World Tour Finals features Olympic champs

Lausanne, Switzerland, August 30, 2016 – Newly-crowned Olympic champions Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt of Brazil and Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst of Germany will headline the field at the $500,000 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals from September 13 to 18 when the international beach volleyball event will be held at Polson’s Pier in Toronto, Canada.Quick links:Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals – WebsiteSwatch FIVB World Tour Finals – NewsFIVB Beach Volleyball World TourOperated by the Beach Majors Company, the SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals format includes both pool and elimination bracket play with the winning teams in each gender’s competition sharing the $100,000 first-place prizes. The winning purses match the largest check for victorious pairs since the start of FIVB-sanctioned play in 1987 for men and 1992 for women.Newly-crowned Olympic champions Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt of Brazil and Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst of Germany will headline the field that has combined to play in 968 international events, with 72 gold medals, 172 podium placements and 344 “final fours” finishes along with 2,970 match wins (62 winning percentage) and nearly $11-million in combined career winnings.Olympic gold medallists Alison Cerutti and Bruno Schmidt will be one of the teams to watch in TorontoJoining Alison and Bruno, who are also the reigning 2015 FIVB world champions, in the 12-team men’s field are Rio Olympic bronze medal winners Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands, the 2013 beach volleyball world champions. The Brazilians defeated the Dutch pair in the Rio Olympic semifinals. Due to injuries, the Rio silver medal team of Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai will not be competing in the Toronto competition.Ludwig and Walkenhorst, the top team on the 2015-2016 FIVB World Tour ranking list with six gold medal finishes, will be joined in the Toronto field by Rio bronze medal winners April Ross and Kerri Walsh, who defeated pre-Copacabana favourites Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca of Brazil in the 2016 “Summer” Games third-place match.The Rio bronze was the fourth Olympic medal for Walsh Jennings and the second for Ross.  Walsh Jennings teamed with Misty May-Treanor to win Olympic gold at the Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Summer Games. Ross and Jen Kessy dropped the London gold medal match to Walsh Jennings and May Treanor.Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross were bronze medallists in RioTalita and Larissa will be in the Toronto competition and join Alison and Bruno as the defending champions for the second annual SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals. Talita and Larissa defeated Ludwig and Walkenhorst for the $100,000 payday in October 2015 in Fort Lauderdale. Alison and Bruno topped the south Florida podium by defeating American Olympians Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena in the finals.Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca will represent Brazil in the women’s competitionPlaying for Canada in the men’s competition will be Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk and Josh …

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