Splitsville (photo credit:
Paulo Godoy)
Kinda had to see this one coming, no?
Haven't seen a conspicuous announcement, but after a bit of speculation on the topic, the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball world champions are indeed parting ways. The evidence is the starting list for the upcoming Moscow Grand Slam, which shows them with different partners (in the breaking of another regular partnership, as it'll be Alison/Vitor Felipe and Emanuel/Evandro).
It's kind of a sad end for what was once one of the top two or three tandems in the world, any day of the week. They made two championship days this year, but despite that, they never really looked like they were completely 'in-system' so to speak. And honestly, I don't think it's the 40 year old who was the weak link here. Alison has spent a lot of this season looking completely complacent or even bored. He's missed a lot of easy chances, match after match, that I never would have expected to see from him a year or two ago. Here's hoping this gives him a little kick in the ass — if indeed that's what he needs.
A few interesting things about this. First, it's not at all definite that this will be a permanent change (though I'll be a little surprised if it's not). These two could well end up marching into Rio together. It's still three long years from now, and it's a good year and a half before anyone needs to nail down firmly with whom they're playing for the Olympic cycle.
Second, it's not an immediate change. The two are listed together in the main draw for the Berlin Grand Slam (as are Vitor and Evandro), which is the nearest event. I'm not sure they can change in time.
Third, one of them will end up in the qualifier in Moscow. These are going to be the third and fourth teams on the Brazilian pecking order behind Pedro/Bruno and Ricardo/Alvaro, there's no getting around that. And a nation cannot, unless holding a wildcard, have more than 3 teams straight into the main draw. That's going to be….slightly embarrassing for one of them. At least in Beijing it'll be a matter of who get the furthest the Moscow tournament, that decides who plays in the qualifier (assuming they all make the trip). There should be wildcards aplenty for the São Paulo Grand Slam to close out the season (we saw this with the Americans last week), so I think they'll all be safe there.
So, there you have it. A former world champion team is no more, or at least that will be the case very soon. Also, briefly, a bit of confirmation on the Greta Cicolari/Marta Menegatti split I touched on in one of my Long Beach recaps. It's indeed happening and was handed down by their coach rather than something they chose themselves. I think I got my confirmation from a decidedly trustworthy source — Greta's "other" partner, Belgian-Italian basketball player Dimitri Doum Lauwers. Marta got Long Beach, Greta gets the European championships, where she'll play with Silvia Costantini.
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