XIAMEN, China, April 18 (Xinhua) -- 2018 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Xiamen Open kicked off with qualifications on Wednesday and many big names are on the list of the main draw starting on Thursday.
Xiamen's Guanyinshan Golden Beach will be the site for the 13th men's and eighth women's event on the 2017-2018 FIVB calendar that started last September in France and will end this August in Hamburg, Germany for the World Tour Finals.
With $150,000 in prize money allocated per gender, the winning teams will share the $20,000 first-place prizes after the medal matches on Sunday for both men and women.
Defending Xiamen champions in the men's group Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen are on the way to their third FIVB gold medal this season as the Dutch pair secured their fourth and fifth World Tour titles in March by topping podiums in Doha, Qatar and Aalsmeer, the Netherlands.
The Dutch duo started the season with a bronze medal in January at The Hague followed by a fifth-place finish at the Beach Major stop in February at Fort Lauderdale, United States.
As the number four pair in world rankings, Brouwer/Meeuwsen has compiled a 19-5 match mark this season to improve their career record to 218-118 (64.9%) for 70 FIVB World Tour events since starting their partnership in 2011.
In the women's matches, 2017 Xiamen bronze medal winners Victoria Bieneck/Isabel Schneider will compete again this year after the Germans placed the fourth at Fort Lauderdale. The world number one pair Melissa Humana-Paredes/Sarah Pavan of Canada and three-time Olympic medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings were also on the main draw list.
Beach volleyball legend Walsh Jennings ended partnership with April Ross last year and is now playing with Nicole Branagh. Ross, newly grouped with Alexandra Klineman, will also show up on the Xiamen seashore.
Chinese duo Wang Fan/Xia Xinyi, now ranking world 33rd, will fight for breakthroughs on their home court. Wang/Xia placed the fourth in the Qinzhou tournament last October. Wang previously paired with veteran Yue Yuan claiming three silver medals on the FIVB World Tour, two times in Xiamen.
The FIVB four-star Xiamen Open is the highest level tournament in China. The other Chinese events on the 2017-2018 World Tour calendar will be in Jinjang in May for both men and women, Nantong in June for women and Nanjing in June for women. China will also host the FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships in Nanjing from July 10th to 15th.
