Umag, Croatia, June 22, 2013 – The FIVB is organizing an intercontinental tournament this weekend in Umag to give newly developing teams already eliminated at the U21 World Championships the opportunity to gain some more playing experience. Eight men’s teams from Africa, North America, South America and Asia will compete in a knockout format.
The purpose of the event is to provide the participating teams with an opportunity to further develop their play, and it will also encourage a transfer of knowledge and an exchange of cultures.
“With the support of the promoter and staff we would like to organize this intercontinental event for countries that are newly developing and investing in beach volleyball. This will be the starting point where they can prepare their young talents for their future career in beach volleyball”, FIVB Technical Supervisor Yu Chao said.
The participating teams are Burundi, Togo, Namibia, Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, Venezuela and Iran.
The first round schedule is as follows:
18.00: Togo - Trinidad and Iran - Egypt
18.50: Burundi - St Lucia and Venezuela - Namibia
The four winners advance to the semifinals at 14.00 on Sunday. The final is staged at 16.00 on centre court, right before the medal matches of the U21 World Championships.