Canadians Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas are joined by compatriots Heather Bansley/Sarah Pavan at the summit of the 2015 FIVB World Tour Ranking - Women after the FIVB Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series Stavanger 2015, while the men's World Tour Ranking continues to be led by reigning world champions Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen.
Broder and Valjas are top of the women's ranking on 2120 points after winning gold at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Fuzhou Open 2015 and bronze at the Lucerne Open. Fellow Canadians Bansley/Pavan were silver medallists at the Prague Open and at the Porec Major. Valjas/Broder lost to Australians Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy in Stavanger Major Round 1, while Bansley/Pavan were knocked out by Brazilian finalists Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas in Round 3.
Reigning world champions Brouwer and Meeuwsen continue to lead the men's ranking with 2540 points. Stavanger Major winners Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Solberg Salgado from Brazil earned 800 points from their victory last weekend and are in second place with 2000 points. Pedro and Evandro claimed their second medal this season with their first podium-topping performance by posting a 2-0 (21-13, 21-14) win in 33 minutes over 25th-seeded Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak - the Brazilians were also silver medallists at the Moscow Grand Slam at the end of May.
The third-placed pair in the men's ranking are Spain’s Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera with 1700 points, while third place is taken by Brazil’s Bednarczuk/Seixas with 2,060 points in the women's ranking.
So far in 2015, men have played five events; the Fuzhou Open, the Lucerne Open, the Moscow Grand Slam and the FIVB Major Series Event in Porec and the Stavanger Major in Norway, while women have played the same five tournaments, plus the single gender Prague Open in May.
Points from the World Rankings will contribute to qualifying for the World Tour Finals in Fort Lauderdale, USA from 29 September – October 4. It will feature the top eight teams per gender based on a cumulative ranking of points from Grand Slams, Majors and Opens.
The top three teams in each gender at Swatch FIVB Major events receive 800, 720 and 640 points respectively on the 2015 FIVB World Tour.
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