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In a fairy tale setting in the Swiss Alpine town of Gstaad, the Finals of the Beach World Tour took place today in perfect conditions. The Brazilians Adriana Behar and Shelda Bruno were for the second time the finalists here in Gstaad and were able to win the women's final decisively with a score of 2:0 against the American duo of Barbara Fontana and Eliane Youngs.

"It's great to be here in the Swiss alps. The tournament organisation is fantastic, we don't have to worry about anything at all, and we can give all our attention to the matches. And more than this, you can sense that the organisers really know volleyball inside out and love the sport. We'll be going home with lots of great memories and we look forward to coming back next year," said Adriana Behar at the closing Press Conference. There can be no warmer compliment for the director of the tournament, Ruedi Kunz and his team of organisers.

In the match for third place the American duo Walsh - May won agaonst the Brazilians Sandra Pires-Minello with the score of 2:0. As is now traditional the winning three teams received real and genuine Swiss cow bells as souvenirs. There are now four of these already in the hands of the players from Rio de Janeiro!

Even on the second day of the main draw for women's beach duos there were optimal conditions for play here in FIVB World Tour 2001 Women's Swiss Open in Gstaad. The sun shone as if it would never set, and many spectators came to the beautiful mountainous Saanenland from all over Switzerland and much further afield to experience live the magic of the best Beach Volley players in the world. They were not disappointed!!

The spectators enjoyed a very special feast of the finest and the best that beach volleyball can offer, with matches full of tension and the very highest level of the sport.

Particularly surprising was the unexpected defeat of the team of Nathalie Cook and partner Kerri-An Potthars. The Olympic winners were visibly weakened (due to thigh injury of Natalie Cook) and lost against the American team of Holy McPeak and Lisa Arce with the score of 2:1 (20:22/21:16/15:13). The public's favourite Holly McPeak with her new partner Lisa Arce quit later the tournament losing from the team of Adriana Behar-Shelda (BRA) in almost one hour.

Tomorrow the matches start at 10.00 a.m. with the first semi-final Sandra Pires-Minello (BRA) playing against Adriana Behar-Shelda (BRA) followed by the second semi-final which is between the American teams of Youngs-Fontana and Walsh-May.

The final for the women's tournament is scheduled for 2:30pm local time.

Gstaad, Switzerland, 22 June 2001 - Yesterday, the 32 women's teams of the main draw started their matches, again with great weather conditions.

The competition was very exciting, with all teams offering a spectacular performance in the splendid panorama of the Swiss Alps.

The two Swiss teams did not succeed to continue on the competition, loosing both their starting matches.

The United States with 4 teams, Brazil and People's Rebublic of China with 3 teams and Germany with 2 teams are the most represented countries in the main draw.

The olympic winners Australians Natalie "Nat" Cook/Kerri-Ann "Kez" Pottharst moved on in the competitions with two wins over the Bajerova-Stehnova (CZE) with 2:0 sets and over the Masakayan-DeNecochea (USA) with 2:1 sets.

The other undefeated teams continuing in the winners bracket are Larrea Peraza-Fernandez Grosset (CUB), Sandra Pires-Minello (BRA), McPeak-Arce (USA), Youngs-Fontana (USA), Walsh-May (USA), Celbova-Dosudilova (CZE) and Adriana Behar-Shelda (BRA).

The matches today will start at 9am on 2 courts.

GSTAAD, SWITZERLAND - Top-seeded Danalee Bragado and Ali Wood defeated fifth-seeded Nancy Mason and Leanne Schuster here Wednesday (June 20) for the second-straight week in a FIVB Beach World Tour Qualification Tournament to earn the fifth spot for United States in this weekend's international men's and women's event.

The Gstaad stop is the first of five combined men's and women's events on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour this season. The 44-team women's Qualification Tournament concluded Wednesday with the 32-team Main Draw starting Thursday. The 69-team men's Qualification Tournament started Wednesday with the 32-team Main Draw beginning Friday on the Village Centre Courts.

Bragado (Honolulu, Hi.) and Wood (Long Beach, Calif.) scored a 16-21, 21-18 and 15-12 win in 48 minutes over Mason (Belleville, Ill.) and Schuster (Mesa, Ariz.) in an All-Association of Volleyball Professionals playoff match to determine the final berth for the United States in the women's Main Draw. Bragado and Wood are seeded 21st in the Main Draw after winning all four of their Qualification Tournament matches. Bragado and Wood finished 25th last week in Italy.

Barbra Fontana (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Elaine Youngs (Encinitas, Calif.), who will be seeded third this weekend, will lead the United States teams into this week's event. Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst of Australia, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Gold Medallists, lost to the USA tandem in last Sunday's international finale in Cagliari, Italy.

Fontana and Youngs rallied from a 21-10 defeat in the first game against Cook and Pottharst to score a 21-19 and 15-11 win over the Aussies to share the $27,000 first-place. It was the second pro beach title this season for Fontana and Youngs, who captured a domestic crown in April at Clearwater Beach, Fla. Fontana also won her 18th career title while Youngs earned her 12th career first-place.

Other United States teams in the women's Main Draw are fourth-seeded Lisa Arce (Manhattan Beach, Calif.)/Holly McPeak (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), sixth-seeded Misty May (Costa Mesa, Calif.)/Kerri Walsh (Los Gatos, Calif. and 17th-seeded Diane DeNecochea (LaJolla, Calif.)/Liz Masakayan (San Diego, Calif.). Arce and McPeak placed fifth in Italy. DeNecochea and Masakayan were seventh last week while May and Walsh finished ninth.

The AVP men's teams of Dain Blanton (Laguna Beach, Calif.)/Eric Fonoimoana (Hermosa Beach, Calif.), Carl Henkel (Redondo Beach, Calif.)/Sinjin Smith (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) and Dax Holdren (Santa Barbara, Calif.)/Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) have already earned Main Draw berths for this week's Swiss event.

The teams of third-seeded Stein Metzger (Honolulu, Hi.)/Kevin Wong (Pearl City, Hi.) and 54th-seeded Eddie Stokes (Redondo Beach, Calif.)/Brad Torsone (Hermosa Beach, Fla.) won both of their qualifying matches Wednesday to remain in contention for a fourth USA men's spot in the Main Draw.

The United States tandems of Rob Heidger (Redondo Beach, Calif.)/Chip McCaw (Tulsa, Okla.) and Matt Heath (Delray Beach, Fla.)/Gaston Macau (Miami, Fla.) were eliminated Wednesday after each team posted an 1-1 mark to place 41st in the men's compeititon.

The Gstaad stop is the third women's FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event this season and the second for the men. The AVP women remain in Europe for an event in event in Gran Canaria, Spain before resuming domestic play July 13-15 in Muskegon, Mich. The AVP men have events in Berlin, Germany and Stavanger, Norway before Muskegon.