Beach Pro Tour - News

BPT Uberlandia - Men Semifinals - CZEvsPOL_20

Ondrej Perusic & David Schweiner in Uberlandia

Just two weeks after falling out of the top 10 in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Ranking, Ondrej Perusic & David Schweiner came back swiftly and directly into number five. The Czech pair had not been this high in the chart since early November.

After winning gold at last week’s Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event in Uberlandia, Perusic & Schweiner pocketed 1,200 points, while dropping only 36 from their ninth best score over the past 12 months. Their new total of 6,920 points lifted them seven positions up from number 12 to number five.

The team that lost to the Czechs in the Uberlandia final, Norway’s Anders Mol & Christian Sorum, collected 1,100 points with their silver medals, netting 380 of them towards an impressive total of 9,600 and standing firmly on top of the ranking, while Uberlandia bronze medallists Michal Bryl & Bartosz Losiak of Poland moved a spot up to number six on 6,900 points, after netting 400 of the 1,000 points that came with the third place.

Achieving their best result out of their three appearances on the Beach World Tour since they teamed up earlier this year, Steven van de Velde & Matthew Immers of the Netherlands finished fourth in Uberlandia and stormed 53 positions up the chart to number 85.

An interesting switch between the second and the third-ranked teams occurred despite the fact that both finished fifth in Uberlandia after losing their quarterfinal fixtures. However, Dutch standouts Alexander Brouwer & Robert Meeuwsen netted only 160 of the 760 points they earned and dropped back to third, while Swedish jump-setters David Ahman & Jonatan Hellvig took in as many as 300 to climb to number two for the first time.

USA’s Taryn Kloth & Kristen Nuss reached new highs in Uberlandia. Not only did they conquer their first-ever Elite16 gold, but also climbed to number six in the women’s World Ranking for the first time. Their total increased by 440 points to 6,740, enough to overtake Latvia’s Anastasija Samoilova & Tina Graudina, whose Uberlandia campaign stopped at the quarterfinals, netting 300 points for them towards a 6,620 total.

There were no movements among the top three in the ranking. Leaders Eduarda Santos Lisboa (Duda) & Ana Patricia Ramos, who took home bronze in Brazil, Australia’s Taliqua Clancy & Mariafe Artacho Del Solar, runners-up in Uberlandia, and another home duo, Barbara Seixas & Carol Solberg, who reached the quarterfinals, kept their positions from one to three, respectively.

However, there is a new number four in the chart. Switzerland’s Nina Brunner & Tanja Huberli, who finished fifth in Brazil last week, netted 230 points and jumped above Netherlands’ Katja Stam & Raisa Schoon, edging them by 40 points.

After only six appearances on the Beach Pro Tour as a pair, Americans Sara Hughes & Kelly Cheng, who finished fourth in Uberlandia, have already climbed to number 11 in the ranking, up 12 spots from their 23rd position last week and now only 40 points short of a top 10 placement.

Reaching the quarterfinals upon their first international appearance after Joana Heidrich suffered a serious injury at last June’s FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship bronze medal match, she (now competing under her new last name Mader) and Anouk Verge-Depre regained 12 positions in the ranking to climb back up to number 28.