BEACH VOLLEYBALL Preview: Brazil vs. U.S. showdown in women’s 4-star in Moscow

The FIVB World Tour returns to Moscow for the 12th straight season this weekend, (Photo: FIVB)

The FIVB World Tour will conclude with the World Tour Final in Rome (ITA) in early September, and this week’s tournament in Moscow (RUS) will be the last 4-star event before the season-ender.

Some of the top teams have skipped this week’s event, but the Brazilians are entered in force and Brazil and the U.S. both have three seeds in the top 10 in the women’s event:

Men:
1. Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Oleg Stoytanovskiy (RUS)
2. Alison Cerutti/Alvaro Filho (BRA)
3. Evandro Goncalves Oliveira/Bruno Oscar Schmidt (BRA)
4. Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen (NED)
5. Paolo Nicolai/Daniele Lupo (ITA)

Women:
1. Maria Antonelli/Carol Salgado (BRA)
2. Agatha Bednarczuk/Duda Lisboa (BRA)
3. Nina Betschart/Tanja Huberli (SUI)
4. Ana Patricia Ramos/Rebecca Cavalcanti (BRA)
5. Sanne Keizer/Madelein Meppelink (NED)

Seeded in the top 10 in the women’s tournament are American pairs Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil (6), Kelley Larsen and Emily Stockman (7) and Brooke Sweat and Kerri Walsh Jennings (10).

Summer Ross and Sarah Hughes (USA) won in Moscow last year, trailed by Agatha/Duda and Betschart and Huberli. The men’s tournament was won by Latvia’s Janis Smedins and Aleksandrs Samoilovs, who defeated Alison and Andre Stein in the final, with Stoyanovskiy and then-partner Igor Velichko (RUS) third.

Semifinals are planned for the 16th and the medal matches for the 17th. Look for results here.