11/03/2017 07:07
Disentis in perfect condition to debut as Snow Volleyball venue
2017 CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour
Disentis, Switzerland, March 10, 2017. Beautiful sunny weather and spectacular Alpine views will provide the backdrop for the Snow Volleyball tournament that is taking place this weekend in Switzerland, according to the weather forecast. The 2017 CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour has arrived in Disentis for its fourth stop and the small ski-resort village is ready to welcome some of the continent’s best athletes in the attractive winter sport for the first time.
“We are very proud to be back in Switzerland after a two-year break,” said Veit Manninger, Managing Director at Chaka2, the company that has been promoting Snow Volleyball since 2009 and is organising five of the seven stops on the 2017 CEV European Tour. “We are very thankful to the village of Disentis for working together with us. It is a very beautiful and well-known place in an extremely popular skiing area in the Swiss Alps. The weather should be good, so we are looking forward to a very successful competition.”
Snow Volleyballers from both genders coming from five different European countries are set to compete on Swiss snow on Saturday and Sunday.
In the men’s tournament, it will be the reigning European ‘King of the Snow’ Michal Matyja, who will be leading the main draw seeding again, this time teaming up with his Polish compatriot Maciej Klimas. The two are holding the #1 and the #7 spots, respectively, in the current individual CEV Snow Volleyball Ranking and their duo can be considered the pre-favourite team to win gold in Disentis.
However, they can expect some tough competition from their fellow Poles Piotr Groszek/Tomasz Cwiertnia, Germany’s Sebastian Olbrich/Konstantin Schneider, Romania's Bogdan Necula/Adrian Necula and as many as seven pairs representing the host country Switzerland. The men’s double-elimination format will kick off on centre court at 09:30 local time on Saturday.
The women’s tournament will be a three-way competition featuring top-seeded Anna Dostalova/Michaela Knoblochova from the Czech Republic, who won bronze on home snow two weeks ago in Špindlerův Mlýn and are currently sharing the sixth place in the women’s individual European ranking. Germany's Esther Luft/Sarah Bauer and Switzerland's Kim Huber/Karin Kurzbein will also be vying for the women’s gold in Disentis.
The three duos will first play a single round robin tournament comprising best-of-three head-to-head ties. The first two legs of the ties, accounting for six matches, will take place on Saturday. The third-leg matches, if needed, will be played on Sunday morning. The top two teams will then face each other in the ‘grand finale’ on Sunday afternoon.
“We are very pleased that the CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour is growing so fast and covering new territories,” commented Dennis Passig, the CEV Beach & Snow Volleyball Coordinator. “I am glad that now Switzerland is hosting a stop on the Tour and that the village of Disentis will make its debut as a venue with such perfect weather, beautiful scenery and great conditions for Snow Volleyball. I expect an exciting inaugural tournament here this year and I am confident it will grow bigger and bigger in the years to come.”
For further information on the European Tour, click here or visit SnowVolleyball.com.
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