Long Beach & Grand Slam 2013/ Amaro ko Orsi Toth & Menegatti / ORO Taiana Lima/Talita Antunes, ma Ct Lissandro stoppa la Cicolari…
In California c’era la coppia Marta Menegatti & Victoria Orsi Toth. Che peccato, non c’era Greta Cicolari: l’aveva esclusa il Ct Lissandro. Che peccato!!! Eravamo abituati a vedere la coppia Marta & Greta ‘spesso’ nella TOP FIVE delle tappe del World Tour, l avevamo registrate al 5° posto alle Olimpiadi di Londra, altrettanto al 5° posto nei recenti Mondiali 2013 in Polonia a Stare Jablonki. Le consideravamo ormai da podio, le avevamo viste sul podio. Le abbiamo seguite ‘guerriere’ durante le tappe del Grand Slam.
Poi i Mondiali in Polonia sono improvvisamente diventati il ‘capolinea’ della coppia Greta & Marta, col Ct Lissandro a decidere di ‘tagliare’ Greta dal clan azzurro.
Cosa è successo? Due Campioni possono anche scontrarsi, come può succedere che un CT come Lissandro decida di scegliere ‘una’ e tagliare ‘l’altra’ per scelte non solo tecniche.
Ma se è una punizione, beh spero che ci sia presto il perdono. Che Marta e Greta ‘ritornino’ assieme perché per il momento pare non ci siano alternative.
Parlano i risultati, vero Lissandro? Vero Victoria Orsi Toth? Vero Gioria? Vero Giombini?
Conosco bene Marta Menegatti e …ho letto molto di Greta Cicolari, compreso i suoi ‘battibecchi’ on line con una giornalista libera di raccontare la ‘cronaca’ come ritiene più opportuno.
Ho sempre pensato che per Marta & Greta parlano il campo. Ecco la penso ancora così.
Per il momento non vale la pena di …divorziare, quantomeno dal punto di vista tecnico.
Altrimenti per un anno non ritroverò più né la Marta né Greta nelle classifiche della Top Ten.
Insomma, caro amico Ct Lissandro made in Brazil, ti ricordo che il tuo e mio amico poeta brasiliano Vinicius De Moraes cantava così:<< La vita amico è l’arte dell’incontro”. Una canzone che il sottoscritto cantava sempre, perché ..la cantava anche il mio amico Sergio Endrigo, cantautore dell’anima e del cuore>>.
Se poi , vista da vicina, la Victoria Orsi Toth, fosse già grande ‘potenzialmente’ più di quanto non dicano i risultati, beh, sono contento per il Ct Lissandro e per Miss Marta Menegatti. Di sicuro faccio tanti auguri a tutti, compreso Greta Cicolari e Victoria Orsi Toth.
Ma per capire dove va a …finire il cielo, ecco in sequenza flash ciò che hanno detto gli ‘interessati’ a proposito su quel che possiamo definire un ‘divorzio’ che ‘sportivamente’ punisce troppo sia la Menegatti che l’Italia del beach volley.
Non ve ne parlerei neppure, ma mi tocca proporvi ciò che è stato scritto sulla lavagna/face book.
QUESTO palesava MARTA MENEGATTI in data 05 luglio 2013 :<< Purtroppo il nostro cammino finisce qui...in ogni caso, mi sento di dire che è stato un bellissimo mondiale, pieno di grandi emozioni! Grazie Greta, grazie Lis e un grazie di cuore a tutte le persone che ci sono state vicine qui in Polonia e da casa!
Grazie davvero!
Alla prossima!!!!
Marta
Ciao >>
QUESTO invece sottolineava by face book GRETA CICOLARI che sentiva ormai troppo vicina la ‘spada di Damocle’: << Questa è la mia voce e l'unica da ascoltare. Sono in ottima forma fisica e sono tra le prime giocatrici a livello di punti e risultati nel mondo.
Ogni scelta che verrà presa non è fatta da me, io vorrei tanto giocare e fare il mio lavoro.
Un abbraccio a tutti voi che mi volete bene e mi seguite sempre con affetto.
A presto!!!
Greta Cicolari>>.
E post decisione del CT Lissandro ecco QUEL CHE HA SCRITTO , sabato 28.07.2013 su face book, la stessa Greta Cicolari :<< Letto il comunicato comparso in data 26.07.2013 sul sito web della Federazione Italiana Pallavolo, ed il successivo intervento di Lissandro Carvalho, ritengo necessario precisare quanto segue al fine di evitare che possibili fraintendimenti possano ulteriormente ledere la mia immagine in questo difficile momento. Non posso accettare che quattro anni in cui ho condiviso con Marta Menegatti fatiche, emozioni, speranze gioie e delusioni finiscano in questo modo.
Le dichiarazioni rese ai media sembrano voler far intendere che la mia esclusione dal Progetto federale sia da imputarsi a contrasti “di tipo tecnico e caratteriale” con Marta.
Non è così.
Non ho mai avuto con la mia compagna attriti tali da determinare scelte drastiche. Le naturali differenze di carattere e le normali tensioni emotive, che chi lotta per obiettivi importanti può avere, non possono essere pretestuosamente deformate per motivare decisioni che hanno ben altre origini: precedentemente alla decisione della FIPAV, infatti, mai nessuno mi ha comunicato che il mio rapporto con Marta avrebbe potuto cessare a causa di asseriti problemi di relazione.
Il mio innato spirito agonistico e il mio carattere schietto possono aver portato a discussioni e a divergenze con l’allenatore su aspetti tecnici.
Ritengo che il confronto e la critica siano momenti di crescita che debbano essere vissuti in chiave positiva se l’indiscutibile fine comune è il miglioramento.
Mi sono invece resa conto che questo mio atteggiamento è stato mal interpretato sino al punto da essere utilizzato per mettere in discussione i rapporti umani ed interpersonali.
Per quanto mi riguarda le divergenze hanno sempre mantenuto la loro natura tecnica e mai hanno intaccato le sfere personali.
Non posso pertanto accettare che per tentare di giustificare scelte definite “tecniche” venga messo in discussione il mio rapporto con Marta alla quale sono legati quattro anni meravigliosi della mia vita.
Ho preso atto degli sconcertanti eventi degli ultimi giorni e voglio pensare solo a continuare a fare il mio lavoro senza però essere strumentalizzata o ingiustamente attaccata.
Ringrazio Aeronautica Militare, gli sponsor, i tifosi e la mia famiglia per il sostegno.
Grazie a loro sto continuando serenamente a giocare a questo bellissimo sport cercando, con il supporto della Federazione Italiana Pallavolo, di tenere alto l’onore del mio paese Italia nelle competizioni internazionali.>>
Per la verità era stato davvero “stringato” il Comunicato Ufficiale scritto sul sito www.federvolley.it che, datato 17.07.2013, vi proponiamo tout court: << Beach Volley: gli azzurri in partenza per gli Stati Uniti, Menegatti in coppia con Orsi Toth/
Il grande beach volley torna dopo dieci anni negli Stati Uniti con il Grand Slam di Long Beach (22-27 luglio).
Tre le coppie azzurre ufficiali iscritte: nel torneo femminile Orsi Toth-Menegatti (main draw) e Gioria-Giombini (qualificazioni); in quello maschile Lupo-Nicolai (main draw).
Al fianco di Menegatti giocherà Orsi Toth e non Cicolari, per una decisione del tecnico federale Lissandro Dias Carvalho.
Marta e Viktoria hanno già giocato insieme nel Mondiale U21 2010, conquistando la medaglia d'argento.
Risultano iscritte alle qualificazioni maschili anche le coppie Casadei-Ficosecco e Tomatis-Ranghieri.
PAULAO - Negli Stati Uniti Lupo e Nicolai saranno supportati dal tecnico Matteo Varnier. Il ct Paulao, invece seguirà in prima persona la Continental Cup Youth (in cui l'Italia schiererà Alfieri-De Silvestro) e successivamente l'Open Fivb di Anapa (Russia) in cui saranno impegnati Paolo Ingrosso e Matteo Cecchini.
YOUTH - Oltre a Manuel Alfieri e Paolo De Silvestro, in campo maschile, l'Italia sarà presente anche alla Continental Cup Youth femminile con Irene Enzo e Michela Lantignotti (guidate dal tecnico Viserta).>>
A questo punto cosa è successo nel Grand Slam di Long Beach? Ecco le New “Primo Piano” by sito ufficiale della Federvolley.
PRIMA NEWS BY LONG BEACH ( 24-07-2013 ) / Grand Slam Long Beach: i risultati delle coppie italiane
<<Nel Grand Slam di Long Beach le azzurre Menegatti-Orsi Toth hanno iniziato il loro torneo con due sconfitte: la prima contro le statunitensi Ross-Day 2-0 (21-16, 22-20), mentre le seconda per mano delle forti brasiliane Lima-Talita 2-0 (21-7, 21-10). Una vittoria e un ko, invece, per Gioria-Giombini che all'esordio si sono imposte sulle australiane Bawden-Clancy 2-0 (21-18, 21-18), per poi cedere alle spagnole Liliana-Baquerizo 2-0 (22-20, 30-28), al termine di un match molto combattuto.
Sul fronte maschile gli azzurri Nicolai-Lupo hanno vinto il derby tricolore che li vedeva opposti a Casadei-Ficosecco 2-0 (21-9, 25-23). Sconfitti Tomatis-Ranghieri, 2-0 (21-17, 21-15) dagli americani Patterson-Gibb.>>
SECONDA NEWS BY LONG BEACH ( 24-07-2013 ) / Grand Slam Long Beach - Menegatti-Orsi Toth eliminate ( ndr, nelle Qualificazioni)
<< Sconfitte 2-1 (18-21 21-16 15-11) dalle canadesi Humana/Paredes-Pischke, le azzurre Menegatti sono state eliminate dal Grand Slam statunitense.>>
A QUESTO PUNTO VI PROPONGO CIO’ CHE HA SCRITTO MARTA MENEGATTI sul sito della stessa federvolley in data 26-07-2013…
MARTA MENEGATTI : “ IL MIO CICLO CON GRETA E’ FINITO”
<< Negli ultimi giorni è stata in primo piano sui media la decisione del tecnico federale Lissandro di far giocare l'ultimo Grand Slam di Long Beach Marta Menegatti insieme a Viktoria Orsi Toth, anziché con la sua compagna delle ultime stagioni Greta Cicolari.
Un cambiamento dovuto a fattori tecnici e personali, non ultimo al rapporto tra le due campionesse.
Al riguardo Marta Menegatti ha deciso di esprimere in maniera sincera la sua posizione: "Voglio chiarire una volta per tutte la mia posizione riguardo alla situazione che si è venuta a creare nell'ultimo periodo. È da tempo che non ci sono più le giuste condizioni per lavorare insieme a Greta. Credo fortemente che il nostro ciclo sia finito, perciò la mia volontà è quella di non giocare più insieme a Greta. È già successo in passato che tante altre coppie si siano divise. Non capisco il motivo di tutte queste polemiche dato che avevo già informato Greta, la Federazione e l'Aeronautica Militare di questa mia presa di posizione."
Riguardo alla prossima attività la Federazione, in accordo con il tecnico Lissandro, ha deciso che la coppia femminile che parteciperà ufficialmente al prossimo campionato Europeo a Klagenfurt, sarà formata da Daniela Gioria e Laura Giombini. Al tempo stesso la Fipav supporterà la partecipazione in Austria di Greta Cicolari (che continua la sua attività al di fuori delle squadre nazionali) in coppia con Silvia Costantini. Analogamente, la Federazione, si comporterà sino alla conclusione della stagione per l'attività di Cicolari. >>
INVECE PER RACCONTARVI COME SEMPRE LA FASE FINALE DELLA TAPPA “LONG BEACH GRAND SLAM” CI AFFIDIAMO COME SEMPRE ALLO “SCRITTO INGLESE” DEL SITO www.fivb.org ( CHE DEL WORLD TOUR 2013 NE E’ IL DIARIO UFFICIALE)
TERZA NEWS (by Long Beach) / www.fivb.org 25.07.2013 ) / LONG BEACH - GRAND SLAM | 22 - 27 July 2013 ( Press release ) /
<< Brazil with two, Germany, USA, in women’s semis at FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam/
USA's Emily Day, left, defends against Spain's Elsa Baquerizo as Day and Summer Russ continue to win, advancing to their first FIVB final four Thursday at the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam. /
Long Beach, Calif., USA, July 25, 2013—Then there were four women’s teams remaining out of the original 32 that started the main draw following Thursday’s round of 16 and quarterfinals at the $440,000 FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam double-gender tournament. Friday the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is back in the USA for the first time in a decade. While the men’s teams played the last of three pool play matches on Thursday and the first single elimination match, the women baked and battled under the warm Southern California sunshine. Friday will be the semifinals and medal matches to conclude the women’s portion of the event.
The 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is back in the USA for the first time since 2003. With the event being held for the first time in Long Beach the purpose-built site is located on the expansive glistening sands of Marina Green Park on East Lakeshore Drive. Matches at the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam, presented by ASICS, are scheduled to start at 8:15 a.m. Friday with the men’s round of 16 followed at 1:00 p.m. with the men’s quarterfinals and the men’s semifinals will be at 4:15 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.
The women’s semifinals will be held at 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. with the women’s bronze at 2 p.m. followed by the women’s gold medal match at 3:00 p.m. General admission is free to the event. VIP tickets are on sale through the event website at www.wsobv.com.
With final four placements secured, meeting in the women’s semifinals Friday will be Germany’s No. 7-seeded Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler vs. Brazil’s No. 4-seeded Maria Clara Salgado/Carolina Salgado and No. 2-seeded Taiana Lima/Talita Antunes vs. USA’s No. 15-seeded Emily Day/Summer Ross.
To earn their final four spots by winning their respective Thursday’s quarterfinal matches, Germany’s Holtwick/Semmler stopped USA’s No. 8-seeded Lauren Fendrick/Brittany Hochevar, 21-16, 21-18 in 38 minutes; Brazil’s Salgado sisters defeated No. 5-seeded compatriots Agatha Bednarczuk/Maria Antonelli, 23-21, 31-29 in 56 minutes; USA’s Day/Ross came from behind to upset Slovak Republic’s No. 13-seeded Natalia Dubovcova/Dominika Nextarcova, 17-21, 21-13, 15-11 in 46 minutes and Brazil’s Lima/Antunes finally overcame Canada’s No. 24-seeded Sarah Pavan/Heather Bansley, 17-21, 21-15, 15-11 in 55 minutes. The losing teams in the quarterfinals all leave Long Beach with official fifth place finishes.
In the women’s round of 16 matchups that started Thursday’s competition schedule, Germany’s Holtwick/Semmler eliminated Switzerland’s No. 17-seeded Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre, 25-27, 21-18, 15-5 in 54 minutes; USA’s Fendrick/Hochevar defeated No. 12-seeded compatriots Jennifer Fopma/Brooke Sweat, 21-18, 22-20 in 37 minutes; Brazil’s Bednarczuk/Antonelli eliminated USA’s top-seeded April Ross/Jennifer Kessy, 21-15, 13-21, 16-14 in 52 minutes and Brazil’s Salgado sisters eliminated Switzerland’s No. 9-seeded Nadine Zumkehr/Joana Heidrich, 21-15, 21-19 in 38 minutes.
In the second four matches of the round of 16 Thursday morning, Slovak Republic’s Dubovcova/Nextarcova upset Brazil’s No. 3-seeded, Barbara Seixas/Liliane Maestrini, 19-21, 21-16, 15-12 in 54 minutes; USA’s Day/Ross upset Spain’s No. 6-seeded Liliana Fernandez/Elsa Baquerizo, 21-18, 21-15 in 39 minutes; Canada’s Pavan/Bansley outlasted Czech Republic’s No. 10-seeded Kristyna Kolocova/Marketa Slukova, 21-18, 23-25, 15-11 in 60 minutes and Brazil’s Lima/Antunes fought through a comeback attempt to beat Germany’s No. 20-seeded Jana Kohler/Anni Schumacher, 21-6, 19-21, 15-12 in 47 minutes.
After recording their fifth straight win in Long Beach with their quarterfinal victory, Brazil’s Antunes, who with her teammate Taina Lima lead the point standings in the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, said, “We started better than Canada but they rallied to catch-up once we started making mistakes in the first set. At that point we called a time out and said to one another ‘lets stay focused here, they are doing well, but we can do this, it is for the quarterfinals’. We just had to give ourselves the best chance to win. You cannot get ahead of yourself. You must play one point at a time.”
In looking ahead to Friday’s semifinal against USA’s Day/Ross, Antunes commented, “I think this will be a tough match! Everyone will be here to support USA. Yet, I think it will still be fun, regardless. We did play against them in the pool (and won) but this will be a completely different match, everything is tougher at this point. We just need to prepare ourselves for the tough match.”
The FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam, presented by ASICS, is the showcase part of the ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball, a SoCal beach festival that includes 4-person and 6-person recreational events, a youth tournament and nightly music concerts. Also part of the event is the inaugural ASICS World Series Cup featuring two teams in each gender from the USA against two international teams with the finals on Sunday. In addition to the international live FIVB telecasts, the event also includes 23 hours of live or same-day telecasts split between NBC Sports Network, Universal Network and NBC TV Network.
The women’s semifinals and medal matches of the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam will be held on Friday with the men’s semifinals also on Friday and men’s medal matches closing the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam on Saturday. Play Wednesday through Friday will start at 8 a.m. and at 11 a.m. on Saturday for the men’s medal matches.
The gold medal teams in each gender in the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam will each split $33,000, the silver $22,000, the bronze $16,500 and fourth place $12,900. The women’s medal matches will be held on Friday and the men’s medal matches on Saturday. The FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam is the 291st FIVB international men’s event since the FIVB began play in 1987 and the 253rd FIVB women’s tournament since women started international competition in 1992.
The 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is comprised of 10 Grand Slam events and the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships. Not part of the World Tour but still counting towards the FIVB World Rankings, the FIVB yearly calendar also includes seven Open events, five double-gender and two women-only. There is a double-gender FIVB Open event being playing this week as well in Anapa, Russia.
After another week off next week, the 10-Grand Slam 2013 FIVB World Tour will continue in two weeks in Germany at the $440,000 FIVB Berlin Grand Slam. The season finale of the tour will be in Brazil in mid-October at the $440,000 FIVB Sao Paulo Grand Slam.>>
QUARTA E PENULTIMA NEWS ( by Long Beach) / Brazil with two, Germany, USA, in women’s semis at FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam
<< USA's Emily Day, left, defends against Spain's Elsa Baquerizo as Day and Summer Russ continue to win, advancing to their first FIVB final four Thursday at the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam. /
<<Long Beach, Calif., USA, July 25, 2013—Then there were four women’s teams remaining out of the original 32 that started the main draw following Thursday’s round of 16 and quarterfinals at the $440,000 FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam double-gender tournament. Friday the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is back in the USA for the first time in a decade. While the men’s teams played the last of three pool play matches on Thursday and the first single elimination match, the women baked and battled under the warm Southern California sunshine. Friday will be the semifinals and medal matches to conclude the women’s portion of the event.
The 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is back in the USA for the first time since 2003. With the event being held for the first time in Long Beach the purpose-built site is located on the expansive glistening sands of Marina Green Park on East Lakeshore Drive. Matches at the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam, presented by ASICS, are scheduled to start at 8:15 a.m. Friday with the men’s round of 16 followed at 1:00 p.m. with the men’s quarterfinals and the men’s semifinals will be at 4:15 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.
The women’s semifinals will be held at 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. with the women’s bronze at 2 p.m. followed by the women’s gold medal match at 3:00 p.m. General admission is free to the event. VIP tickets are on sale through the event website at www.wsobv.com.
With final four placements secured, meeting in the women’s semifinals Friday will be Germany’s No. 7-seeded Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler vs. Brazil’s No. 4-seeded Maria Clara Salgado/Carolina Salgado and No. 2-seeded Taiana Lima/Talita Antunes vs. USA’s No. 15-seeded Emily Day/Summer Ross.
To earn their final four spots by winning their respective Thursday’s quarterfinal matches, Germany’s Holtwick/Semmler stopped USA’s No. 8-seeded Lauren Fendrick/Brittany Hochevar, 21-16, 21-18 in 38 minutes; Brazil’s Salgado sisters defeated No. 5-seeded compatriots Agatha Bednarczuk/Maria Antonelli, 23-21, 31-29 in 56 minutes; USA’s Day/Ross came from behind to upset Slovak Republic’s No. 13-seeded Natalia Dubovcova/Dominika Nextarcova, 17-21, 21-13, 15-11 in 46 minutes and Brazil’s Lima/Antunes finally overcame Canada’s No. 24-seeded Sarah Pavan/Heather Bansley, 17-21, 21-15, 15-11 in 55 minutes. The losing teams in the quarterfinals all leave Long Beach with official fifth place finishes.
In the women’s round of 16 matchups that started Thursday’s competition schedule, Germany’s Holtwick/Semmler eliminated Switzerland’s No. 17-seeded Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre, 25-27, 21-18, 15-5 in 54 minutes; USA’s Fendrick/Hochevar defeated No. 12-seeded compatriots Jennifer Fopma/Brooke Sweat, 21-18, 22-20 in 37 minutes; Brazil’s Bednarczuk/Antonelli eliminated USA’s top-seeded April Ross/Jennifer Kessy, 21-15, 13-21, 16-14 in 52 minutes and Brazil’s Salgado sisters eliminated Switzerland’s No. 9-seeded Nadine Zumkehr/Joana Heidrich, 21-15, 21-19 in 38 minutes.
In the second four matches of the round of 16 Thursday morning, Slovak Republic’s Dubovcova/Nextarcova upset Brazil’s No. 3-seeded, Barbara Seixas/Liliane Maestrini, 19-21, 21-16, 15-12 in 54 minutes; USA’s Day/Ross upset Spain’s No. 6-seeded Liliana Fernandez/Elsa Baquerizo, 21-18, 21-15 in 39 minutes; Canada’s Pavan/Bansley outlasted Czech Republic’s No. 10-seeded Kristyna Kolocova/Marketa Slukova, 21-18, 23-25, 15-11 in 60 minutes and Brazil’s Lima/Antunes fought through a comeback attempt to beat Germany’s No. 20-seeded Jana Kohler/Anni Schumacher, 21-6, 19-21, 15-12 in 47 minutes.
After recording their fifth straight win in Long Beach with their quarterfinal victory, Brazil’s Antunes, who with her teammate Taina Lima lead the point standings in the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, said, “We started better than Canada but they rallied to catch-up once we started making mistakes in the first set. At that point we called a time out and said to one another ‘lets stay focused here, they are doing well, but we can do this, it is for the quarterfinals’. We just had to give ourselves the best chance to win. You cannot get ahead of yourself. You must play one point at a time.”
In looking ahead to Friday’s semifinal against USA’s Day/Ross, Antunes commented, “I think this will be a tough match! Everyone will be here to support USA. Yet, I think it will still be fun, regardless. We did play against them in the pool (and won) but this will be a completely different match, everything is tougher at this point. We just need to prepare ourselves for the tough match.”
The FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam, presented by ASICS, is the showcase part of the ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball, a SoCal beach festival that includes 4-person and 6-person recreational events, a youth tournament and nightly music concerts. Also part of the event is the inaugural ASICS World Series Cup featuring two teams in each gender from the USA against two international teams with the finals on Sunday. In addition to the international live FIVB telecasts, the event also includes 23 hours of live or same-day telecasts split between NBC Sports Network, Universal Network and NBC TV Network.
The women’s semifinals and medal matches of the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam will be held on Friday with the men’s semifinals also on Friday and men’s medal matches closing the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam on Saturday. Play Wednesday through Friday will start at 8 a.m. and at 11 a.m. on Saturday for the men’s medal matches.
The gold medal teams in each gender in the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam will each split $33,000, the silver $22,000, the bronze $16,500 and fourth place $12,900. The women’s medal matches will be held on Friday and the men’s medal matches on Saturday. The FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam is the 291st FIVB international men’s event since the FIVB began play in 1987 and the 253rd FIVB women’s tournament since women started international competition in 1992.
The 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is comprised of 10 Grand Slam events and the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships. Not part of the World Tour but still counting towards the FIVB World Rankings, the FIVB yearly calendar also includes seven Open events, five double-gender and two women-only. There is a double-gender FIVB Open event being playing this week as well in Anapa, Russia.
After another week off next week, the 10-Grand Slam 2013 FIVB World Tour will continue in two weeks in Germany at the $440,000 FIVB Berlin Grand Slam. The season finale of the tour will be in Brazil in mid-October at the $440,000 FIVB Sao Paulo Grand Slam.>>
QUINTA & LAST NEWS ( by Long Beach) / Brazil earns women’s gold and silver, Germany bronze at FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam
<<Brazil's Taiana Lima, left, joyously elevates herself to celebrate with teammate Talita Antunes after winning their fourth gold medal of the season Friday at the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam in the United States. >>
<< Long Beach, Calif., USA, July 26, 2013—Proving once again their overall superiority in the blossoming sport of beach volleyball, women’s tandems from Brazil captured both the gold and silver medals Friday afternoon and Germany secured the bronze as the women’s tournament finished at the $440,000 FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam double-gender tournament, presented by ASICS. Earning the gold medal was Brazil’s Taiana Lima/Talita Antunes while the silver medal went to Brazil’s Maria Clara Salgado/Carolina Salgado and Germany’s Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler earned the bronze medal.
The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is back in the USA for the first time in a decade. Saturday’s schedule will include the men’s bronze and gold medal matches along with the women’s semifinals of the special ASICS World Series Cup which will feature two teams from the USA in one semifinal along with teams from Brazil and Germany in the other. The two winners will meet in the cup final on Sunday.
The gold medal teams in each gender in the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam will each split $33,000, the silver $22,000, the bronze $16,500 and fourth place $12,900.
The 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is back in the USA for the first time since 2003. With the event being held for the first time in Long Beach the purpose-built site is located on the expansive glistening sands of Marina Green Park on East Lakeshore Drive. Matches at the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam, presented by ASICS, are scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. Saturday with the men’s bronze medal match of the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam at 11:00 a.m. and the men’s gold medal grand slam match closing the day’s competition at 2:00 p.m.
In the special USA vs. the world ASICS World Series Cup, the women’s semifinals will be played at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Saturday. While the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam, presented by ASICS concludes on Saturday, The ASICS World Series Cup on Sunday, the event finishes with the men’s semifinals at 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., the women’s final at 1:30 p.m. and the men’s final at 3:00 p.m. General admission is free to the event. VIP tickets are on sale through the event website at www.wsobv.com.
GOLD MEDAL MATCH
In another one of those battles for the ages between veteran compatriots who are very familiar with each other even though they were meeting for only the fourth time on the FIVB World Tour, Brazil’s No. 2-seeded Lima/Antunes gutted out their fourth consecutive three-set match in the tournament to slip past Brazil’s No. 4-seeded sisters Maria Clara Salgado/Carolina Salgado, 20-22, 21-15, 15-13 in the 61-minute women’s finale.
As could easily be expected, all three sets were close, especially the first and third that could have gone either way but Brazil’s Lima/Antunes pulled it out with grit and determination and just enough good breaks to move their record as a team with Brazil’s Salgado sisters to 4-1. Almost saving the best for last, the 61-minute gold medal match was the longest women’s match of the tournament.
Said an exhausted Antunes following the colorful awarding ceremony, “This was a great FIVB tournament, I think we played really well and it was wonderful playing in America. When it comes down to it we are just trying to do our best at all times. The championship was a great match, we played really well in this gold medal match, much better than we have been playing in the matches leading up to this one. The Salgado sisters played really well too in this match we have nothing but respect for them.”
In just their eighth FIVB international tournament playing together, Brazil’s Lima/Antunes earned their fourth gold medal of the 2013 FIVB World Tour and fifth final four tournament finish. Both veteran players, this event was Lima’s eighth FIVB World Tour/Open final four and fourth gold medal. For Antunes, Long Beach was her 58th career final four and here 17th gold medal.
BRONZE MEDAL MATCH
In another exciting match in a tournament filled with close contests, Germany’s No. 7-seeded Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler held off a great effort by USA’s No. 15-seeded Emily Day/Summer Ross to earn the bronze medal Friday afternoon in straight sets, 21-18, 25-23 in 39 minutes. In the first meeting between the two teams, it was the third bronze medal of the 2013 FIVB World Tour for Germany’s veteran Holtwick/Semmler and for the young Americans it was the first final four for USA’s Day/Ross as there string of upsets ended Friday with close losses in both the bronze medal match and the semifinals.
For Germany’s Holtwick/Semmler, this was their 73rd FIVB international tournament together, their fifth bronze medal and 11th final four placement. Just playing their fourth FIVB international event as a team, this was the first final four finish for USA’s Day, 25 and Ross, 20. Germany’s Holtwick/Semmler finish the tournament with a 6-2 record for the week while USA’s Day/Ross enjoyed playing in their home country, leaving Long Beach with a 5-3 mark that included three losses to Brazilian gold medal winners Lima/Antunes.
SEMIFINALS
Brazil’s Salgado sisters started things off in the first semifinal Friday morning with an impressive two-set victory over Germany’s Holtwick/Semmler, 21-15, 21-12 in 38 minutes. The Salgados were in control in both sets playing near error-free. With the victory, Brazil’s Maria Clara Salgado/Carolina Salgado increased their career record against Germany’s Holtwick/Semmler to 7-1.
In the second semifinal Brazil’s Lima/Antunes hand their hands full with USA’s Day/Ross but finally prevailed in three sets finally after coming from behind to win, 22-24, 22-20, 16-14 in 60 minutes. In a rematch of a pool play match on Wednesday which was won by Brazil’s Lima/Antunes in two sets, 21-15, 21-18, Things were much different in their semifinal meeting. USA’s youthful Day/Ross stunningly came back from a three-point, 17-20 deficit in the first set to tie the match at 20-20 win and took advantage of two hitting errors by Lima to win 24-22.
Brazil’s veteran Lima/Antunes didn’t lose their pose and despite being down two match points in the second set, came back win and then to secure the victory and advance to the gold medal match by winning the third. In the second set, the match was tied five times and the lead changed hands four times before Brazil’s Lima/Antunes stormed back from deficits of 16-19 and 18-20 to score the final four points of the set. The tiebreaker set was even closer than the second with nine ties and one lead change. Brazil saw the Americans rally to tie the score at 14-14 before scoring the last two points for the set and match win with a Lima poke shot over Ross and ending as Antunes blocked Ross’ kill attempt.
The FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam, presented by ASICS is the showcase part of the ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball, a SoCal beach festival that includes 4-person and 6-person recreational events, a youth tournament and nightly music concerts. Also part of the event is the inaugural ASICS World Series Cup featuring two teams in each gender from the USA against two international teams with the finals on Sunday. In addition to the international live FIVB telecasts, the event also features 23 hours of live or same-day telecasts split between NBC Sports Network, Universal Network and NBC TV Network.
The FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam is the 291st FIVB international men’s event since the FIVB began play in 1987 and the 253rd FIVB women’s tournament since women started international competition in 1992.
The 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is comprised of 10 Grand Slam events and the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships. Not part of the World Tour but still counting towards the FIVB World Rankings, the FIVB yearly calendar also includes seven Open events, five double-gender and two women-only. There is a double-gender FIVB Open event being playing this week as well in Anapa, Russia.
After another week off next week, the 10-Grand Slam 2013 FIVB World Tour will continue in two weeks in Germany at the $440,000 FIVB Berlin Grand Slam. The season finale of the tour will be in Brazil in mid-October at the $440,000 FIVB Sao Paulo Grand Slam.>>
EXTRATIME by SS/ Scusate, ma per questa ‘particolare puntata’ voglio parlarvi di una situazione smile che mi fa personalmente felice: la straordinaria impresa delle coppie maschili e in particolare del tandem Tomatis-Ranghieri, anche perché la notizia speciale della partecipazione l’ho letta quasi in tempo reale ( vedi sopra ) sul sito www.federvolley.it che poi in ‘corso d’opera’ ha segnalato quanto segue in sequenza news…
NEWS UOMINI by LONG BEACH ( 26-07-2013 ) Grand Slam Long Beach: Tomatis-Ranghieri bella impresa
<< Italiani protagonisti nel torneo che ha riportato il grande beach mondiale negli States. Tomatis e Ranghieri hanno raggiunto Lupo e Nicolai negli ottavi di finale del Grand Slam di Long Beach. I due atleti italiani dopo aver superato le qualificazioni e la fase a pool, hanno vinto anche il primo incontro dell'eliminazione diretta imponendosi 2-0 (21-17 26-24) agli svizzeri Gabathuler-Weingart. Ambedue le coppie tricolori torneranno in campo oggi alle 18.15 italiane: Tomatis-Ranghieri contro gli australiani Kapa-McHugh, Lupo-Nicola con Edson Filipe-Álvaro Filho.>>
LAST NEWS UOMINI by LONG BEACH ( 26-07-2013 ) / Grand Slam Long Beach - Le due coppie italiane entrano nei quarti ( e la corsa ‘azzurra’ di Ranghieri/Tomatis finisce lì, mentre sarà medaglia di bronzo per Lupo/Nicolai) /
<< Ottimo risultato nel torneo maschile per il beach italiano. Le due coppie ancora in gara sono entrate entrambi tra i migliori otto del torneo. Se l'impresa degli azzurri Lupo e Nicolai è importante, lo è ancora di più quella di TOMATIS – RANGHIERI , provenienti dalle qualificazioni.
Daniele Paolo hanno superato i brasiliani Edson Filipe-Álvaro Filho per 2-1 (21-14 12-21 16-14), Tomatis e Ranghieri hanno lottato, sofferto e battuto gli australiani Kapa-McKeugh per 2-1 (16-21 23-21 18-16).
Nei quarti di finale che si giocheranno nella tarda serata di oggi (ore 22) Lupo-Nicolai si confronteranno con i lettoni Smedins-Samoilvs; Tomatis-Ranghieri con gli spagnoli Herrera-Gavira>>.
Per tutto quanto sopra e per la giusta e personale riservatezza, la vera cover, sempre dedicata a Marta Menegatti on the beach, la tengo per me e per …Alex by Long Beach.
Poi per quanto riguarda la fotogallery vi propongo subito la foto di Victoria Orsi Toth, alla quale va comunque il mio saluto e il mio augurio al di là delle succitate valutazioni tecniche basate più che altro sui risultati della sabba.
Terza foto, quindi sempre sul podio, ecco Greta Cicolari by suo profilo facebook, perché …domani è un altro giorno e si vedrà , a partire da Klagenfurt, cioè gli Europei insieme alla Costantini.
Per quanto riguarda il reportage by Long Beach/California, ecco l grinta delle svizzere Anouk Verge-Deptre & Isabelle Forrer.
Poi in sequenza windows a scendere la statunitense Emily Day vs la spagnola Elsa Baquerizo in network, quindi ( passando agli uomini) una ‘giocata by Alex Rangheri” vs avversari svizzeri, seguita dalla certificazione fotografica by www.fivb.org delle tre nazioni ‘andate sul podio’ a medaglia ( cioè Usa/golden, Spagna/silver, Italia/bronzo )
Fino alla gioia winner della coppia Taiana Lima & Talita Antunes brasiliane verdeoro, anzi più oro che green.
Sergio Sottovia
www.polesinesport.it
