Top 4 Moments from the Swatch Beach Volleyball World Tour Finals

Top 4 Moments from the Swatch Beach Volleyball World Tour Finals

The Swatch Beach Volleyball World Tour Finals welcomed 24 of the best beach volleyball pairs in the world to Toronto.

Sep 19, 2016 by Megan Kaplon
Top 4 Moments from the Swatch Beach Volleyball World Tour Finals
The Swatch Beach Volleyball World Tour Finals welcomed 24 of the best beach volleyball pairs in the world to Toronto to battle for their share of a $1 million prize purse. Here are the top four moments from the season-ending event.

1. Olympic gold medalists claim gold again.


Talk about the best season ever. Germans Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst and Brazilians Bruno Oscar Schmidt and Alison Cerutti took the World Tour Finals gold medals and the $100,000 first-place prize only a month after claiming Olympic gold. Ludwig and Walkenhorst won the last three tournaments they competed in this season and will head into the offseason as the undisputed top team in the world.

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2. Nadine Zumkehr wins silver in the final tournament of her career.


Eleven-year FIVB tour veteran Nadine Zumkehr of Switzerland knew she would officially retire following the World Tour Finals in Toronto. What she couldn't have known is that she would cap her career with a silver medal. Zumkehr and partner Joana Heidrich went undefeated in pool play, including snagging a three-set victory over eventual champions Ludwig and Walkenhorst. They then defeated fellow Swiss squad Isabelle Forrer and Anouk Verge-Depre in the semis before falling in a rematch with Ludwig and Walkenhorst in the final. The 31-year-old said she is retiring to focus more on family.

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3. Tri Bourne and John Hyden finish season with a bang.


Tri Bourne and John Hyden failed to qualify for the Olympics, but they gained entrance to the World Tour Finals thanks to a No. 5 World Tour Ranking. The duo went 2-0 in pool play and then knocked off Americans Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena in the quarters. A loss to Pedro Solberg Salgado and Evandro Goncalves in the semis sent them to the bronze medal match where they defeated Canadians Ben Saxton and Chaim Schalk 21-14, 22-20.

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4. Fifth for Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross.


The rollercoaster continued for top American women's pair Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross. After taking bronze at the Olympics in Rio and gold in Long Beach, they came up short in the quarterfinals when faced with Olympic gold medalists and eventual World Tour Finals champs Ludwig and Walkenhorst. The fifth-place finish marked only the second tournament this year in which the duo did not medal.

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