truebluefan

Spain hosts its first SWATCH-FIVB World Tour event since 2004 as Barcelona joins the calendar for the first time. Almeria, Cadiz, Mallorca, Marbella and Tenerife have hosted previous men’s events where Spain’s top finish was a 1995 silver medal for Javier Bosma and Sixto Jimenez in Tenerife. Women’s events have been held in Almeria, Gran Canaria, Meadrid and Mallorca. The top placement by a Spanish women’s team was a ninth by Monica Del Prado and Liliana Diaz at the 1992 Almeria event, the first-ever women's stop on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour. Brazilians have dominated the podium with 34 of the possible 63 men’s and women’s medals, including nine men’s and three women’s titles. The Lacigas (Martin and Paul) of Switzerland captured the most men’s titles with four gold medals at three different Spanish sites. Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar captured 2001 and 2002 Spanish titles in Gran Canaria and Mallorca, respectively. Spain has hosted women's FIVB Satellite events the past two seasons where teams from Portugal (Juliana Antunes/Sandra Castro, 2006 at Getxo) and the Netherlands (Marleen Van Iersel/Maloes Wesselink, 2007 at San Sebastiàn) have won gold medals. Barcelona is one of nine new sites in 2008 on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour calendar along with Adelaide (Australia), Guaruja (Brazil), Sanya (China), Prague (Czech Republic), Osaka (Japan), Myslowice (Poland) Moscow (Russia) and Dubai (United Arab Emirates).

Barcelona is the capital and most populous city of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain with a population over 1.6-million. Located on the Mediterranean coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs, Barcelona is a major economic centre, with one of Europe's principal Mediterranean ports. Founded as a Roman city, Barcelona became the capital of the Counts of Barcelona and the Crown of Aragon. Besieged several times during its history, Barcelona is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination and has a rich cultural heritage. Particularly renowned are architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner that have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Barcelona has a long sporting tradition and hosted the successful 1992 Summer Olympics as well as several matches from the 1982 Football World Cup. It has also been host to the X FINA World Championships and twice of the Eurobasket. The Open Seat Godó, a 50-year-old ATP Tour International Series Gold tennis tournament, is held annually in the facilities of the Reial Club de Tenis Barcelona (Barcelona Royal Tennis Club). Several popular running competitions are organized year-round in Barcelona. Also, each Christmas, a swimming race across the port is organized. Near Barcelona, in Montmeló, the 131,000 capacity Circuit de Catalunya racetrack hosts the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix and the Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix. Barcelona has also become very popular with skateboarders, which has led to a new anti-skateboarding law, which came into effect in 2006.

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UFC 112: Invincible

truebluefan

Teams from Brazil, Italy, Norway and Spain played off for the final spots in this week's men's SWATCH FIVB World Tour qualifier here Tuesday afternoon as the US$350,000 Hyundai Open Barcelona also featured women's competition on the Placa Carles Buigas.

Competing for the first time in six years in mainland Spain, the SWATCH FIVB World Tour stop continues through the weekend when the men's finale will be played Sunday preceded by the qualifier Wednesday and the opening Main Draw matches Thursday on the steps in front of the National Museum Of Art of Catalunya.

The women's Main Draw begins Wednesday and concludes Saturday as the winning teams in both genders share the $28,000 first-place prize in the third of 16 double gender events on the 2008 SWATCH FIVB World Tour schedule that started at the end of March in Adelaide, Australia.

Winning Country Quota matches for the host country Tuesday were Arseni Llenas Sabanes/Miguel Tortosa, Gerard Cabanes Clusellas/Lluis de Senespleda Ferrer and Raul Salguero Velasco/Sergio Sanchez Romero. Guillem Alberti Mendez and Francesc Plaza had a Country Quota bye and will also compete in Wednesday's qualifier for Spain.

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UFC 112: Invincible

truebluefan

After the top 16-seeded teams advanced to the final men's qualifying round at this week's US$350,000 SWATCH FIVB World Tour event here Wednesday on the Placa Carles Buigas, eight remained perfect at the end of the day to earn Main Draw spots.

Of the eight qualifiers, five were seeded among the top eight for the inaugural Hyundai Open Barcelona as each team has an opportunity for the $28,000 first-place prize that will be awarded after Sunday's gold medal match on the steps in front of the National Museum of Art of Catalunya.

"Breaking through" to the Hyundai Open Barcelona were ninth-seeded Francisco Alvarez/Oney Ramirez Bernal of Cuba, 14th-seeded Farid Mussa/Jesus Villafane of Venezuela and 16th-seeded Joao Maciel/Bruno Oscar Schmidt of Brazil to gain a spot in Thursday's opening "money" rounds in the sixth of 20 men's event on the 2008 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar.

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UFC 112: Invincible

truebluefan

Competing in his first SWATCH FIVB World Tour event in his home country since capturing a silver medal at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, Pablo Herrera teamed with Raul Mesa to win their opening match here Thursday in the US$350,000 Hyundai Open Barcelona on the Placa Carles Buigas.

Seeded ninth in the 32-team men's Main Draw, Herrera and Mesa scored a 21-19 and 21-19 win in 47 minutes over 24th-seeded Francisco Alvarez and Oney Ramirez Bernal of Cuba to advance to a second-round match in the Hyundai Open Barcelona winner's bracket against eighth-seeded Riccardo Lione and Matteo Varnier of Italy.

"It is great having a SWATCH stop in Spain again," said the 25-year old Herrera, who captured his Olympic medal with Javier Bosma, now the Hyundai Open Barcelona competition director. "For me, this was just another match against another very good Beach Volleyball team. Like any team, our goal is to win every match and advance to the next round."

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UFC 112: Invincible

truebluefan

After losing their last qualifying match and an opening "Lucky Losers" draw at the Main Draw technical meeting for the US$350,000 Hyundai Open Barcelona, Latvians Martins Plavins and Aleksandrs Samoilovs regained their "winning ways" here Thursday at the SWATCH FIVB World Tour event on the Placa Carles Buigas.

With an "on-and-off court" victory streak at three, the 28th-seeded Plavins and Samoilovs now challenge fourth-seeded Igor Kolodinsky and Dmitri Barsouk in a third-round winner's bracket match Friday as the Latvians will be looking for their first-ever SWATCH FIVB World Tour success over the Russians in five meetings.

After winning a "Lucky Losers" draw Wednesday evening, Plavins and Samoilovs opened play Thursday by upsetting fifth-seeded Andrew Schacht and Joshua Slack Australia 26-24 and 21-11 in 47 minutes before scoring a 21-11 and 21-15 win in 44 minutes over 12th-seeded Bjorn Berg and Hannes Brinkborg of Sweden.

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UFC 112: Invincible

truebluefan

Michal Krzysztof Kadziola and Jakub Szalankiewicz became the first Polish Beach Volleyball pair to post a pair of wins in the same SWATCH FIVB World Tour event as the reigning youth world champions started play here Friday with an upset win over a team from Sweden for their second victory in the US$350,000 Hyundai Open Barcelona.

Seeded 22nd in the 32-team Hyundai Open Barcelona Main Draw after receiving a "wild card" for the FIVB stop by winning last year's SWATCH FIVB World Championships for players under the age 19, Krzysztof Kadziola and Szalankiewicz posted an 18-21, 21-17 and 15-11 win in 57 minutes over 12th-seeded Bjorn Berg and Hannes Brinkborg of Sweden.

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UFC 112: Invincible

truebluefan

The Brazilian pairs of Emanuel Rego/Ricardo Santos and Harley Marques/Pedro Salgado are the first to reach the semi-finals at this week's SWATCH FIVB World Tour after both teams won two matches each here Friday in the US$350,000 Hyundai Open Barcelona.

Both Brazilian teams defeated Beach Volleyball teams from Europe as the top-seeded Emanuel and Ricardo scored a 21-17 and 21-8 victory in 42 minutes over fourth-seeded Igor Kolodinsky and Dmitri Barsouk of Russia while the third-seeded Harley and Salgado downed second-seeded Julius Brink and Christoph Dieckmann 21-19, 16-21 and 15-12 win in 64 minutes.

With "final four" spots secured, both Brazilian teams await the final two teams from the contender's bracket with two rounds of elimination matches being played as the Russians and Germans will have an opportunity to reach the semi-finals of the inaugural Hyundai Open Barcelona Saturday afternoon. The medal matches will be played Sunday where the winning team will split the $28,000 first-place prize.

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UFC 112: Invincible

truebluefan

It takes a team's "best" game to defeat the reigning Olympic champions Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos and Germany's Julius Brink and Christoph Dieckmann played a "near-perfect" match against the Brazilians here Saturday to advance to the finals of the US$350,000 Hyundai Open Barcelona on the Placa Carles Buigas.

By improving their SWATCH FIVB World Tour mark to 6-5 against the Brazilians after posting their third-straight win this season over the top-seeded Emanuel and Ricardo with a 21-16 and 21-19 victory, the second-seeded Brink and Dieckmann will face Igor Kolodinsky and Dmitri Barsouk of Russia in the inaugural men's Hyundai Open Barcelona finale on the steps in front of the National Museum of Art of Catalunya.

The fourth-seeded Kolodinsky and Barsouk earned a spot in the finals by defeating third-seeded Harley Marques and Pedro Salgado of Brazil 24-26, 21-17 and 15-12 in 71 minutes. The win snapped a 3-3 deadlock in the FIVB series between the two teams as Harley and Salgado had won the past two matches over the Russians, including a gold medal victory in St. Petersburg last September.

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UFC 112: Invincible