Beach volleyball tandems from around the world are in Canada as the double-gender event marks the eighth time the world tour is visiting Canada and the first time competing in Quebec City.

The ninth of 14 men’s and 10th of 15 women’s internationally-televised tournaments on the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour schedule, the FIVB Swatch Quebec Open Jeep 2011 will run parallel schedules for both genders. Action begins with country quota playoff matches on Tuesday, single elimination qualification tournaments on Wednesday to determine the final eight spots in the 32-team double elimination main draws which will be held on Thursday through Sunday. The semifinals will conclude play for each gender on Saturday and medal matches for each gender will be played Sunday afternoon as the winning pairs in each gender share the $30,000 first-place prizes.

The venue for the open tournament in Quebec will be I’Externat St-Jean Berchmans and Seminaire des Peres Maristes in the Quebec borough of Sillery. Admission is free to Tuesday’s country quota playoff matches as well as Wednesday’s qualification tournaments and ticket information for Thursday through Sunday is available at the event website, www.quebecopenjeep.com or by calling 418.656.3668.

After competing in the Moscow Grand Slam this past week, and with some teams taking this week off before the world tour returns to Europe next week, the field for Quebec includes USA’s reigning Olympic Champions Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers and Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel in the men’s competition along with USA’s 2009 FIVB Swatch World Champions Jennifer Kessy/April Ross, Netherland’s Sanne Keizer/Marleen Van Iersel and Brazil’s Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes among the women’s contenders for Canadian gold.

As the FIVB Swatch World Tour returns to Canada, Canadians will have a very strong presence in the event with three teams in each gender already pre-seeded into the main draw and eight additional men’s and six additional women’s teams who will attempt to earn spots in the qualification tournament through Tuesday’s country quota playoff matches.

Canada’s men’s main draw teams are Christian Redmann/Ben Saxton, Josh Binstock/Richard Van Huizen and Martin Reader/Chaim Schalk, while Canada’s women’s main draw teams are Marie-Andree Lessard/Annie Martin, Heather Bansley/Elizabeth Maloney, and Kacie MacTavish/Julie Rodrigue.

The FIVB Swatch World Tour previously had tournaments in Canada in Toronto (three from 1998-2000) and Montreal (four from 2002-2007).

A total of 103 teams from 29 countries (55 men’s teams from 24 countries and 48 women’s teams from 21 countries) have entered the FIVB Swatch Québec Open Jeep 2011, (as of 17 July, 2011), including Australia (2 men’s teams,3 women’s teams), Austria (1,1), Belgium (0,1), Brazil (3,4), Canada (11,10), China (1,1), Colombia (0,1), Denmark (1,0), Estonia (1,0), France (2,3), Georgia (1,1), Germany (2,1), Great Britain (3,0), Greece (1,2), Italy (1,1), Japan (3,3), Latvia (2,0), Mexico (1,1), Netherlands (0,2), New Zealand (2,0), Norway (2,2), Poland (2,0), Puerto Rico (0,1), Spain (2,2), Sweden (1,1), Switzerland (1,0), United States (5,6), Vanuatu (0,1), and Venezuela (4,0).

The 2011 FIVB Swatch World Tour calendar features 15 women’s and 14 men’s events, including 12 double-gender tournaments, within all five FIVB confederations plus one special 24-team single-gender women’s test event held August 9-14 at London’s Horse Guards Parade, the venue for beach volleyball at the 2012 London Olympic Games. The 2011 FIVB Swatch World Tour is offering $7.64-million in prize money. Twelve of the tournaments are combined men’s and women’s events, including the World Championships and all six Grand Slam stops.

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The Canadian pair, seeded 39th, lost to 10th seeds Maria Clara Salgada Rufino and Carolina Solberg Salgado of Brazil 21-13, 21-19. Bansley and Maloney finish third in their pool with a 1-2 round robin record but they advance as one of the eight best third place teams from the 12 pools.

“We had a tough one today but we were lucky to walk away with enough points to advance,” said Maloney. “We are looking forward to tomorrow and playing in the single elimination round.”

For both men’s and women’s play, the top two teams from each group plus the eight best third-place finishers move into the knockout phase.

Annie Martin of Sherbrooke, Que., and Marie-Andrée Lessard of Ville LaSalle, Que., also lost Wednesday and do not advance.

On the men’s side, Christian Redmann of Toronto and Ben Saxton of Calgary are 1-1 after a loss Wednesday. They conclude their round robin schedule Thursday.

Full results and photos at: www.fivb.org.

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“Today’s match was a tough fight,” said Maloney, seeded 39th with her partner. “Nerves were a factor for both teams but we were able to steady out and make some defensive points when we needed to.  We came back in the second set, down 15-12 to win 22-20.  Heather made some great digs to get us a lead at the end so we could win in two.  Tomorrow we will work on being steady against Russia.”

Annie Martin of Sherbrooke, Que., and Marie-Andree Lessard of Ville LaSalle, Que., play their first match Tuesday.

On the men’s side Christian Redmann of Toronto and Ben Saxton of Calgary also start Tuesday.

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Martin and Lessard, seeded 21st, defeated Maria Tsiartsiani and Vasiliki Arvaniti of Greece 21-17, 21-13 then beat Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler of Germany 21-17, 21-19.

The Canadians are first in pool B, followed by the Greeks and number-two seeds Maria Antonelli and Talita Da Rocha Antunes of Brazil both 1-1. The Brazilians lost to the Greeks. The top-three from each of the eight pools advance. Martin and Lessard play the Brazilians in their final round robin match Thursday.

On the men’s side, both Canadian teams lost first of three scheduled round robin matches to powerful Brazilian duos. In Pool L, Josh Binstock and Richard Van Huizen, both of Toronto, fell to third-seeds Ricardo Alex Costa Santos and Marcio Araujo 21-13, 21-18.

In Pool K, Christian Redmann of Toronto and Ben Saxton of Calgary lost to second-seeds Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rigo 25-23, 21-17. Both Canadian teams play their final two round robin matches on Thursday.

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Canada has two teams in women’s competition with veterans Annie Martin of Sherbrooke, Que., and Marie-Andree Lessard of Ville LaSalle, Que., as well as Heather Bansley and Elizabeth Maloney both of Toronto.

On the men’s side, Christian Redmann of Toronto and Ben Saxton of Calgary is the Canadian pair. They are one of three wildcard teams selected for the competition.

Martin and Lessard launched their 2011 season last week and placed a solid 13th at the FIVB World Tour stop in Myslowice, Poland. Bansley and Maloney, won gold and bronze at stops on the NORCECA (North and Central America and Caribbean) circuit this spring and have also competed at three stops on the World Tour.

Redmann and Saxton, in their first season together, took bronze at a NORCECA event and reached the main draw at the World Tour stop in Shanghai earlier this month.

Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser of the U.S., and Brazilians Juliana and Larissa are the top seeds in men’s and women’s play respectively. There are 48 teams each for the men and the women.

The composition of the 12 pools will be announced on May 31 in Rome with the teams split into 12 pools of four with the top two teams from each group plus the eight best third-place finishers moving onto the knockout phase. Pool play matches for each gender will be held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (June 13 to 15) followed by the 32-team elimination rounds on Thursday and Friday (June 16 to 17). The semifinals will be held on Saturday evening, June 18, with the medal matches set for the Sunday evening, June 19.

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Annie Martin in action in Norway

Marie-Andree Lessard and Annie Martin equaled their best result this season on the FIVB World Beach Volleyball Tour circuit placing ninth following a loss on Friday in Kristiansand, Norway.

The Canadian veterans produced a strong run and were finally stopped by eighth-seed Brazilians Maria-Clara and Carol Salgado 18-21, 16-21 in 42 minutes. Lessard and Martin led the first set 16-13 but couldn’t adjust when the Brazilians changed their strategy.

“We tried a different strategy as well to try and get the lead back but it didn’t work,” said Lessard. “Still we are happy with our final placing.”

The Brazilians won their next two matches and are in the semifinals.

The Canadians had a bye to the main draw this week and won three of their five matches in the double elimination tournament.   They earn $6,000.

The next stop on the circuit starts Tuesday in Aland, Finland.

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Lessard and Martin defeated Mathilde Giordano and Eva Hamzaoui of France 19-21, 21-18, 15-13 then Cristine Santanna and Andrezza Martins das Chagas of Georgia 33-31, 21-16 squandering six set points before winning the first set.

“It was a real adventure,” said Martin about the first set against the Georgians.  “We made some good defensive blocks and finally won the set. We had to be patient.”

The Canadians need to win three matches on Friday to advance to the semifinals.  They suffered their one loss on Wednesday and can’t afford a second in the double elimination tournament.

Heather Bansley and Liz Maloney of Toronto saw their tournament end as they lost to fourth seeds Vivian Cunha and Taiana Lima of Brazil 21-12, 23-21. Bansley and Maloney will place 17th overall, their best result this season on the circuit.

Jamie Broder of Victoria and Liz Cordonier of Vancouver, lost their two main draw matches and were eliminated.

In men’s qualifying all three Canadian entries did not make the cut. They were Martin Reader of Comox, B.C., and Chaim Schalk of Red Deer, Alta.; Ben Saxton of Calgary and Steve Marshall of Abbotsford and Josh Binstock and Matt Zbyszewski, both of Toronto.

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Lessard and Martin celebrate

Marie-Andree Lessard and Annie Martin posted a season high ninth place finish at Stare Jablonki, Poland, the 12th stop on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Circuit. The competition was also part of the Grand Slam Series which nearly doubled the prize money to $300,000 for both the men and women.

On Friday, Lessard and Martin, seeded 26th, opened the day with a 31-29, 21-13 victory over Hana Klapalove and Lenka Hajeckova of the Czech Republic in the first round of the playoffs which put the Canadians in the round of 16.

In their second match, Lessard and Martin fell to Ekaterina Khomyakova and Anastasia Vasina of Russia 16-21, 21-16, 15-11.

“We are very pleased,” said Lessard. “Our goal was to be in the top-16. We relied a lot of on our defence to win that first game against the Czechs and Annie served very well. The Russian girls were very tall and their physical game went against us.”

The Canadians had a bye to the main draw and went 2-1 in round robin play beating two teams ranked in the top-10. They earned $8,000 in prize money for this week’s performance.

The next stop on the circuit goes next week in Kristiansand, Norway.

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Annie Martin celebrating in Marseilles

Marie-Andree Lessard and Annie Martin posted their best result this season with a win and a loss for the second straight day on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour circuit finishing in 13th place, in Marseille, France. Lessard and Martin posted a 2-2 record in tournament play.

The Canadians defeated Rieke Brink-Abeler and Angelina Grun of Germany 16-21, 21-15, 15-10 to advance to the third round before falling to the eventual silver medalists, the Schwaiger sisters from Austria 21-18, 21-13.

In men’s competition, Christian Redmann and Richard Van Huizen of Toronto enjoyed a strong start to main draw play upsetting ninth seeds Andy Ces and Kevin Cès of France 14-21, 21-17, 15-8. They faced another tough opponent in the second round in eighth seeds Martins Plavins and Janis Smedins of Latvia and lost 23-21, 21-13.

The tournament was a double elimination format, so Redmann and Van Huizen continued on Friday against seventh seeds Emiel Boersma and Richard Schuil of the Netherlands losing a heart breaker 2-1, (14-21, 21-17, 18-16).

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Olympian Annie Martin dives in Moscow

Marie-Andre Lessard and Annie Martin upset 11th seeds Doris Schwaiger and Stefanie Schwaiger of Austria in their opening main draw match at the Swatch FIVB World Tour Grand Slam event in Moscow.

“We were expecting a tough match but we’ve had success against them in the past” said Lessard, who posted three ninth-place finishes with Martin on the circuit last season. “So we felt we had a chance to beat them although it didn’t start well.”

Lessard and Martin, seeded 22nd, took the match in comeback fashion 16-21, 21-17, 15-8 in 48 minutes for their third victory in two days. The Canadians opened the tournament Tuesday winning their two qualifying round matches. Later today they will face 6th ranked Goller-Ludwig of Germany then Gioria-Momoli of Italy ranked 27th.

The round robin portion of the tournament concludes today. The top team in each of the eight pools advance to the round of 16 while second and third will battle it out in a playoff to capture those other eight round of 16 spots.

In men’s play, Christian Redmann and Richard Van Huizen of Toronto had a bye to the main draw and start play today.

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