Former world number one team Andre Stein and George Wanderley of Brazil are back in the top three of the men’s FIVB Beach Volleyball World Ranking after winning last week’s Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event in Uberlandia.
Beach Pro Tour 2022
George & Andre regain ground in World Ranking
Andressa & Vitoria move up to become the third best-ranked Brazilian women’s team
Published 08:30, 15 Nov 2022
After last appearing on Tour at the Hamburg Elite16 in mid-August, Andre and George lost the number one spot in the ranking in early October, dropping to number four after the Elite16 event in Paris. Before Uberlandia, they were down to number five, but with the 1,200 points that came with their gold medals in Brazil, they climbed back up to number three on a total of 7,060 points. That is 160 short of second-ranked Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands and 110 clear of the previous third-ranked team, Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan of Qatar.
Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, who finished with bronze in Uberlandia, pocketed 1,000 points to improve to 8,450 and hold their ground as the number one team in the world.
Meanwhile, Uberlandia silver medallists Arthur Mariano and Pedro Solberg of Brazil, who teamed up for the 2022 season, not only advanced to their first world-level final, but also achieved their highest ranking as a pair so far. With the 1,100 points gained last week, they moved up 13 positions to number 36, while their compatriots Renato Lima and Vitor Felipe, whom they upset in the semifinals, took fourth place in the final standings and shifted a spot up the ranking to number eight.
Among the four teams that finished fifth in Uberlandia, Brazil’s Evandro Oliveira and Vinicius Freitas made the highest jump of 36 positions. It was only their fourth appearance on the Beach Pro Tour as a team, but they have already collected 2,040 points, enough for a 67th place in the ranking.
Among the remaining quarterfinalists, Norway’s Mathias Berntsen and Hendrik Mol climbed from 20th to 14th, Austria’s Julian Horl and Alexander Horst ascended from 32nd to 23rd, while their compatriots Robin Seidl and Philipp Waller stayed put in position 11.
Women’s quarterfinalists Terese Cannon and Sarah Sponcil of the United States were the only team that caused any movement in the top 10 of the ladies’ World Ranking. Their 760 points from Uberlandia helped them climb from number 10 to number eight on a total of 5,500 points.
Gold medallists Eduarda Santos Lisboa (Duda) and Ana Patricia Ramos and bronze medallists Barbara Seixas and Carol Solberg, both of Brazil, kept their number one and two positions in the ranking, on 8,560 and 7,260 points, respectively.
Silver medallists Andressa Cavalcanti and Vitoria Rodrigues, however, gained 10 positions to rank just below the top 10, in number 11 on 5,020 points. That’s 10 clear of Taiana Lima and Hegeile Almeida, who finished fourth in Uberlandia, who remain in 12th place. That put Andressa and Vitoria back among the three best-ranked Brazilian pairs, a status they last enjoyed back in June.
A fifth Brazilian duo, Maria Antonelli and Fernanda Alves, who finished fifth last week, their best result on the Beach Pro Tour so far, ascended 12 spots to number 61. The other fifth-placed teams, Japan’s Miki Ishii and Sayaka Mizoe and Finland’s Taru Lahti-Liukkonen and Niina Ahtiainen, rose by four and 13 positions, respectively, to number 13 and number 29.
