Media Contact: Sarah Lunney 0402 278 371 | sarah@spiritedcommunications.com.au
MEDIA RELEASE
26 March 2008
WORLD TOUR QUALIFICATION DECIDED
It was a “tough” day for the top-seeded teams in the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour men’s
Qualification Tournament here Wednesday on Glenelg Beach as only three of the top-ranked
tandems advanced to the opening Main Draw rounds with preliminary Beach Volleyball wins.
With the qualification matches complete, only eight of 32 teams will progress through to the
main draw matches that kick off at 8am tomorrow at Glenelg Beach, Adelaide.
In the women’s draw Italians Perrotta and Gattelli, two-time Olympians, denied host Australia a
fourth Main Draw entry by eliminating 27th-seeded Johannah Rohkamper and Natalie Frostick
21-14 and 21-17.
Other teams advancing from Wednesday’s final qualifying rounds were top-seeded Rieke Brink-
Abeler/Hella Jurich of Germany, second-seeded Carolina Salgado/Maria Clara Salgado, fifth-
seeded Mika Teru Saiki/Chiaki Kusuhara of Japan and seventh-seeded Annie Martin/Dana
Cooke of Canada.
Australia’s Main Draw entries in the “money” rounds are by three-time Olympian Natalie Cook
with Tamsin Barnett, her partner since the start of the 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour. Cook
and Barnett will be seeking their best FIVB finish since last May when the pair won the gold
medal at an international stop in Seoul, Korea.
Other Australian women’s teams in the Main Draw are Heike Jensen/Olivia Orchard and
Summer Lochowicz/Eileen Romanowski. Orchard replaced Becchara Palmer in the Main Draw
after the 2006 SWATCH-FIVB World Champion for players under the age of 19 was sidelined
with a knee injury.
With Australia failing to qualify additional teams for the men’s Main Draw, the host country will
have three teams in the “money” rounds led by Andrew Schacht and Joshua Slack, Athens
2004 Olympians and bronze medalist at the 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Championships in
Gstaad, Switzerland. Other Australian men’s teams in the Main Draw for the inaugural Adelaide
Australia Open are Isaac Kapa/Brett Richardson and Sam Boehm/Christopher McHugh.
The first of 16 double gender events on the 2008 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour, the Adelaide
Australia Open will feature 64 Main Draw matches Thursday on the Glenelg Beach. The
double-elimination competition concludes Sunday when the gold medal winning teams share
the $28,000 first-place prizes.
NEWS 
