13/06/2019 23:00
Greece returns to host World Tour after 13 years with Ios event
2019 World Tour 1-Star - Ios Island
Ios, Greece, June 13, 2019. After a 13-year hiatus, Greece returns to the international Beach Volleyball scene as the qualifiers of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 1-Star by Luxurios get underway at the idyllic Mylopotas Beach on the Cycladic island of Ios.
Greece had last hosted a World Tour event in 2006, when USA’s Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh picked up the gold medal of a women’s only World Tour stop at the Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre in Athens.
Thirteen years on at Ios, Marcel Myslivecek/Martin Pihera of the Czech Republic head the 16-team field of the men’s qualification tournament, alongside France’s Florian Gosselin/Jérémy Silvestre.
The Czech pair are competing in their third World Tour event of the season, after finishing 25th in the Ostrava 4-Star event and 21st at the Baden 1-Star.
As a team, their best performance has been a silver medal at the Samsun 1-Star World Tour tournament last year.
Top of the women’s qualifiers are Turkey’s Merve Nezir/Bahanur Gokalp, with Beata Vaida/Ioana-Alexandra Ordean of Romania at No. 2.
The Turkish team are playing in only their third tournament together. They were 13th at the Aydin 2-Star tournament at home and 5th at the Baden 1-Star, both this year.
The qualifiers in Ios begin Friday morning with four spots per gender in the Main Draws up for grabs. The 16-team Main Draws follow on Saturday and Sunday.
Teams from as many as 12 countries are entering the men’s qualifiers and 10 nations feature in the women's event.
Click here for further information.
|