04/03/2013 17:00
CEV Beach Volleyball calendar released for 2013
News from the CEV
Luxembourg, March 4, 2013. The 2013 Beach Volleyball season will get started this coming April 2-6 in Antalya, Turkey, via a Satellite tournament that will break all figures as the main draw and the qualification are open to a total of 32 pairs per gender. The opening of this year’s campaign will run along with a seminar whereby CEV will contribute to the education of those who, in their respective countries, are responsible for the coordination and development of Beach Volleyball refereeing.
Elite Beach Volleyball returns back to Turkey after this country – and namely the neighboring city of Alanya – had played host in June 2012 to the very last stage of the inaugural Continental Cup where the winners eventually qualified for the 2012 Olympics in London. This testifies the increasing popularity of the sport in one of the world’s fastest growing economies where Beach Volleyball enjoys the surplus of excellent weather and climate conditions almost all year round.
The 2013 season will culminate in the much anticipated CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship Final scheduled for July 30-August 4 in Klagenfurt, Austria, the real “Mecca” of this sport where every year hundreds of thousands have got together for the annual FIVB Grand Slam. However, before Europe’s Beach Volleyball elite competes for the continental crown on the banks of the Wörthersee, they will be collecting ranking points via a series of other events that are placed under the authority of CEV. The European Beach Volleyball Championship will first stop in Baden, near Vienna, on May 29-June 2 for a double-gender tournament before moving to Novi Sad, Serbia, where a Masters open only to men’s duos will take place through July 16-20.
Apart from the European Championship, the season will include also a series of additional events; Montpellier (France) will be playing host – through June 5-9 – to a Satellite tournament for the very first time while Lausanne will be prolonging its long tradition with yet another edition of the Satellite that regularly calls for elite teams and many fans there in the hometown of the Olympic movement. Vaduz (LIE) will emulate its Swiss neighbors by hosting its annual event on August 7-11 while the CEV portfolio is completed by the various age group Championships that this year will serve as qualifiers for the relevant FIVB World Champs coming up in 2014.
Molodechno (BLR), Vilnius (LTU) and Varna (BUL) will be hosting – throughout three weekends in August – the U18, U20 and U22 CEV European Champs respectively where the up-and-coming stars of the sport will be blossoming and try to lay down the foundations for their future, professional career.
To round it off, this year will also see Europe’s youngsters embark on their campaign to possibly join the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China, where Beach Volleyball will celebrate its first appearance after missing out on the inaugural edition held in Singapore three years ago.
Similarly to what happened with the CEV Continental Cup and the qualification process for the 2012 London Olympics, teams will be playing with the format country vs. country though with only one duo per gender joining forces to carry the young Olympic hopes of their nation. The six spots attributed to Europe will be eventually assigned in early 2014 as the qualification process will come to an end via the inaugural CEV Youth Continental Cup Final.
A comprehensive calendar of the 2013 Beach Volleyball season is available here
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