Beach Volleyball : Brazil and Switzerland… on
the podium !
Double success in the sun
of the 15th edition of the International Beach Volleyball Tournament
of Lausanne for men, and for the first time also for women. The
men's podium was represented by two Brazilian teams (first and third
place). Switzerland, 2nd nation in the world at the FIVB ranking,
obtained the second place with the surprising pair Gabathuler/Wenger.
The other Swiss pair Schütz/Schnider ended on the 4th place. Saturday,
the women's tournament was dominated by teams from Holland, Norway,
Austria and, revelation of the tournament, the Swiss pair Forrer/Skrivan.
Two very international rankings (the
foreign teams taking advantage of the absence of the best Swiss
pairs who are already in Athens) did not prevent Switzerland from
ranking among the best, proving that other young men and women's
teams are ready to take over the lead in our country. The 4 first
places of the men's tournament confirm that Brazil and Switzerland
are the two dominating countries in the world. However this 15th
edition of the Lausanne tournament has been more internationally
represented than ever: 12 nations representing the 5 continents
were qualified for the main men and women's draws.
In the men's tournament,
Fred/Cunha, the super favourite Brazilian team, widely confirmed
their position of Nr. 1 seeded team by beating all the other teams
by 2-0. The same scenario took place on Sunday where they first
beat their compatriots Duarte/Brazao (24-22, 21-12) and in the Final
the Swiss pair Gabathuler/Wenger (21-16, 12-13). Gabathuler/Wenger
had already unexpectedly beaten two teams better placed on the FIVB
ranking list, and repeated their feat on Saturday beating the second
Brazilian pair Duarte/Brazao. Sunday Gabathuler/Wenger first played
against their compatriots Schütz/Schnider beating them 2-1 (18-21,
21-18, 15-13). This victory allowed them to reach the big Final
where they struggled fiercely against the Brazilians. The small
Final opposing Duarte/Brazao to Schütz/Schnider saw the easy victory
of the Brazilians (21-13, 21-18); the Swiss pair seeming tired by
more matches played in the losers' draw.
In the women's tournament,
the Swiss pair Forrer/Skrivan, true revelation of this first women's
tournament in Lausanne, and playing in front of a captivated crowd,
was very close to two surprising victories. In the Semi-final they
only lost in a very tight tie-break (21-11, 19-21, 13-15) against
the Norwegian pair Wiig/Josefsen. The same scenario was repeated
in the small Final against the Austrians Montagnolli/Swoboda (18-21,
21-17, 14-16). There was a little less suspense in the big Final
where the Dutch Keizer/Mooren beat the Norwegians Wiig/Josefsen
2-0 (21-18, 21-15) after an almost perfect competition, losing only
one of their six matches.
If the public, always very important
in Vidy-Coubertin, has already proved to be very enthusiastic about
the athletic skills of the men players, it was also very much impressed
by the women, making a great success of this first edition. There
is no doubt that next year men en women will again play at the mean
time on the sand of Vidy giving birth to a new tradition!
![Download the PDF version [88ko]](../../../images/icopdf.gif){kind=small}
