Team Preview

Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour
US$580,000 1to1 energy Grand Slam
June 21 - 25, 2006

(12) Riccardo Lione/Matteo Varnier, Italy

Riccardo "Riccardino" Lione
Italy

Photo: FIVB

Personal Info

Birth Date:

Apr 13, 1972 (54 yrs old)

Home Town:

Rome

Height:

197 cm (6'6")

Weight:

97 kg (213 lb)

Seasons:

Tournaments:

121

Career Best:

2nd (3 times)

Career FIVB WT Best:

4th (2 times)

Career Winnings:

US$191,637.45

Matteo Varnier
Italy

Photo: FIVB

Personal Info

Birth Date:

Oct 16, 1979 (46 yrs old)

Home Town:

Sanremo

Height:

198 cm (6'6")

Weight:

82 kg (180 lb)

Seasons:

Tournaments:

Career Best:

2nd (4 times)

Career FIVB WT Best:

4th (2 times)

Career Winnings:

US$148,854.51

Awards

Top Rookie 2005

Team Career Summary

Tour	Played	1	2	3	4	5	7	9	13	17	25	33	41	57	CQ	Money
CEV	9	0	1	1	0	0	2	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	US$37,977.41
FIVB	38	0	0	0	2	3	1	8	5	10	2	3	2	1	1	US$187,200.00
FIVB C&S	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	US$5,400.00
Overall	49	0	3	1	2	3	3	11	7	10	2	3	2	1	1	US$230,577.41

Previous Gstaad Results

Year	Partner - Result	Partner - Result
2001	Eugenio Amore - 41st	Did not play
2002	Eugenio Amore - 25th	Did not play
2005	Matteo Varnier - 33rd	Riccardo Lione - 33rd

Recent Results

Tour	Date	Tournament	Seed	Finish	Points	Money
FIVB	6/14-18/2006	Portugal Open	7	4th	420	US$12,000.00
FIVB	6/7-11/2006	Italian Open	9	9th	240	US$6,000.00
CEV	5/31-6/3/2006	German Masters	1	9th	240	€ 1,950.00
FIVB	5/23-27/2006	China Open	7	17th	120	US$3,000.00
CEV	5/17-21/2006	Turkish Masters	6	2nd	540	€ 8,150.00
FIVB	11/23-27/2005	South Africa Open	5	9th	140	US$5,250.00
FIVB	10/25-29/2005	Acapulco Open	7, Q14	4th	280	US$12,000.00
FIVB	10/19-23/2005	Brazil Open	Q12	33rd	20	US$0.00
FIVB	8/31-9/4/2005	Greece Open	29, Q14	5th	240	US$10,000.00
CEV	8/25-28/2005	European Championship Final	8	7th	100	€ 4,000.00
CEV	8/7-9/2005	Swiss Open	6	7th	50	€ 2,475.00
FIVB C&S	7/22-24/2005	Italy Satellite	4	2nd	18	US$1,500.00
FIVB	7/20-24/2005	Poland Open	Q26	41st	12	US$0.00
FIVB C&S	7/15-17/2005	Italy Challenger	19	2nd	54	US$3,900.00
FIVB	7/13-17/2005	Portugal Open	Q25	57th	4	US$0.00
CEV	7/7-10/2005	Spanish Open	13	3rd	80	€ 5,850.00

Switzerland Grand Slam Matches

Date	Bracket	Opponent	Score	Time
Thu, 6/22/2006	Winner 1	Penggen Wu / Linyin Xu, China (21, Q9)	Won 21-19, 21-18	0:50
Thu, 6/22/2006	Winner 2	Mike Lambert / Stein Metzger, United States (5)	Won 22-20, 18-21, 15-12	1:05
Fri, 6/23/2006	Winner 3	Pedro Cunha / Franco Neto, Brazil (4)	Lost 11-21, 17-21	0:47
Fri, 6/23/2006	Contender 4	Kristjan Kais / Rivo Vesik, Estonia (10)	Lost 19-21, 21-19, 12-15	0:54

Team Finishes By Tournament Type

Tournament Type	Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-6th	7-8th	9-12th	13-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)
World Championships	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	$4,800.00
Elite/Major Series/Five Star/Grand Slam	10	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	5	1	0	$66,550.00
Challenge/Four Star/Open	27	0	0	0	2	2	1	5	5	5	1	6	$115,850.00
Challenger	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$3,900.00
Satellite	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$1,500.00
Confederation Championship	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	$6,000.00
Total	42	0	2	0	2	3	2	8	6	10	2	7	$198,600.00

Individual Finishes by Tournament Type

Riccardo Lione												Matteo Varnier
Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-8th	9-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)	Tournament Type	Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-8th	9-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	$0.00	Olympic Games
2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	$3,775.00	World Championships	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	$5,900.00
18	0	0	0	0	1	3	9	4	1	$43,425.00	Elite/Major Series/Five Star/Grand Slam	12	0	0	0	0	1	3	7	1	0	$38,375.00
84	0	0	0	2	5	20	22	15	20	$113,570.00	Challenge/Four Star/Open	35	0	0	0	2	5	11	7	2	8	$73,275.00
3	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	$4,125.00	Challenger	3	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	$4,250.00
1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$750.00	Satellite	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$750.00
3	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	$3,500.00	Confederation Championship	4	0	0	0	0	1	2	1	0	0	$4,375.00
112	0	2	1	2	7	25	34	19	22	$169,145.00	Total	57	0	3	0	2	7	17	16	3	9	$126,925.00

Team Finishes by Season

			Results												Matches
Season	Assoc	Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-6th	7-8th	9-12th	13-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)	Won	Lost	Pct
2005	FIVB	9	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	6	$27,250.00	24	12	66.7 %
2005	FIVB C&S	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$5,400.00	9	2	81.8 %
2005	CEV	3	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	$12,325.00	11	6	64.7 %
2006	FIVB	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	$30,000.00	9	9	50.0 %
2006	CEV	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	$10,100.00	5	3	62.5 %
Total	FIVB	13	0	0	0	2	1	0	3	0	1	0	6	$57,250.00	33	21	61.1 %
Total	FIVB C&S	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$5,400.00	9	2	81.8 %
Total	CEV	5	0	1	1	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	$22,425.00	16	9	64.0 %

Individual Finishes by Season

Riccardo Lione													Matteo Varnier
Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-8th	9-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)	Season	Association	Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-8th	9-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	$0.00	1995	FIVB
9	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	4	0	$7,250.00	1996	FIVB
1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	$525.00	1996	FIVB C&S
9	0	0	0	0	1	2	4	2	0	$13,000.00	1997	FIVB
1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	$1,650.00	1997	FIVB C&S
13	0	0	0	0	1	5	4	3	0	$19,675.00	1998	FIVB
7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	$2,000.00	1999	FIVB
											1999	FIVB C&S	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	$350.00
1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	$337.50	1999	CEV
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	$0.00	2000	FIVB	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	$0.00
10	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	6	$6,375.00	2001	FIVB
10	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	5	2	$8,320.00	2002	FIVB
9	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	6	$13,625.00	2005	FIVB	9	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	6	$13,625.00
2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$2,700.00	2005	FIVB C&S	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$2,700.00
3	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	$6,162.50	2005	CEV	4	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	1	$6,162.50
4	0	0	0	1	0	2	1	0	0	$15,000.00	2006	FIVB	4	0	0	0	1	0	2	1	0	0	$15,000.00
2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	$5,050.00	2006	CEV	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	$5,050.00
83	0	3	2	2	5	15	19	16	21	$101,670.00	Total	Total	23	0	3	1	2	3	5	1	0	8	$42,887.50

Team Match Records

	Won 1st Set								Lost 1st Set								2 Set Matches		3 Set Matches		By Forfeit		All Matches
Season	Won 2-0		Won 2-1		Lost 2-1		Overall		Won 2-1		Lost 2-1		Lost 2-0		Overall		Overall		Overall		Won	Lost	Overall
Overall	44	58.7%	18	24.0%	13	17.3%	62-13	82.7%	16	20.8%	9	11.7%	52	67.5%	16-61	20.8%	44-52	45.8%	34-22	60.7%	1	2	79-76	51.0%
2005-2006	21	58.3%	11	30.6%	4	11.1%	32-4	88.9%	7	23.3%	4	13.3%	19	63.3%	7-23	23.3%	21-19	52.5%	18-8	69.2%	1	1	40-28	58.8%
Against the Field	15	53.6%	5	17.9%	8	28.6%	20-8	71.4%	9	19.1%	5	10.6%	33	70.2%	9-38	19.1%	30-64	31.9%	28-26	51.9%	0	1	29-46	38.7%

Team Match Records by Round

	Country Quota		Qualifier		Pool Play		Lucky Loser		Elimination Rounds		Semi-Finals		Bronze Medal		Gold Medal		Overall
Tournament Type	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost
World Championships	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
Elite/Major Series/Five Star/Grand Slam	0	0	0	0	12	15	0	0	5	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	25
Challenge/Four Star/Open	1	1	9	5	3	0	0	0	18	21	0	2	0	2	0	0	61	49
Challenger	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	1
Satellite	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	1
Confederation Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4
Total	1	1	9	5	16	17	0	0	32	32	2	2	0	2	0	2	92	82

Head to Head Results
Lione/Varnier trail the series against the field 22-23 (Lead 14 Series, Trail 9 Series, 2 Series Tied)

Date	Tour	Tournament	Round	Winning Team	Seed	Losing Team	Seed	Score	Time
Trail the series against # 1 Rego/Santos, Brazil 0-3
6/17/06	FIVB	Portugal Open	Semi-Finals	Rego/Santos	1	Lione/Varnier	7	21-11, 33-31	0:51
6/9/06	FIVB	Italian Open	Winner 3	Rego/Santos	1	Lione/Varnier	9	21-15, 21-14	0:43
10/28/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Semi-Finals	Rego/Santos	1	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	By Forfeit
Lead the series against # 2 Brink/Dieckmann, Germany 1-0
5/20/06	CEV	Turkish Masters	Semi-Finals	Lione/Varnier	6	Brink/Dieckmann	4	21-18, 21-16	0:49
Series tied with # 3 Araujo/Magalhaes, Brazil 1-1
6/16/06	FIVB	Portugal Open	Winner 3	Lione/Varnier	7	Araujo/Magalhaes	2	21-19, 18-21, 18-16	1:14
6/15/05	FIVB	Switzerland Open	Qualifier 3	Araujo/Magalhaes	3, Q1	Lione/Varnier	Q48	21-17, 21-16	0:46
Trail the series against # 4 Cunha/Neto, Brazil 0-4
6/23/06	FIVB	Switzerland Grand Slam	Winner 3	Cunha/Neto	4	Lione/Varnier	12	21-11, 21-17	0:47
6/18/06	FIVB	Portugal Open	Bronze Medal	Cunha/Neto	3	Lione/Varnier	7	21-19, 21-15	0:44
6/16/06	FIVB	Portugal Open	Winner 4	Cunha/Neto	3	Lione/Varnier	7	21-19, 21-15	0:51
10/26/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Winner 2	Cunha/Neto	10, Q1	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	15-21, 21-17, 15-12	0:59
Lead the series against # 5 Lambert/Metzger, United States 1-0
6/22/06	FIVB	Switzerland Grand Slam	Winner 2	Lione/Varnier	12	Lambert/Metzger	5	22-20, 18-21, 15-12	1:05
Trail the series against # 7 Schacht/Slack, Australia 0-1
9/3/05	FIVB	Greece Open	Contender 6	Schacht/Slack	7	Lione/Varnier	29, Q14	21-16, 18-21, 21-19	1:18
Trail the series against # 8 Egger/Laciga, Switzerland 1-4
5/21/06	CEV	Turkish Masters	Gold Medal	Egger/Laciga	1	Lione/Varnier	6	21-14, 21-19	0:46
10/28/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Contender 5	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	Egger/Laciga	3	19-21, 21-16, 16-14	1:02
9/1/05	FIVB	Greece Open	Winner 1	Egger/Laciga	4	Lione/Varnier	29, Q14	21-19, 21-17	0:49
8/27/05	CEV	European Championship Final	Winner 3	Egger/Laciga	1	Lione/Varnier	8	21-16, 21-16	0:45
7/9/05	CEV	Spanish Open	Semi-Finals	Egger/Laciga	1	Lione/Varnier	13	20-22, 21-15, 15-7	0:55
Lead the series against # 9 Heuscher/Kobel, Switzerland 1-0
5/19/06	CEV	Turkish Masters	Winner 2	Lione/Varnier	6	Heuscher/Kobel	3	21-18, 10-21, 15-13	1:12
Trail the series against # 10 Kais/Vesik, Estonia 1-2
6/23/06	FIVB	Switzerland Grand Slam	Contender 4	Kais/Vesik	10	Lione/Varnier	12	21-19, 19-21, 15-12	0:54
5/25/06	FIVB	China Open	Contender 2	Kais/Vesik	8	Lione/Varnier	7	22-20, 21-19	0:39
10/28/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Contender 6	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	Kais/Vesik	14	18-21, 21-15, 15-10	1:00
Lead the series against # 13 Baracetti/Conde, Argentina 2-0
6/8/06	FIVB	Italian Open	Winner 2	Lione/Varnier	9	Baracetti/Conde	8	21-17, 21-18	0:50
10/27/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Contender 3	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	Baracetti/Conde	17	19-21, 21-18, 15-13	1:19
Lead the series against # 14 Kjemperud/Skarlund, Norway 2-0
6/17/06	FIVB	Portugal Open	Contender 6	Lione/Varnier	7	Kjemperud/Skarlund	12	23-21, 19-21, 15-11	1:03
5/20/06	CEV	Turkish Masters	Winner 3	Lione/Varnier	6	Kjemperud/Skarlund	10	21-18, 18-21, 16-14	1:05
Trail the series against # 16, Q15 Lopes/Solberg, Brazil 0-1
5/24/06	FIVB	China Open	Winner 1	Lopes/Solberg	26, Q20	Lione/Varnier	7	21-19, 21-17	0:41
Lead the series against # 18 Brenha/Maia, Portugal 1-0
9/3/05	FIVB	Greece Open	Contender 5	Lione/Varnier	29, Q14	Brenha/Maia	16	21-17, 21-18	0:44
Trail the series against # 19 Horrem/Pettersen, Norway 0-1
8/8/05	CEV	Swiss Open	Contender 3	Horrem/Pettersen	12	Lione/Varnier	6	21-17, 21-16	0:42
Lead the series against # 20, Q4 Gosch/Strauss, Austria 1-0
10/26/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Winner 1	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	Gosch/Strauss	26, Q8	16-21, 21-15, 15-9	0:56
Lead the series against # 21, Q9 Wu/Xu, China 1-0
6/22/06	FIVB	Switzerland Grand Slam	Winner 1	Lione/Varnier	12	Wu/Xu	21, Q9	21-19, 21-18	0:50
Lead the series against # 29 Amore/Fenili, Italy 3-2
7/24/05	FIVB C&S	Italy Satellite	Gold Medal	Amore/Fenili	3	Lione/Varnier	4	23-21, 21-13	0:46
7/17/05	FIVB C&S	Italy Challenger	Semi-Finals	Lione/Varnier	19	Amore/Fenili	6, Q1	21-18, 16-21, 15-10	1:01
7/16/05	FIVB C&S	Italy Challenger	Winner 3	Lione/Varnier	19	Amore/Fenili	6, Q1	21-17, 23-21	0:52
6/14/05	FIVB	Switzerland Open	Country Quota	Lione/Varnier	Q48	Amore/Fenili		21-16, 21-17	0:42
6/7/05	FIVB	Croatia Open	Country Quota	Amore/Fenili	Q41	Lione/Varnier		12-21, 21-19, 15-12	0:52
Trail the series against # 31, Q10 Gscheidle/Schnider, Switzerland 0-1
8/8/05	CEV	Swiss Open	Winner 2	Gscheidle/Schnider	14	Lione/Varnier	6	21-23, 22-20, 15-11	1:07
Lead the series against Bitencourt/Correa, Brazil 1-0
6/15/06	FIVB	Portugal Open	Winner 1	Lione/Varnier	7	Bitencourt/Correa	26, Q11	21-13, 21-19	0:42
Trail the series against Insfran/Marques, Brazil 0-2
6/9/06	FIVB	Italian Open	Contender 4	Insfran/Marques	3	Lione/Varnier	9	21-11, 21-13	0:49
10/29/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Bronze Medal	Insfran/Marques	4	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	21-19, 21-19	0:55
Lead the series against # Q8 Lochhead/Pitman, New Zealand 1-0
9/1/05	FIVB	Greece Open	Contender 1	Lione/Varnier	29, Q14	Lochhead/Pitman	20, Q2	21-23, 21-11, 15-9	0:56
Series tied with # Q11 Asahi/Watanabe, Japan 1-1
11/25/05	FIVB	South Africa Open	Pool E	Lione/Varnier	5	Asahi/Watanabe	12, Q1	21-14, 21-17	0:41
10/19/05	FIVB	Brazil Open	Qualifier 2	Asahi/Watanabe	24, Q5	Lione/Varnier	Q12	21-17, 21-15	0:33
Lead the series against # Q14 Pedrosa/Rosas, Portugal 1-0
6/15/06	FIVB	Portugal Open	Winner 2	Lione/Varnier	7	Pedrosa/Rosas	10	21-19, 18-21, 15-12	1:04
Lead the series against # Q22 Galli/Raffaelli, Italy 1-0
8/27/05	CEV	European Championship Final	Contender 3	Lione/Varnier	8	Galli/Raffaelli	13	By Forfeit
Lead the series against # Q35 Indra/Wachter, Liechtenstein 1-0
7/7/05	CEV	Spanish Open	Qualifier 2	Lione/Varnier	13	Indra/Wachter		25-23, 21-17	0:51