0 1 2 3 1 .........................4 Latvia 1 1 0 2 1 .........................3 Poland 0