The highest-ranked Dutch pair won the closing event of the 2011 calendar in Agadir (Morocco). In an all-European final Nummerdor-Schuil defeated the Germans Brink-Reckermann in three sets
The north-African country has only ever welcomed FIVB beach volleyball actions on three previous occasions, with FIVB challengers being held in the country in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and is only the second country on the continent to stage a World Tour event following tournaments in Cape Town and Durban (South Africa).
In an all-European final Nummerdor-Schuil defeated the Germans Brink-Reckermann in three sets (22-20, 16-21, 15-11) to claim their first gold medal of the season. As a matter of fact, this happened to be the only title achieved by an European team this summer. The dominance of Brazilians and Americans left the Dutch duo empty-handed until the very last tournament of the year. Nummerdor-Schuil also lost the final game in the home-soil event in The Hague in August and had to wait almost two months to claim the awaited title. The win against the best-seeded European team Brink-Reckermann in Agadir placed Nummerdor and Schuil on the 5th position of the overall season raking alongside the Brazilians Ricardo-Marcio and the Swiss pair Heuscher-Bellaguarda.
Europe won the battle of continents during the semifinals as the couples from the Netherlands and Germany overcame Pedro-Ferramenta (Brazil) and Fuerbringer-Lucena (USA) respectively. In the 3rd-place play-off the Brazilians enjoyed a fast victory over Fuerbringer-Lucena (21-14, 21-16).
After 14 tournaments held in 13 countries on 5 continents the Swatch-FIVB World Tour 2011 has come to an end. It guaranteed emotional 8 months of predominantly summer vibes and exciting actions. Now, after the return flights to home are booked and a deserved break is forthcoming, the beach heroes will be planning their preparation for the new 2012 Olympic season.
